HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 23, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — It seems there are no Egyptians starring in a film about Egypt, and Hollywood is mad as hell.
“Gods of Egypt,” set for Feb. 26 release, is under fire for a lack of diversity in the film.
“Gods of Egypt” features mostly white actors, including Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Brenton Thwaites.
Both Lionsgate, the studio that owns Summit (the releasing company for the film), and director Alex Proyas have apologized after being under fire for the casting choices made.
Actress-singer Bette Midler tweeted of the film, “Movie, #GodsOfEgypt in which everyone is white? Egyptians, in history and today, have NEVER been white. BRING BACK GEOGRAPHY!! It’s Africa!”
Proyas and Lionsgate issued individual press releases in which they apologized for the casting decisions.
From Lionsgate: “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.”
And from Proyas: “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.”
The Hollywood Reporter said that “Selma” director Ava DuVernay took to Twitter to comment on the public apologies. “This kind of apology never happens — for something that happens all the time. An unusual occurrence worth noting,” she tweeted, followed by, “GODS OF EGYPT makes me value Abrams’ STAR WARS choices more. Makes me cheer more for Coogler’s CREED. We all deserve icons in our own image.”
