Ridley Scott Thinks 'The Last Duel' Bombed Because Millennials Have Phones

“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones. The millennian, [who] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cell phone,” Scott said.' 

“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” Scott added to Maron. “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”

Let's preface by noting that Ridley Scott is a movie making legend. He is a pioneer that made not 1, but 4 of my favorite movies ever. Nothing he does, says or makes will ever take that away. 

That said, this response by him is about as bad as you can expect from a director. If you are a director and your movie financially bombs, there is almost no situation where blaming the audience is going to go in your favor. The best you can do is lick your wounds and hope it does well once it comes out on home release. Not that it is much consolation for a director, but having people say "How did this movie flop?" or say it was under-appreciated is better for your image than blaming audiences for being dumb. 

The thing is, I don't even think he is necessarily wrong. I read through the entire wiki article for the actual Last Duel that the movie is based on before watching the movie. To me, though, it didn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie at all. That is where I think his interpretation is wrong. Also, it is obviously fucking dumb to blame en entire generation of people instead of just admitting that your movie was maybe a little too confusing or niche to have mainstream box office appeal.