Following the recent reporting of his comments about Barbie and Ryan Gosling, Oliver Stone made a statement about the situation.
According to Deadline, the situation started with the famous filmmaker suggesting during a June 2023 interview that Ryan Gosling should not have been involved in the Barbie film and should have stayed focused on “more serious films.”
“Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if he’s doing that s— for money,” Oliver Stone told City AM. “He should be doing more serious films. He shouldn’t be a part of this infantilization of Hollywood. Now it’s all fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, including all the war pictures: fantasy, fantasy.”
However, it appears that Deadline got everything all wrong. At least, that’s what Stone said. After the Deadline article was posted, Stone took to X (formerly Twitter) to explain his comments.
“Very disappointed to see Deadline, a publication I respect, run this sensationalistic, out-of-context statement I made about Barbie weeks before the film even came out,” Oliver Stone wrote. “At the time I was busy promoting my nuclear documentary in Europe and had little to no knowledge of the project beyond its title.”
Stone also wrote that he was able to see Barbie in theaters back in July and appreciated the film as well as its themes. “I found the filmmakers’ approach certainly different than what I expected,” he explained. “I apologize for speaking ignorantly.”
Oliver Stone then praised Barbie director Greta Gerwig for other films she has done over the years. “Greta Gerwig’s 2017 film Lady Bird was one of my favorites of that year,” he declared. “Barbie’s box office greatly boosted the morale of our business, which was welcome. I wish Greta and the entire Barbie team good fortune at the Oscars.”
Oliver Stone Also Criticizes ‘Fast & Furious’ and ‘John Wick’ Films
Along with criticizing Barbie before its release, Oliver Stone also took shots at both the Fast & Furious and John Wick franchises.
While speaking about the Fast & Furious franchise, Stone stated that while he used to enjoy the films, they have become like Marvel films to him. “I mean, how many crashes can you have?” he asked.
Oliver then spoke about the John Wick movies. “On the plane, I watched John Wick, which is three hours and some. And I fell asleep about 778 times during it,” he explained. “I kept waking up and having to face him killing more people. It’s like the world has degenerated into non-logic.”