On Sept. 5, Oliver Hirschbiegel's new film "Diana" had its world premiere.
The new movie, starring Naomi Watts, recounts the final two years Princess Diana's life.
"Diana" has been one of the most talked about films of the year because of its subject matter, and because it was once seen as a huge Oscar contender. However, after its premiere the film can say goodbye to any awards chances. The movie was universally disliked and even Watts who was always seen as the front runner to win the Best Actress award was criticized for her one-dimensional performance.
The movie currently has a 14 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian gave the movie one star out of five and wrote, "An excruciatingly well-intentioned, reverential and sentimental biopic about her troubled final years, laced with bizarre cardboard dialogue - a tabloid fantasy of how famous and important people speak in private."
Emma Dibdin of the Digital Spy was equally negative and wrote, "In trying desperately (and understandably) to portray Diana accurately and reverentially, Watts has neglected to portray a person."
Charles Grant of Variety wrote, "This Princess Di biopic swerves past the pitfall of tastelessness only to risk a more perilous roadblock: dullness."
David Edwards of the Daily Mirror stated, "Diana can only be described as a fabulously awful film."
Graham Young of the Birmingham Mail also disliked the movie. "Of the three people who could tell it as it was, only one has been left alive to do so. Unfortunately for this film, and despite his best intentions, his name is not Oliver Hirschbiegel," wrote Young.
eOne recently announced that the movie would be released on Nov. 1 in limited theaters and would expand. However, based on the terrible reviews, the film looks to have a weak box office. The film is slated to open as a gala presentation at the Zurich Film Festival and opens on Oct. 10 in the U.K.
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