Chloé Zhao Reckons With ‘Eternals’ Dividing Fans: Its Style ‘Made People Uncomfortable’
variety.comZack Sharf While Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals” managed to gross $402 million worldwide at the pandemic box office, the film strongly divided critics and Marvel fans. “Eternals” boasts a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest rated Marvel movie on the aggregation website (yes, even lower than “Thor: The Dark World).
In a new interview with Empire magazine, Zhao opened up for the first time in detail about the polarizing reception to her Marvel movie.“Eternals” was originally supposed to open in November 2020, but the pandemic delayed the project’s release by an entire year.
In its original November 2020 slot, “Eternals” would’ve more closely followed the opening of “Avengers: Endgame.” Zhao said the release day combined with the pandemic set “Eternals” up for divisiveness. “‘Eternals’ was planned to be released soon after ‘Endgame,’ and not at a time when everyone is having an existential crisis,” Zhao said. “The film itself is about existential crisis, both for humanity and God.
So I think we definitely felt [the divisiveness] was coming.”Zhao also said the fusion of Marvel’s in-house style and her own indie film sensibilities was another source of the movie’s polarization.
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