“Shameful”: Viggo Mortensen Still Can’t Get Over the Fact That This Excellent Film Was Never Released in Theaters

“Shameful”: Viggo Mortensen Still Can’t Get Over the Fact That This Excellent Film Was Never Released in Theaters



Viggo Mortensen defends the film Thirteen Lives

If you are a Prime Video subscriber we can only recommend the film to you Thirteen Lives by Ron Howard. Based on the incredible rescue of young footballers from a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018, the film stars Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and even Joel Edgerton.

For more than two hours we were immersed as close as possible to this extraordinary rescue, which had very little chance of success. Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell play two expert diverswho are trying to come up with a rescue plan for the twelve children and their coach, trapped in an air bubble, several kilometers from the exit.

With the cave completely flooded, rescuers have no choice but to submerge them for several hours to have a chance of reaching the exit. The film describes their incredible plan to get them out of there, but also all the human resources that were at work in this last chance rescue.

The film is breathtaking from start to finish, and the tension reaches its peak when the camera dives in at the same time as the rescuers. in the depths of the cave. Obviously, Thirteen Lives It can make all claustrophobics break out in a cold sweat.

Despite its undeniable qualities, the film was released directly in streaming on Prime Video and was not released in theaters. A decision that Viggo Mortensen still does not understand, as he declared in an interview with Vanity Fair (via Variety).

“What they did is shameful”

Viggo Mortensen has expressed his anger at Amazon for deciding to distribute the film directly Thirteen Lives streaming, instead of in theaters as originally planned. According to him, Amazon has betrayed a crucial agreement, which reduced the visibility and potential impact of the film.

The film was scheduled to be released in thousands of theaters around the world,” Mortensen explained. This theatrical release would have allowed “Thirteen Lives” to reach a much wider audience and get the recognition it deserves. However, after Amazon acquired MGM, the company promised to honor the original deal before backing away from that promise.The film was essentially only visible for a week in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and London, and that was it.” he lamented, adding that this decision was “really sad” for a “very well made” film.

Viggo Mortensen criticized Amazon’s decision to prioritize streaming, saying it was tantamount to giving in to greed.They have all their excuses as to why they did this, but ultimately it’s greed.” he said. For him, Amazon could have honored the initial agreement and released the film widely in theaters, then offered it for streaming later. “They could have made money from streaming, too. But they thought it would be more profitable—that is, they would make more money—if they didn’t have to spend money on promotion and theatrical distribution and share that money with theaters.

In addition to his financial concerns, Viggo Mortensen has also expressed outrage over the treatment of Ron Howard, a respected director with a distinguished career. “For a guy with such a prestigious career as Ron Howard, who has made so much money for the studios, and who is rightfully recognized as a director, to do this to a guy like him, I find it outrageous,he said. Mortensen defended Howard, noting that Howard, while “very polite,” had not expressed any complaints about the matter.I don’t speak for him, I only speak for myself. I think what they did is shameful.” concluded Mortensen.

Source: Cine Serie

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