Hugh Grant Says It’s A ‘Complete Mystery’ Why This Film Of His Was A Supposed ‘Box Office Bomb’

Hugh Grant has repeatedly spoken about being in what he’s affectionately described as the “freak show” stage of his career, which has seen him bounding from one eccentric character to the next in the last few years.

Among them have been a religion-obsessed recluse in the horror film Heretic, an eccentric thespian in Paddington 2 and, infamously, an Oompa Loompa in the movie musical Wonka.

Throughout it all, though, Hugh says he’s been choosy about the roles that he selects, turning down anything he thinks has been “insufficient in quality or independence allowed to the filmmakers”.

And that’s why he was so bemused when one of his more recent movies underperformed at the box office.

Speaking to Vanity Fair last year to promote Heretic, Hugh was asked about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, in which he played the conniving scam artist Forge Fitzwilliam.

Despite largely glowing reviews (including from Hugh himself, who maintains it is “such a good film”), the adventure movie was described by some critics as a “box office bomb”, which the Bafta winner admitted he’s still perplexed by.

“It’s the biggest mystery to me,” the British star admitted, questioning: “Why didn’t anyone do market research before?”

Hugh continued: “I think that’s what went wrong: Basically, people just thought, I don’t want to see a film about this game. Why had no one asked the public?”

During another interview last month, Hugh shared his love of another film from his back catalogue that he still has a lot of affection for, even though it was torn apart by critics.

The Love Actually star can currently be seen in the new Bridget Jones sequel Mad About The Boy, reprising the role of Daniel Cleaver from the first two films.

Hugh famously chose not to take part in the third movie, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and candidly explained his reasoning last year.