Controversy surrounding Clint Eastwood’s new film “Richard Jewell” didn’t do the movie any favors over the weekend as it flopped at the box office.
What happened: “Richard Jewell” — which tells the story of media coverage of a security guard who was falsely accused of the 1996 Olympic bombing plot — earned $5 million at the box office despite airing at 2,502 theaters, according to TheWrap.
- This means the film is on par for the worst opening for Eastwood for a nationwide film, which was set by “Bronco Billy” in 1980, which earned $3.7 million.
Controversy: “Richard Jewell” entered the weekend after becoming the subject of controversy.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent a letter to Warner Bros. and the film’s creators that asked for them to release a statement that said their depiction of a real-life journalist was dramatized, as reported by the Deseret News.
“We hereby demand that you immediately issue a statement publicly acknowledging that some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license and dramatization were used in the film’s portrayal of events and characters. We further demand that you add a prominent disclaimer to the film to that effect.”
Response: Cast members from the film responded to the backlash, according to the Deseret News. Many of the statements came from the news outlet 11 Alive.
- Clint Eastwood: “There’s only so much research you can do. You can’t live inside the people because they no longer exist. We know as much as anybody knows. Kathy Scruggs was a very interesting personality, and she did find the answer to it, so how she did it, nobody will ever really know. It could have certainly happened this way.”
- Jon Hamm: “It’s my understanding that the people making these accusations haven’t seen the film yet. ”I kind of feel like the irony in that is sort of ridiculous. Kathy is portrayed by Olivia in this film as she was, which is an incredibly nuanced individual. To reduce her to this one thing is not fair.”
- Hamm: “I think that there were certainly suggestions of impropriety with her character, but there are also some suggestions of impropriety with the character that I play, and that’s part of the tragedy of this story.”