ATOM EGOYAN - EGOYAN HITS BACK AT FANS AND CRITICS

Film maker ATOM EGOYAN has hit back at reviewers and fans who criticised his decision to make mainstream movie WHERE THE TRUTH LIES.

The cult Canadian director was accused of selling out by making the 1940s crime drama starring KEVIN BACON and COLIN FIRTH - three years after his critically acclaimed genocide drama ARARAT.

But EGOYAN insists he wanted to branch out and try something new.

He tells Empireonline, "If you kept doing the same sort of film, that would be tedious. Once people think they have you figured out as making a certain type of work, it takes quite a bit of commitment to sort of reappraise and adapt to that.

"There are reviews which have quite explicitly said that I have no business in this sort of territory you know and you think 'Well, why not?' isn't that what's kind of interesting, that you go into those genres that you would not expect to be?"

Egoyan is also annoyed that he'll be accused of failure when he returns to making smaller movies: "That's probably where the most frustrating aspect is.

"Ultimately what I will do is go back to making kind of smaller films because I do love those sorts of movies, but I do that kind of resentfully because I kind of feel I'm giving them what they want."