How Russell Crowe responded to the director of a $60 million flop who blamed him for his failure

While Russell CrewHis career was stacked with critically acclaimed performances and major blockbusters, he was also part of several historic failures, including The 2000 action thriller Proof of life. In the movie, Russell Crowe portrayed Terry Thorne, a professional hostage negotiator and former member of the British Special Air Service, who helps track down a woman’s kidnapped husband. The director, Taylor Hackford, imagined that Proof of life It would be a much bigger hit than it was.

Proof of life Received mixed reviews and severely underperformed at the box office, reeling in $62 million as the studio failed to make a profit against the movie’s $65 million budget. This was a major blow to Russell Crowe’s career momentum after his legendary performance in Ridley Scott’s gladiator, And The actor could never have expected to be Hackford’s excuse for why the project failed.

Proof of life’s failure was blamed on Russell Crowe

Hackford described Crowe as a “very difficult and tortuous individual”

Warner Bros. pushed Hackford to cast a prominent leading man Proof of life. Hackford saw unedited previews of Ridley Scott’s GladiatorOne of the films that defined Crowe’s career, in which he starred and will soon receive an Oscar for best actor in praise of the performance. The director knew that Crowe was someone who could bring the character of Terry Thorne to the big screen, and fought to have the actor attached to his upcoming project.

Iconic actress Meg Ryan was cast as the leading woman, which escalated into A famous Hollywood scandal. Since Ryan was still publicly attached to Dennis Quaid at the time of filming, news of a romantic fling between her and rising star Russell Crowe sparked a frenzy for industry reporters.

Hackford ended up regretting his campaign to cast Crowe in the movie, as The affair received more media coverage than the release itself. Hackford described the romance (by The Guardian) as a “Destructive effect that overpowered the release of the film”. He also said Crowe was difficult to work with, describing him as a “A prickly individual who asks a lot and gives a lot.”

As Russell Crowe hit back at the director

Crowe dismissed any responsibility for the flop

Once Crowe learned of the guilt instilled in him and Taylor Hackford’s remarks, He said the director was a “E – King. That’s what he said? What a knot.” The statement left the press speechless and served as a bold but respectful response to the A-list actor’s first controversy. During the production of Proof of lifeCrowe isolated away from the set and embraced the Ecuadorian nature around them.

Russell Crew Later offered his own reasoning why the movie did not see the reception that the director expected, insisting that The release date of December was an unfortunate decision and stating that he “Would not watch a hostage film at Christmas.“ He also awarded some of the blame to the director’s “Reluctance to confront unpleasant truths“And claimed that the bad publicity of his affair was irrelevant. Of his romantically involved co-star, he protested: “The end of Meg’s previous relationship had nothing to do with me.

Source: The Guardian