Josh Brolin’s career is nearing four decades, with some genuine classics and an Oscar nomination on his resume. But it is not without its duds, and if there’s one that failed the hardest, it’s undoubtedly 2010’s Jonah Hex, which found Josh Brolin as the titular DC character.
In a new interview with Variety, Josh Brolin bluntly put the “awfully good”-worthy Jonah Hex on blast, saying it was a bust both “creatively and monetarily”, a point supported by both the content and the fact that it pulled in just $11 million on a nearly $50 million budget. Brolin elaborated on what went wrong, suggesting it felt like the movie was thrown together, starting with director Jimmy Hayward—what, the Horton Hears a Who! guy couldn’t handle the material? “I remember it didn’t feel right. I loved that he was excited, but he just didn’t have the experience and he didn’t treat it like I would imagine somebody would want to treat it–to run back to their house at the end of their every day and watch tonal inspirations and Scorsese movies or this or that. He would be out partying instead…I just think we made a big mistake with the director—not to blame it all at him, because that was my choice, that was my bad choice.” Of note, Hayward hasn’t directed a live-action feature since Jonah Hex.
Josh Brolin also offered an informal apology to numerous Jonah Hex co-stars that ended up getting a bad wrap because of the movie, like Megan Fox (“I thought was perfect for that role. Maybe not the best actress at that moment, but for that type of parody, forget it. Her, at that moment? You couldn’t do better than that.”), Michael Fassbender, Michael Shannon, and John Malkovich, who Brolin seems a bit sympathetic to since he had just fallen victim to Ponzi scheme artist Bernie Madoff.
But it’s not just the cast and crew of Jonah Hex that Josh Brolin had issues with—it was the studio, who he says butchered the movie during the editing process so much that they ended up making “the least accessible movie.” Josh Brolin hasn’t been shy about his disdain for Jonah Hex before, saying he downright hates it.
What do you think of Jonah Hex and Josh Brolin’s comments about it? Do you think the movie is really that awful or does it have some redeeming qualities? Let us know your take below!