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Scott Pilgrim director not upset by weak box office
If Tarantino and Raimi love the film, why should the stay-away public matter to Edgar Wright?
The first Hollywood movie from the acclaimed British director Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, has opened in the US to positive reviews. There's just one problem: nobody is going to see it.
But Wright, who cut his teeth in the UK with the Spaced TV series before moving on to direct Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, says he is satisfied with the low box-office take of just $10m after it opened last week in the US. He believes Scott Pilgrim will eventually prove to be a 'sleeper' hit – with its popularity growing by word of mouth.
The film, starring slightly-built Michael Cera as a gamer who must do battle with the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend, is a love letter to geek culture whose structure mimics that of a video game. Packed with pastiche, it has been praised by many critics in the US.
"It's heartfelt, hilarious and a highly satisfying adaptation of the book," said Empire. "You don’t have to be a geek to adore it; you just have to remember being young."
The New York Times waxed: "Its speedy, funny, happy-sad spirit is so infectious that the movie makes you feel at home in its world."
Not everybody agreed. The influential Onion AV Club asked "Why, given its moment-to-moment surplus of visual imagination, does the film feel so hollow and unsatisfying?"
On the Rotten Tomatoes website, however, which collates reviews from many "trusted sources" to give an overview of a film's critical reception, Scott Pilgrim scores a commendable 81 per cent – far ahead of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, which scores a dismal 31 per cent despite trouncing Wright's movie at the box office.
Wright observed that "Spaced and Shaun Of The Dead took a while to find their audience" and said the positive response from critics – and, crucially from other directors - had made it "all worthwhile". He said: "Quentin Tarantino, Sam Raimi, Guillermo Del Toro and Judd Apatow were at the premiere and ... they loved it."
Wright added: "I got the nicest email I have ever received from Sam Raimi, which made me want to retire." ·
