Oliver Stone Reveals Opening Against Seth MacFarlane's Ted Was A Blow To His Hollywood Career
Over the course of his career, Oliver Stone has become one of the influential (and controversial) filmmakers of our time. From Platoon and Wall Street to Born on the Fourth of July and Nixon, it goes without saying that he’s made a serious impression on cinema. However, his career hasn’t been without its setbacks. Now, he’s looking back on one of his more recent films, which opened against Seth MacFarlane’s Ted, and how the film’s reception dealt a blow to his career.
While 2016’s Snowden was Stone’s last major film, the last “mainstream” movie he was produced was the 2012’s Savages. Universal Pictures released the film a week after Ted, another one of its productions and, ultimately, Savages would fail to find an audience, earning an underwhelming $83 million global sum.
Oliver Stone doesn’t hold any bitterness towards Universal for shifting Savages to a summer release date, but he does believe Ted hurt its chances to make an impact at the box office:
The filmmaker went on to tell The New York Times that while he still gets offered film projects, he doesn’t necessarily feel the motivation to make them. He attributes this to the “pain and misery” from Savages’ failure and his difficulties while making Snowden:
Hearing that a cinema veteran like Oliver Stone has become somewhat disillusioned with filmmaking may come as a bit of a shock to some. But the fact that it was Seth MacFarlane’s Ted that caused it is arguably an even bigger surprise. What’s ironic about the situation is that Ted had many detractors when it was first announced. Even Seth MacFarlane was sure the film would flop, yet it succeeded at the box office and even spawned a sequel.
Right now, Oliver Stone says he’s keeping himself busy by working on two documentaries, one on his 1991 film JFK and another about clean energy titled A Bright Future. So it would appear he’ll continue to take a break from more narrative-driven features for the time being but, at the very least, fans of Stone still have a few pieces of work to look forward to. And time will tell if he decides to return to mainstream filmmaking.
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Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. Covers superheroes, sci-fi, comedy, and almost anything else in film and TV. He eats more pizza than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.