Ray Winstone says Marvel stop “cultural films” from being made: “It’s all about selling tickets”

Ray Winstone has hit out at Marvel, claiming it stops “cultural films” from being made.

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The actor, who played villain Dreykov in the Scarlett Johansson-led 2021 action-thriller Black Widow, said he felt the industry has “become a business” at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Winstone said via Variety: “It’s all about selling tickets. We see what’s happening in Hollywood with Marvel and all that kind of stuff… There is room for it, and it’s fun, but it takes away from getting cultural films made, which are best for the actors, [and] are really good acting parts.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to do that. If you’re not on social media now, they might not even consider you for a movie because they want a fanbase to come with that.”

He added: “You have to go on Instagram, and I don’t want to go on fucking Instagram. I don’t know if it’s a good thing, but if it brings people to the cinema and creates new jobs, then I’ll do it. But I’d like to see more cultural films being made, that’s where good cinema is. From my point of view, anyway.”

Winstone referred to his roles in Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth and Sexy Beast as examples of cultural films.

He previously recalled filming Black Widow as a “soul-destroying” experience due to having to do reshoots.

The actor has now reiterated his frustrations with working on the movie adding: “I come home after finishing the job and get a call saying we need to do some reshoots.

“I say: ‘How many scenes?’ [director Cate Shortland] says ‘all of them.’ So I said she should recast [the role], but I was contracted, so I had to do it. I go back, they do my hair all nice, put me in the suit, and I couldn’t do it. I’d already done it. I thought, ‘I’m not doing it now. I’ve done it. That’s how it’s going to be.’ That’s rejection, you know? There’s nothing worse than doing something, leaving it on the floor, and then being told it’s not right.”

Winstone is currently filming the next season of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen and will appear in a forthcoming biopic about former snooker star Jimmy White.

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