In the age of superhero blockbusters, movie-goers still hope to see the approval stamp of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and other Hollywood auteurs. That includes the very actors in those aforementioned superhero movies, and sometimes they’re even fooled by a little internet trickery. Take Morbius star Tyrese Gibson, as an example.
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A fake quote started circulating online of Scorsese raving about the movie, even including the filmmaker photoshopped into a red carpet event with the Morbius backdrop. It was all untrue, as you might expect, but it had Gibson fooled. The actor shared the alleged “quote” Scorsese said, plus the photoshop of the filmmaker while celebrating his faux response to the feature. Gibson shared the quote in a now-deleted Instagram post Sunday morning.
Scorsese made news in genre circles back in 2019 for saying Marvel movies and other similar types shouldn’t be considered “cinema.”
“I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema,” Scorsese told Empire. “Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”
Shortly thereafter, Coppola defended his friend’s comments, saying the films could be compared to unhealthy food.
“Personally I don’t like the idea of franchises, the notion that you can keep repeating what is essentially the same movie for financial gain — in other words what is a formulaic approach,” Coppola said. “I feel that approach is taken to reduce the economic risk of movies and I feel the ‘risk factor’ is an element that makes movies sometimes be great. Also the formulaic film draws most available resources to them, leaving little for more daring productions, reducing diversity.”
“In some ways I think the cinema is like food; certainly you can add things to make it tempting, tasty and enjoyable but it must also be nutritious to qualify as real food,” Coppola said.
Morbius is now showing exclusively in theaters.
What’d you think of the Jared Leto-starring feature? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!