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Taika Waititi Slams 'Klara and the Sun' Critics as 'Sad Lost Souls'
· Confirmed
In Short: Taika Waititi has taken to Instagram to criticize film critics, calling them 'sad lost souls' and 'irrelevant,' after 'Klara and the Sun' received poor reviews and box office numbers.
Dark Horizons and Just Jared report that filmmaker Taika Waititi has taken to Instagram to criticize film critics, calling them 'sad lost souls' and 'irrelevant,' after 'Klara and the Sun' received poor reviews and box office numbers.
According to Dark Horizons, Waititi boasted about 'Klara and the Sun's' 78% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, while slamming critics who gave the movie negative reviews, contributing to its 26% critics rating.
TheWrap and Just Jared note that Waititi has not read a review of anything aimed at him or his peers in almost 15 years, but he does listen to the people.
Dark Horizons and TheWrap report that 'Klara and the Sun' has been savaged by critics and bombed at the box office, with poor reviews coming out of the movie’s London festival premiere sinking its chances.
Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter confirm that 'Klara and the Sun' stars Jenna Ortega as Klara, an artificial robot companion purchased for a gravely ill teenager named Josie, played by Mia Tharia.
According to Dark Horizons and Just Jared, the 2020s saw a slide in Waititi’s critical reception, with 'Thor: Love and Thunder' scoring mixed reviews, 'Next Goal Wins' receiving negative reviews, and 'Klara and the Sun' being outright panned.
TheWrap and Just Jared note that Waititi’s comments come amid reports that Sony Pictures is scaling back on the movie’s international release plans as it has only made $1.067 million domestically.
TheWrap and Just Jared report that Waititi’s Instagram post highlights the contrast between the film’s audience and critics scores on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score at 78% and the critics score at 26%.
TheWrap and Just Jared also note that Waititi’s comments come after the film’s poor performance, with the movie grossing approximately $1.7 million worldwide.
TheWrap and Just Jared report that Waititi’s comments about critics are not new, but calling an entire profession 'failed artists' who belong 'in the bin' is seen as wildly unhinged.
Dark Horizons and TheWrap agree that 'Klara and the Sun' has received poor reviews and box office numbers, with critics panning the film and audiences giving it a mixed reception.
Despite the critical reception, Waititi maintains that he listens to the audience and highlights the film’s positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What this adds
On Taika Waititi's criticism of 'Klara and the Sun' critics, but the new reports provide more details on the film's box office performance and Sony's response.
Background
Taika Waititi has taken to Instagram to criticize film critics, calling them 'sad lost souls' and 'irrelevant,' after 'Klara and the Sun' received poor reviews and box office numbers.
Klara and the Sun is the eighth novel by the Japanese-British writer Kazuo Ishiguro, published on 2 March 2021. It is a dystopian science fiction story.
What's confirmed
- His championing of the ‘Klara’ audience numbers rings fairly hollow considering that 78% is only 2% higher than the 76% that “Thor: Love and Thunder” received while critics were overall higher on his 2010 films than audience scores were.
- But the 2020’s saw a slide with “Thor: Love and Thunder” scoring mixed at best reviews, “Next Goal Wins” landing negative reviews, and now ‘Klara’ being outright panned.
- Filmmaker Taika Waititi’s “Klara and the Sun” has been savaged by critics and bombed at the box-office, the poor reviews coming out of the movie’s London festival premiere shortly before release essentially sinking its chances from the get go.
- The pair immediately hit it off, with Klara’s innocence and curiosity about the world helping Josie as she navigates a complicated relationship with her mother ( Amy Adams ).
- Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, an artificial robot companion who is purchased as a companion for a young girl named Josie ( Mia Tharia ).
- “This Halloween, let’s spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics,” the filmmaker says Taika Waititi has heard what the critics are saying about his latest film “Klara and the Sun” … and he doesn’t seem too happy, no matter what his use of emojis might say.
- “And that, more than anything else in this disappointing misfire, makes me sad.” Waititi’s comments also come after Sony Pictures Releasing reportedly scaled back the film’s international release since it’s only made $1.067 million domestic thus far, averaging just $823 per theater.
- Released last weekend in the United States, “Klara and the Sun” currently has a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (though 75% of the platform’s audience currently approves).
- “We only break out the expression ’emotionally manipulative’ if the filmmaking is so clumsy that the manipulation doesn’t work. The underlying emotional and practical truths within ‘Klara and the Sun’ are bypassed in favor of cloying, overblown melodrama, and because the film ignores its own reality, including the sad stuff, it can’t make us cry,” Bibbiani wrote.
- Firing back at critics is nothing new, but calling an entire profession “failed artists” who belong "in the bin" is hilarious, and wildly unhinged.
- It managed $200K in previews from around 1800 screens.
- The critical gap is enormous: on Rotten Tomatoes, only 24% of 66 reviews are positive, and the film's Metacritic score sits at 30.
What's still developing
- Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 dystopian novel, Klara and the Sun stars Jenna Ortega as the titular android, who is purchased as an “Artificial Friend” for gravely ill teenager Josie (Mia Tharia), whose family is mourning the death of her older sister Sal.
- Meanwhile, Waititi might have flown too close to the sun with the film’s reported $20M budget, opening last weekend to $701K domestic.
- Adapting Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel about a lifelike robot who’s purchased to be a lonely teenager’s friend, filmmaker Taika Waititi continues down the saccharine path he has traveled since 2019’s Oscar-winning “Jojo Rabbit.” The movie’s guileless android will learn about love, loss and other far-too-common human experiences.
- Klara’s fellow B1s may consider her peculiar but in a Waititi movie, being a quirky oddball is actually a badge of honor.
- Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s New York premiere earlier this month, Waititi also shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence, which plays a central role in the film’s premise of AI companions.
- When it debuted in theaters last weekend, “Klara and the Sun” landed at a staggering No.
- Meanwhile, the audience will wonder if the sentimental pummeling will ever end.
Sources
- Darkhorizonslink
- Deadlinelink
- Justjaredlink
- Los Angeles Timeslink
- The Hollywood Reporterlink
- Thewraplink
- Varietylink
- Worldofreellink
- WarpBeat — background on Taika Waititi Slams 'Klara and the Sun' Critics, Calls Them 'Sad Lost Souls' link
- Wikipedia — background on Klara and the Sun link
- Sony Pictures Entertainment / YouTube — video link