Oh, Millennials, is there anything you haven’t ruined?

The generation that came after X but before Z has been scapegoated for tanking a lot of industries in the last few years, mostly by cranky boomers who are nostalgic for the way things used to be, whether that was a sustainable way of living or not. A quick Google search shows that Millennials have been charged with destroying the NFL, casual dining, cable television, banking (though banks seem to be thriving very well, it would seem), diamond sales, and worst of all, wine corks. The nerve!

Also on that list: theatrical movies, though, after 2019 most people would conclude that there was a more likely culprit causing ticket sales to decline: the Covid-19 pandemic. Ridley Scott, who directed The Last Duel, apparently isn’t going to allow a global virus that has changed life as we know it to shoulder any of the blame for that movie’s poor box office performance, though. Not when there’s a more likely suspect: everyone born between 1981 and 1996.

You know who you are. And you know what you did.

Scott appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast Monday where he lambasted the whole generation because his movie only took in a $27.5 million worldwide from its October theatrical release. The film had a budget of over $100 million, making it a certified flop. But why? According to Scott, it was cellphones, with a side of Facebook.

“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these f*cking cellphones. The millennian [sic] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone,” Scott said.

“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” Scott added. “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”

Scott said the fault wasn’t with the marketing campaign for The Last Duel, saying the decision-making process at the studio was solid throughout.

“No. Disney did a fantastic promotion job,” Scott said when Maron implied the company may have been the reason for The Last Duel’s poor performance. “The bosses loved the movie — because I was concerned it was not for them — but they really liked the movie, so their advertising, publicity, et cetera, was excellent.”

Scott also defended the movie itself. “We all thought it was a terrific script. And we made it. You can’t win all the time. I’ve never had one regret on any movie I’ve ever made. Nothing. I learned very early on to be your own critic. The only thing you should really have an opinion on is what you just did. Walk away. Make sure you’re happy. And don’t look back. That’s me.”

Scott is the director of many critical and box office successes like Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, so he obviously knows how to make a decent film. But obviously something about his latest movie didn’t appeal to enough people. The Last Duel starred Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer, and was set in medieval France, with a storyline that could be considered…problematic.

Ridley is back in theaters this week with House of Gucci, which teams Driver with Lady Gaga in a period piece about the fashion family. We will know in about a week if the Millennials’ love of Gaga will triumph over their industry-trashing inclinations to give Scott a chance to eat his words.