Tom Hanks hurls expletive at movie critics after his $50m film Here bombed at box office

Tom Hanks had some nice words for film critics following the dismal box office debut of his $50 million film Here.

The two-time Oscar winner, 68, didn’t hold back during Sunday’s episode Conan O’Brien needs a friend podcast, which labels film critics as “c***s****rs” while discussing how Hollywood’s response to films has changed over the years.

Although his comments came just days after his Forrest Gump reunion with Robin Wright failed with just $5 million in opening weekend earnings, Hanks focused on his directorial debut That Thing You Do! from 1996, which was panned by critics upon release but has since gained cult status.

“Let me tell you about these ‘c***s****rs’ who write about movies,” Hanks said, recalling a critic who wrote That Thing You Do! when it first came out.

“That same person later wrote about the cult classic That Thing You Do! Exactly the same person. They said, “All it takes is twenty years between now and then, and eventually you’ll speak a few words.”

The two-time Oscar winner, 68, didn’t hold back during Sunday’s episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, labeling film critics “c***s****rs” while discussing how Hollywood’s response on films has changed over the years

For Hanks, it seems that his problem with movie reviews is the way they often reduce movies to simple judgments.

At one point he even jokes about grabbing a gun when a new review comes out.

Yet he is realistic about the role that criticism plays in the company.

“But that’s what we all signed up for,” the star explained. ‘That’s carnival, that’s the competition. I have confidence in that. That’s okay.’

Hanks’ podcast confession follows Here director Robert Zemeckis’ own take on the box office flop.

Zemeckis attributed the disappointing performance to the “stressful situation” gripping the film industry.

Despite the ambitious concept – which took place entirely in one room yet unfolded over thousands of years – Here struggled to attract audiences and generate revenue.

Sources said Term that Here was a shaky gamble from the start, saying that all “studios passed on the film at the package stage because they saw it was a risky and difficult film for a broad audience.”

This was also made without a domestic distributor

Hanks reunites with Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis (pictured together last month) and co-star Robin Wright, 58, for the film – which spans the events of a single plot of land and its inhabitants far into the future

Zemeckis said, “I have to give credit to (former Miramax Head) Bill Block, who had the courage and vision to understand and make the film. He is the only man who had the conviction to do this. That was fantastic. Thank God he was there to do it.”

Block left Miramax in October 2023 when Here was “almost done.” Sony subsequently acquired the film in a distribution deal due to its relationship with Hanks on previous releases A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and A Man Called Otto.

Zemeckis added, “I think the movie theater world is in a stressful situation right now.”

This is described here IMDb as ‘a generational story about families and the special place where they live, sharing love, loss, laughter and life.’

The drama film, which is based on the 2014 graphic novel by Richard McGuire, stars Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Dockery, Gwilym Lee and Ophelia Lovibond.

Rewind to 1994 and Hanks, Wright, Zemeckis and Roth were riding high amid the massive success of Forrest Gump.

The critically acclaimed film follows the life of mentally and physically challenged Alabama man Forrest Gump (Hanks) as he experiences many of the most prominent events of the 20th century in the US.

Along with Hanks and Wright, the main cast included Sally Field, Gary Sinisem Mykelti Williamson and Haley Joel Osment.

However, unlike the critically acclaimed 1994 classic, Here has failed to ignite at the box office, with Oscar winner Zemeckis blaming the film industry’s ‘stressful situation’.

Thirty years earlier, Forrest Gump became a cultural phenomenon, grossing $678.2 million in art at the worldwide box office against a budget of $55 million.

The Zemeckis-directed film, written by Roth, became a major success with moviegoers and critics alike, grossing $678.2 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of $55 million.

Among its many accolades were thirteen Academy Award nominations, resulting in six wins, including Best Picture, Best Director for Zemeckis and Best Actor for Hanks.

In December 2011, Forrest Gump became one of the rare films selected for preservation in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.

The Registry said the film was “honored for its technological innovations (the digital insertion of Gump seamlessly into vintage archival footage), its resonance within the culture that elevated Gump (and what he represents in terms of American innocence) to the status of folk hero , and his attempt to address controversial aspects of the era’s traumatic history in both a playful and serious manner.’