As I write this on Tuesday April 5, 2022, Morbius is currently sitting at 16% on critical aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. That means with just over 200 reviews counted, 84% of critics who saw the film disliked it more than they liked it. (This critic included.) Which, to put it mildly, isnβt good. And itβs especially not good when itβs a mega Hollywood blockbuster set in the same universe as a character whose last film is approaching $2 billion globally.
And yet, Morbius is doing OK at the box office. It made almost $40 million on its opening weekend in North America and double that internationally. Odds are, it will end up turning a profit. But that doesnβt make the fact that an overwhelming majority of critics didnβt like your work any easier, and director Daniel Espinosa addressed that in a new interview.
βLook, I have a lot of self-hatred so I have a lot of criticism of my own work,β the director of Life and Safe House told Insider. βIβm always trying to focus on being better. But I am also proud of what I do. There are parts in all of my movies that Iβm really proud of.β He didnβt explain what specific parts he was referring to, but he did tell a few stories of how being a filmmaker is not for someone with thin skin.
βWhen I did my first feature it was a small movie called Babylon Disease,β Espinosa said. βI remember one day going home on the subway and I had a few drinks so I was a bit drunk. Someone nudged me on the train and said, βI have to tell you whatβs wrong with the second scene in your feature,β and I was like, βWell, OK.β The point Iβm making is that itβs a strange thing to make something that is so public.β
Publicβbut also, not always only your vision. In another interview with Uproxx, when asked about how much of Morbius was actually his, Espinosa said the following: βI think that I work at my best if I get a lot of decision power. But, in these movies, theyβre big movies that have a lot of peopleβs interest. Itβs different processes every time.β And maybe thatβs the key. Sure, its Espinosaβs name listedΒ at the end of the movie as director, but itβs possible he feels the bad reviews arenβt only his fault. In fact, they might actually be validation that he shouldβve been given more control.
Morbius is now in theater.
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