Viggo Mortensen Slams Amazon Over ‘Thirteen Lives’ Streaming: ‘Disgraceful’

Elizabeth Goodenough / Everett Collection

Viggo Mortensen called Amazon in Interview with Vanity Fair Because of the company’s decision to cancel a wide theatrical release for Ron Howard’s 2022 film Thirteen Lives and instead release it internationally. Mortensen, who starred in the well-reviewed Thai cave rescue thriller with Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton, said the film was a “really good movie” and that MGM intended to release it in full theatrical release after “they did test screenings of this movie and got the highest ratings in the history of this studio.”

“They were going to release the movie worldwide in thousands of theaters,” Mortensen said. “Then Amazon bought MGM, and initially promised to honor the deal that MGM had made with Ron Howard, and then they backed out of it. Basically, I saw the movie for a week in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and London, and that was it. Then there was the streaming, which I thought was really sad. It’s a really well-shot movie.”

Thirteen Lives was released in select theaters on July 29, 2022, and was released on Prime Video on August 5, 2022. The film received strong reviews, with many critics comparing the film favorably to Howard’s previous survival thriller Apollo 13.

“They have all their excuses for doing this, but it comes down to greed,” Mortensen said of Amazon. “How much money do you need? I think Amazon certainly could have honored the deal, as they said they would, and released the film widely in theaters and let it play. And then they could have also made money from streaming. But they figured it would be more cost-effective — that is, they “The movie could have made more money — if they didn’t have to bother spending money promoting it and putting it in theaters and sharing that money with theaters, frankly. That’s the crux of it. To me, it’s greed.”

“For a guy who has had a career as long as Ron Howard, who has made a lot of money for the studios, who has been historically credited as a filmmaker — for that to be done to someone like him, I think it’s appalling,” the actor added. “He’s a very nice guy, so he didn’t go out there complaining about it, but I’m happy to do it for him. I’m not speaking for him, I’m just speaking for myself. I think it was disgraceful what they did.”

Mortensen also criticized the current state of film criticism, saying, “What passes for critical thinking in terms of reviews is pretty weak” these days.

“In terms of a critic’s understanding of the history of cinema and how it’s made, the bar is really low,” he added. “There are some good critics, and there are some really interesting conversations among journalists about their reactions to films, but it’s not great. As a director, and certainly as a director and producer, I care about that. It’s much more important to me than as an actor because the fate of a film, whether it’s distributed well, whether it’s released in theaters, all depends on how it’s received by critics.”

President of more than Vanity Fair Magazine Website To read Mortensen’s latest profile in full.