Nicolas Winding Refn says Amazon intentionally "buried" Too Old To Die Young

"They took all my marketing money away because they were afraid that the show would reflect badly on Amazon," says the Drive director

By Gabrielle Sanchez  |  January 10, 2023 | 8:40pm
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Nicolas Winding Refn says Amazon intentionally
Nicolas Winding Refn Photo: Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio

Fans of Nicolas Winding Refn know the director’s affinity for exploitation films and grimy underworlds. The Drive auteur established a career that unflinchingly looks at the gears that grind the minds and bodies of people caught up in them. However, when giving the director license to create Too Old To Die Young, it seems Amazon was not totally up to speed on Refn’s work.

Miles Teller led Too Old To Die Young as the detective-by-day, vigilante-killer-by-night Martin Jones, who finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into a grimy and violent Los Angeles underground. Upon wrapping the series, Refn says Amazon squandered the marketing campaign for the miniseries, fearing the typically polarizing director’s work would once again be polarizing to audiences.

“Well, they took all my marketing money away because they were afraid that the show would reflect badly on Amazon,” Refn tells Vulture. “They told me that directly. They were so shocked by it. I was like, ‘What’s so shocking?’ They said, ‘It’s going to make us look bad.’ And I said, ‘But I don’t think anyone’s going to look at you at all.’”

“Certain parts of Hollywood are so self-absorbed that they think they’re at the center of the universe,” Refn continues. “The rule of fear is very dangerous. Amazon released the show, but they said, ‘We will bury you.’ And so they did. However, you can’t bury a diamond.”

The streamer notably only gave critics access to the fourth and fifth episodes of the series for review ahead of its release. Despite rumors of the series’ “cancellation” by Amazon following season one, Refn says Too Old To Die Young was intended as a limited series as there were limits on how much the Danish director had to say about the state of America. Even if he did, it seems unlikely Amazon would have given him more money to further the story.

“That could only be a self-contained piece,” Refn says. “After 13 hours I had nothing left to say about America. I was drained. And 13 hours is almost two seasons. Three seasons if you look at television nowadays.”

He’s now taken his talents to Netflix, which just released another neon-soaked, gritty series from Refn titled Copenhagen Cowboy. Despite his propensity to drastically change storylines during filming, Refn says Netflix has been happy with their working relationship. While a second season of Copenhagen Cowboy has not been announced, Refn says he has “already begun other adventures with Netflix” and has plans for a season two arc.

 
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