{"id":37288,"date":"2015-11-27T14:32:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T22:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=37288"},"modified":"2015-11-27T14:32:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-27T22:32:17","slug":"gods-of-egypt-director-studio-apologize-for-the-films-cast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2015\/11\/gods-of-egypt-director-studio-apologize-for-the-films-cast.html","title":{"rendered":"Gods of Egypt<\/i> director, studio apologize for the film’s cast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"godsofegypt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two years, two films set in ancient Egypt, two controversies over the fact that some or all of the top-billed actors are of European descent. But where Exodus: Gods and Kings<\/a><\/i> director Ridley Scott simply shrugged off the boycotters, Gods of Egypt<\/a><\/i> director Alex Proyas \u2014 and the studio behind his film \u2014 have decided to apologize.<\/p>\n

Variety<\/a><\/i> reports that Proyas (who was born in Egypt<\/a>, to Greek parents, before moving to Australia at the age of three) issued the following statement today:<\/p>\n

The process of casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologize to those who are offended by the decisions we made.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Lionsgate issued a statement of its own, which wavers on the question of whether the casting should have reflected ancient Egypt<\/i> or modern audiences<\/i>:<\/p>\n

We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize. Lionsgate is deeply committed to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that, while Exodus<\/i> did feature white actors in all the major roles (with the quasi-exception of Ben Kingsley, who is half-Indian), it also featured actors of Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian and Palestinian descent as Egyptian royals and generals.<\/p>\n

Gods of Egypt<\/i>, for its part, went a step further and put black and Asian actors on the character posters that came out two weeks ago \u2014 but it is not clear whether North African or Middle Eastern actors will have any speaking parts within the film.<\/p>\n

Exodus<\/i>, which had a reported budget of $140 million, ended up underperforming at the box office, grossing only $65 million in North America and another $203.2 million overseas. Gods of Egypt<\/i> reportedly cost $140 million as well, and it is telling a less familiar story and coming out at a less lucrative time of year \u2014 so the film is arguably in a more precarious position, box-office-wise. Thus, the studio\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

Time will tell whether the apologies issued today change any boycotters\u2019 minds.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ridley Scott didn’t apologize for Exodus: Gods and Kings<\/i>, but Alex Proyas — who was born in Egypt — is apologizing for Gods of Egypt<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[649,743,1444,27],"class_list":["post-37288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-alex-proyas","tag-exodus-2015","tag-gods-of-egypt","tag-ridley-scott"],"yoast_head":"\nGods of Egypt director, studio apologize for the film's cast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ridley Scott didn't apologize for Exodus: Gods and Kings, but Alex Proyas -- who was born in Egypt -- is apologizing for Gods of Egypt.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2015\/11\/gods-of-egypt-director-studio-apologize-for-the-films-cast.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gods of Egypt director, studio apologize for the film's cast\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ridley Scott didn't apologize for Exodus: Gods and Kings, but Alex Proyas -- who was born in Egypt -- is apologizing for Gods of Egypt.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2015\/11\/gods-of-egypt-director-studio-apologize-for-the-films-cast.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-27T22:32:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2015\/11\/godsofegypt1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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