This is gold.
Any true film geek knows that nowadays, 20th Century Fox is the pits. Its current Commander in Chief, Tom Rothman, has a bizarre tendency – almost a compulsion – to piss on fanboy hopes and dreams, cranking out insipid products and taking beloved franchises and barely showing them a modicum of respect. Whether it’s intentional or not, I can’t say, but look at their recent track record and you’ll realize that they’re second to George Lucas in the childhood-raping sweepstakes. Examples: The ALIEN/PREDATOR franchise; cutting the balls off of LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, HITMAN and BABYLON A.D.; wantonly slapping together a 3rd X-MEN film they knew would be hated by all; THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL; FANTASTIC FOUR; ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS; MEET THE SPARTANS… The list goes on.
Take heed, however – it’s not just the web community who hates their collective guts. Alex Proyas, who directed I, ROBOT (another piece of garbage) for the studio, thinks Tom Rothman and co. are miserable people as well.
CHUD spoke with Proyas – who is promoting Summit Entertainment’s KNOWING – and Proyas let loose on the studio, saying he’s “warned people off” from working with them, and declaring he’ll “never work with them again”. “I’d rather work with a good studio like Summit than a really bad studio.”
Proyas specifically points to ridiculous requests made by Rothman regarding I, ROBOT – requests Rothman wouldn’t make in person. To quote Proyas, Rothman sent his “evil minions to do his bidding.” Apparently the requests were along the lines of injecting jokes and other stupidity into the movie.
Doesn’t it sound like Rothman and Lucas share the same brain? Evil minions and stupid jokes… I’m sure Rothman laughs his ass off every time he sees Jar Jar Binks… (Guess who distributed the prequels.)
They also made Garfield.