Journalist walks out of Warcraft interview with Duncan Jones after asking director provocative questions
The journalist tweeted that fans had sent death threats
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Your support makes all the difference.Duncan Jones has had a pretty hard time of it recently. With the release of Warcraft, he was thrust back into the media spotlight just months after the death of his father, David Bowie.
Still, Jones was willing to promote the fantasy film, something he loved making. Despite negative reviews from many publications, the film found a huge following around the world (particularly in China), grossing upwards of $300 million worldwide as of writing, verifying Jones’s belief that fans, not just of the video game, would come out to see the film.
With all things considered, if you were given the opportunity to interview Jones, you would probably attempt to meet him in the middle - somewhere between not openly portraying your love for the flick or saying you hated it.
Enter Adam Rosser - a journalist who quite openly tells Jones he found many faults in the film. It’s increasingly awkward, as Rosser details how the film wasn’t coherent and the characters were underdeveloped.
After five minutes of Jones answering provocative questions, including one asking if he was the right man to direct the film, the interviewer abruptly gets up to leave, much to Jones’s bemusement (who looks increasingly ready for the next question).
To be fair to Rosser, it certainly seems that an unseen presence representing the film's PR was giving him the 'wrap-up' motion off camera. Whether the journalist was miffed with the interview being cut short (a bugbear for all journalists) or had simply forgotten how to end interviews in a courteous manner is unclear.
Since the interview was uploaded onto BBC iPlayer, Rosser has been abused by fans, leading to him deleting the video and Tweeting out: “Right. Any feedback that involves death threats isn't worth the candle tbh. So 20k views in that's gone.”
A spokesperson from the BBC clarified that Rosser was doing the interview for BBC 5Live, for his show. As he works at a freelance capacity, he was allowed to upload the video to his personal YouTube account; Rosser has since deleted the video. Speaking about the questioning, the BBC called it "fair and robust".
Previously, in response to critics, Jones Tweeted out from his account: “Please chill out. It's just a movie.” He has yet to comment on the interview directly.
Meanwhile, you can read our interview with Warcraft’s Dominic Cooper, in which he says what it was like working with Jones.
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