Mandela Scriptwriter Blames 12 Years a Slave for His Movies Failure
Well, this is one way to spin defeat. At a literary festival in England over the weekend, Mandela Long Walk to Freedom scriptwriter William Nicholson told the audience that his film failed to make a splash and win awards because 12 Years a Slave "sucked up all the guilt about black people that was available." Unlike 12 Years  which earned rave reviews and took home three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay  Mandela received mixed reviews and only one Oscar nod for Best Original Song. "Let It Go" from Frozen ultimately picked up the prize., Yet Nicholson  who previously co-wrote the scripts for Gladiator and Elizabeth The Golden Age  doesn't think Mandelas lukewarm reception was warranted. "I think it worked superbly," he said of his film. But "Americans were so exhausted feeling guilty about slavery that I don't think there was much left over to be nice about our film. So our film didn't do as well as we'd hoped, which was a bit heartbreaking.", Guardian