Mel Gibson slams 'Batman v Superman' for high budget: 'Spandex must cost a lot'

VENICE, Italy, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Mel Gibson attacked Warner Bros'. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for its high budget and focus on spandex-wearing fictional heroes.

"It's a piece of [expletive]," the actor/filmmaker said Tuesday in an interview with Deadline during the Venice Film Festival where his latest film, Hacksaw Ridge is being showcased.

"I'm not interested in the stuff. Do you know what the difference between real superheroes and comic-book superheroes is? Real superheroes didn't wear spandex. So I don't know. Spandex must cost a lot," he continued.

Gibson then detailed how he was able to maintain a modest budget for Hacksaw Ridge, a WWII epic, when compared to the cost of Dawn of Justice.

"The exchange rate for the U.S. dollar was good at the time, and I think we locked in at about 72 cents on the dollar and took a $27 million budget and turned it into a $40 million budget," the 60-year-old explained.

"I look at them and scratch my head. I'm really baffled by it. I think there's a lot of waste, but maybe if I did one of those things with the green screens I'd find out different," he added. "It seems to me that you could do it for less. ... You're spending outrageous amounts of money, $180 million or more, I don't know how you make it back after the tax man gets you, and after you give half to the exhibitors."

Panned by critics, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which opened in March, took in a reported $872 million worldwide off a budget of $250 million.

Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield opens in theaters Nov. 4.

Gibson recently made headlines when he confirmed the development of a Passion of the Christ follow-up entitled The Resurrection.