Luckily, 20th Century Fox has already had a very good year– 8 movies that crossed the $100 million mark. They are currently Number 1 in market share. So a set back won’t hurt them. But Ridley Scott’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings” is shaping up as a potential bust.
So far “Exodus”—already criticized for casting all white actors–is scoring 53% 50%Â now 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. And that’s being kind. Several of the reviews listed as “fresh” are mostly rotten. And more are coming in every day.
Meantime, the nearly three hour extravaganza has more problems than just white actors playing Egyptians. From all reports, Moses (Christian Bale) doesn’t part the red sea and doesn’t have a staff. Well, his only staff is in the back office cutting checks. (Parumppum!)
Don’t count on foreign audiences picking up the slack. On the imdb message board people who’ve already seen “Exodus” in South Korea have been underwhelmed. Fox will use an old trick and open the movie in 20 countries before American reviewers can really savage it. Sometimes that works.
Meantime, this Sunday’s New York premiere may be a signal. It’s being held at the Brooklyn Museum, which is in faraway Brooklyn. It’s also happening at the same time as Bradley Cooper opens in “The Elephant Man” on Broadway in Manhattan. If Moses can’t part the Red Sea, how’s he going to get people over the East River?
