Director Oliver Stone says BARBIE movie is ‘ridiculous’ and Ryan Gosling is ‘wasting his time’ – then apologizes

Director Greta Gerwig’S Barbie it was the biggest film of 2023. It broke records for Warner Bros., for Gerwig, and for female directors in general. It was represented in nominations this awards season and is a fan favorite that brought people back to the movies after a strange few post-pandemic years. The film spans all genres, with plenty of comedy, drama, music, existentialism, romance and questions about life, but some have dismissed it as a superficial effort.

One of these critics is the director Oliver Stonewho directed acclaimed films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Born on July 4th, The doors, JFK, Natural born killers, Every Sunday, Snowden, and many others. You gave an interview to Yahoo! to promote his new documentary, Nuclear nowand was jokingly asked if he would like to direct a Barbie2 if it ever happens.

Stone responded, not jokingly:

“Ridiculous. Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he does this shit for money. He should make more serious films. He shouldn’t be part of this infantilization of Hollywood. Now it’s all fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, including all the war pictures: fantasy, fantasy Even the Fast and Furious movies, which I liked, have become like Marvel movies. I mean, how many accidents can you see?”

I mean, I think most people can agree that we’ve seen our fair share of Fast & Furious film, but I think it’s undervaluing a film that clearly had an impact. I think what Stone doesn’t understand is this Barbie it’s not necessarily for him, and it doesn’t matter what he thinks about it. Films find audiences, despite the fact that some people may not like them. It’s really strange to think that a director would be so critical of a film that he didn’t find funny (assuming he saw it and wasn’t just complaining about how he thought it was). It’s also absurd to criticize an actor’s choices, especially for an award-worthy performance that the actor is proud of.

Go ahead, Stone. Go cry about something that matters.

Update: Oliver Stone has since apologized to X saying: “At the time I was busy promoting my nuclear documentary in Europe and had little to no knowledge of the project beyond the title. At the time I was busy promoting my nuclear documentary in Europe and had little to no knowledge of the project beyond the title.”

Oliver said he “was able to see Barbie at the cinema last July and I appreciated the film for its originality and its themes.” He continued: “I found the filmmakers’ approach certainly different from what I expected. I apologize for speaking ignorantly.”