Even though Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ won the box office crown this weekend, it only earned an estimated $24.5 million, performing lower than studio executives hoped. While it is difficult to determine why many moviegoers chose to stay home, some have speculated that Scott’s casting decisions had something to do with it.
The film received criticism early on for placing white Westerners in most leading roles and relegating people of color to lesser roles such as “Ramses servant.” Many people called for a boycott of the whitewashed film, inspiring twitter hashtags such as #boycottexodusmovie. Last week, I argued in another column that it was one of three religious hurdles facing the film. It seems likely to me that race was one of many factors that led to the low earning weekend.
In light of the controversy, I discussed the film’s race problem in an interview with CNN: