It seems that there's an unspoken rule that almost every year should feature a blockbuster loosely inspired by the building blocks of mythology and populate it with a few recognisable names, a large canvas and a special-effects-driven set-up that will likely impress in the short-term but feel somewhat generic in the longer-run. Think the likes of Clash of the Titans, 300, Exodus: Gods and Kings, the various Hercules outings... because it's rather clear that the people behind Gods of Egypt probably had the self-same titles on their checklist.
The Lionsgate film has been bubbling along the event horizon in the last few months after the first controversies hit in the wake of its initial trailer released in November. The likes of Bette Midler, Selma director Ava Duvernay noted the lack of ethic faces in the trailer, noting that - once again - Middle-Eastern epics were being populated by famous white, largely European or Australian actors. Gerard Butler plays Set, Rufus Sewell plays Urshu, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is Horus, award-winning Australian actor Geoffrey Rush plays the sun god Ra, Australian actress Abbey Lee plays Anat, Aussie actor Brendon Thwaites is Bek and Bryan Brown also appears. Chadwick Boseman (Get On Up and soon to appear as the Black Panther in the Marvel movies) appears as Thoth, but even his role has been accused in some quarters as merely being a token 'magic negro' stereotype in Gods of Egypt.
There's been an undeniable and long-standing tendency for Hollywood to ignore ethnic diversity in favour of tent-pole names and Ridley Scott, coming under fire over Exodus: Gods and Kings said that: 'I can’t mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such...' There's also the other element that Gods of Eqypt is hardly meant to be an historically-accurate tale - it's Transformers-like poster, released in the last twenty-four hours, betraying the kind of of unapologetic pixel-power smash-and-grab spectacle the studio is clearly going for.
However Lionsgate and Gods of Egypt's director, Alex Proyas - famous for the likes of the more individualistic The Crow and Dark City - took the unusual step of acknowledging the complaints about race and casting.
“The process of casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologize to those who are offended by the decisions we made,” said the director in a statement reported by business industry-site Forbes.
“We recognize that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologize. Lionsgate is deeply committed to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better..." Lionsgate added.
"Gods of Egypt makes me value [J.J.] Abrams’ Star Wars choices more. Makes me cheer more for [Ryan] Coogler’s Creed. We all deserve icons in our own image," Duvernay tweeted, but appeared to be pleasantly surprised by the studio's reaction."This kind of apology never happens - for something that happens all the time. An unusual occurrence worth noting."
Since then things have been fairly quiet, but the new poster and trailer will reignite interest. With the release of Gods of Egypt less than two months away we'll soon be able to judge whether this is the start of a new franchise, as the studio hopes, a Stargate for a new generation or a more disposable early entry into 2016's line-up of expensive-looking films...
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