In an article published by Variety Oliver Stone and Intermedia chairman Moritz Borman talk about some of their choices regarding the recently released flop Alexander. Some of the issues they raised were the release pattern (maybe should have bowed at Cannes in 2005), their depiction of Alexander’s homosexuality, and even their storytelling.
Alexander was made for over $150 million and has only managed $33 million at the American box-office, frought with mistakes and the narrative blather of Anthony Hopkins the movie was a failure and it seems Stone is not afraid to admit where he has made mistakes.
“In some way,” Stone told Variety, “I failed to communicate his story properly to that audience. I still think it’s a beautiful movie, but Alexander deserved better than I gave him.”
While Oliver hopes American auds will find the film on DVD Borman is hoping to recoup losses by showing some of the overseas resilience that made Troy a blockbuster abroad.
Borman told Variety, “We will not lose a penny. But if the picture doesn’t work in some foreign territories, (distributors) will take the hit. …If the picture makes over $100 million foreign, most will be OK. But if the picture fares the way it did here, they will lose.
“Having a picture that underperformed as badly as this one did here hurts in other ways,” Borman says. “Next time we go to Warner Bros. with a picture like this, they might say no. Those foreign buyers who lost will be looking for a rebate next time they come back to the table.”
While the financial side of things concern Borman, Stone has his eye on what he would have done differently starting with the issue of Alexander’s sexuality.
“They called him Alexander the Gay. That’s horribly discriminatory, but the film simply did not open in the South, in the Bible Belt. There was clear resistance to the homosexuality.
“If I could go back, I’d have put events in linear order and limited the voiceovers. I’d have gotten the film to 2½ hours and taken out the homosexuality for the U.S. market and for countries sensitive to such things, like Korea or Greece. Kids weren’t comfortable with men who hugged, a king who cries and expresses tenderness,” Stone said.
Stone and Borman agree they should have tested the film and Borman says he would have found even more that the $150+ million price tag the film already carries and move it to 2005. He claims that the issues that rose once the film was released would have been thought out and allowed them to open the film out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
There is a lot more to the story, so for you Variety subscribers click here to get the rest.
