Amazon’s decision to release his film Thirteen Lives straight to streaming, describing it as “shameful”.The 2022 film told the story of the heroic rescue of 12 members of a Thai youth football team and their coach from an underground cave system. Mortensen played Richard Stanton, one of the cavers who proved pivotal in the operation.It received a limited theatrical release before being fast-tracked to Amazon Prime Video, despite a cast that also included Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton, and generally positive reviews.Speaking to Vanity Fair, Mortensen gave his clear view on that decision, noting that studio MGM had intended to release it in “many, many, many thousands of theatres” due to its positive test screenings.Then Amazon bought MGM, initially promised to respect the deal that MGM had made with [director] Ron Howard, and then they went back on that.
