With theatrical still returning from the doldrums of Covid, several across the industry have racked their heads about the chasm of product on the big screen, and whether cinemas are strictly destinations for tentpoles, and nothing else.
, the movie was considered a misfire at the box office. However, by today’s pandemic standards, it would be amazing if a feature such as that could emulate such business. But according to Gray, if you’re not investing in art, and only appeasing studio bean counters, the cultural significance of cinema remains in peril.
“And then you begin to eliminate the importance of movies culturally,” he continues, “When you are so quarterly earnings bottom-line minded; you lose the big brain vision.”
The streaming movies that do the best come out theatrical first because that means the studio has confidence and also spends the marketing dollars. It’s hardly surprising.
Amen
readwise save
allanbroce Hey you
I think the substance of what he says is correct, but only in part. The rise of blockbuster big budget franchise movies also coincided with the rise of ticket prices. And that matters to people who think about the cost of things when they purchase them.
😳😳😳
It's morbin time
The main problem is not just that they're churning superhero movies after another, is that most of them are Marvel, which means they all look and feel very similar
The chutzpah isn't about Art vs Aquaman! Its about not letting indie writers, filmmakers make films and release it broadway. As corporations systematically contain them by a crony capitalistic orgs bulldozing everything else in pretext of false competition in 'Art/Creative Space'
Jules Verne once wrote 'Put two ships in the open sea and without wind or tide...they will come together..'
Checking the list of my favorite movies of the last two decades, I notice that half of them are distributed by A24. The rest are mostly by Nolan and Villeneuve and from the Koreans (Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk, Bong Joon-ho)
Cc welcome2nigel
Funny how Armageddon Time sounds like a blockbuster movie yet it's a coming of age period drama set during the backdrop of Reagan's election.
SO TRUE 🙏
Most superhero movie quotes I can remember are dumb memes I never remembered from the actual movie but rather from several internet jokes with the same template, other than that, they are just forgettable.
diazdelavega1 Totalmente de acuerdo con Gray, y también coincido en que no todo el cine de súper héroes es malo, el problema es que la mayoría no son cine, son fuegos artificiales, Disneylandia, y ya han perjudicado mucho a la industria. Para colmo la pandemia acostumbró a la gente al streamin
I remember a lot of King Orm’s lines from Aquaman. “I am bringing the wrath of the 7 seas with me”
heynottheface Unsure how how to feel about this, it's a real Gray area.
Let’s face it studios will always learn the wrong lesson from films. Titanic does well - shoehorn love stories into historical epics. Gladiator goes well - beefcake history movies. They don’t see what was drawing people to those.
Yes!
Never thought I was rooting for marvel movies destroying the cinema industry until now.
It’s a short term gain vs long term gain issue. We’ve screwed up a lot of things in this country by focusing on the short term. We’ve taken $$ from highways, mass transit, education… and now they’re a mess. You have to spend more than you want to today to preserve tomorrow.
This is such a good take on what's currently going on in Cinema right now
Some movies are a slow burn, 'Blade Runner' was not a box office smash. But now, it's a film classic. And some movies are so bad - 'Plan Nine from Outer Space', for instance, that they become cult classics, like,'Rocky Horror Picture Show'. Give people options. If you build it...
I think he is right, but missing a key component in all of this, which is YouTube. There are entire generations that would rather watch YouTube than watch a movie. They just like it more. They grew up with it. It means more to them. Studios didn’t cause that, they grapple with it
His Brando impression was spot fucking on.
He has a point of course. But he also has some nonsensical stuff. The comparison of the Godfather to Aquaman. I LAUGHED OUT LOUD literally. Who gives a shit about such a comparison? Silly. A point made amidst some snobbishness.
Other people’s money I assume..
BUT THEY DID MAKE THE INVESTMENT! People, just got really good TV shows, that made tiny little movies pointless. Doesn't make those tiny little movies worthless. Not at all, but going to see them in a theatre? Fuck no. The studios didn't do this. Time and TV did it.
I’ve never seen an Avengers movie in my life. I don’t regret that
caedmonfair Very good. In my short experience undergrads know mcu chapter and verse. Are there Edward Norton fans among ye?
Theodore Adorno- The Culture Industry
theeSNYDERVERSE That Aquaman stray...ouch.
JigsawPolice
I have seen this 5 times in the past 24 hours. I am in awe that someone from the industry gets it and has finally said it. Hope the MBAs at the top get their shit together... somehow.
Oh, shut up! You only are saying this because your latest two movies flopped. You even directed an TV ad for Taco Bell in 2019.
This man is right but wouldn't it be easier to say 'capitalism ruins art' because that's just it really. These decisions weren't made with 'people's love of film' in mind but with quick money in mind. The studios do not care about preserving people's love of film to begin with.
DarronFromDnLs
“Could’ve just peed on it” That’s all I remember from Aquaman.
This is almost exactly what happened to comics in the nineties.
headlinerclip please caption
headlinercaption please caption this
Great point
mspeacherino happy Monday boo
This is 100% accurate. We have lost pretty much all interest in the theater experience because there just aren’t that many films we actually want to see coming out in theaters anymore. So we’re less inclined to go see a big budget film b/c “going to the movies” isn’t it for us.
lo que hablaban en el directo de hoy JesusUsero MiguelJuanPayan
pramsey342 Super awesome, I've always said(to myself) even as a pure businessman, Wich product would you prefer, one that you can sell on it's opening, or one you can sell for 50 years?! And thats what I think when you make a godfather reference.
Damn this man is 100% right
this is 100% true and those execs will never do it.
SunilDoshi might interest you
his Brando is really good
I loved Gray films since the 90's, days of Little Odessa and so on, but now he said what EVERYONE is trying to say and failed, even Scorsese tried but failed to achieve. May every single studio owner watch this in forthcoming days. He pictured the problem and handle the solution.
Sass ccsscßß.
I completely agree with him, but did he really just compare The Godfather to Aquaman? Of course everyone knows The Godfather quote, Aquaman isn’t even 4 years old yet.
Movie watching now is mostly an online feuding with other people. It used to be more casual, less important or relevant, and that's what makes good movie. The bigger the focus on pop 'culture', the worse it will become
Not to mention so many of the comic book movies now you would’ve had to have watched all the previous ones in order to understand the new ones. I haven’t watched any recent (marvel) ones because I’m like 4 behind.
this guy obviously hasn’t seen Morbius yet
This is absolutely correct. When I worked at Disney in theatrical distribution they had Miramax and Touchstone and the tentpole housed sheltered great movies that kept cinema a broad church and considered art. Around 2009 Disney made the conscious decision to ‘cut the bleeders’
ygorpalopoli vê isso!!!
hawkofkrypton this video could be a learning lesson for both sides of the dc fandom fr
He’s saying everything RIGHT.
RIIISSSSEEEE ATLANTIIIIIIIISSS - Ocean Master
I think you'll love this JesabelRaay
bro i thought this was andy dick
“Guy or woman or whatever” rly tripped me up here lol “person” would save everyone some time. Also, while I do agree that profit obsession is killing not only this industry but also everyone and everything, this take is kinda half-baked tbh. There’s much more to it than that.
What’s happened is that the art house movies are being made, they’re just going to Netflix, Hulu, etc.
spot on! I don't go anymore. They don't make movies for me. In HS I was a doorman at a theatre that premiered '2 screens' in our little town. We would go to movies -sometimes 3 a day (afternoon, evening and late)
Spot on. The moment you let your accountant make business decisions this is what happens. They are experts at killing a business.
Basically Disney is killing everyone else’s drive to make interesting stuff because other studios look at them and think “hey we want to make that kind of money!” I agree. Also we couldn’t go with something like infinity war for quotes? Much better option 😂
Why did 'Aquaman' have to catch a stray LMAO. All these formulaic marvel movies and he goes after Jason Mamoa? Also.....he's not wrong 😩
James Gray / Robert Eggers shouldn't get £40m+ budgets. Keep them at £10-15m because twice as many people aren't going to watch them and they aren't going to be twice as good. They are talented filmmakers
Ah yes, the pinnacle of Superhero movies, Aquaman
Your tweet was quoted in an article by thefilmstage
He’s right, but these companies have gone down the rabbit hole of “only a billion dollars is successful” movie ideas & are so focused on quarterly earnings that the thought of “losing money” would cause the shareholders to riot
Sooooo fucking based. You know someone’s a total king if they love Batman Returns
Reminds me of this:
I will never fail to be bemused by the corporate devotion to short term gains over long-term growth.
He’s spitting I fear
headlinerclip caption
This applies to so many other areas of business. so many brands hyper focusing on small targeted segments are losing their larger consumer base.
pardeepsahota He’s not wrong. These films can live side by side. I think in the next few years streaming might go down this route too.
capitalism? bad for art? why, this is my first time hearing about this!
He's right, in general, but I disagree with some of this argument. I just don't care to argue this on Twitter.
Amazing explanation
davidehrlich Looking forward to interviews with women filmmakers! I know they’re out there.
Bingo.
I'm not gonna lie. This threw me back first cause I was so sure this man was british.
BabblegumSam oh wowee
👋 rudyleonet c'est du bon pour 5heures ça
American Elites have killed our Culture
Can't wait for comic book movie nerds to find this video and misunderstand his argument completely.
YES
This is the argument. Nowadays it isn’t an uncommon take to thing moviegoing is pointless without franchises or the MCU and that’s terrible. Older generations gave more cultural importance to artistic media such as film and it’s sad that is dwindling.
The health of theatrical is contingent on the diversity of the ecosystem. But studio money guys aren’t systems thinkers.
You cannot quote a single line from Aquaman WRONG! 'Hey everyone it's me Aquaman'
❤️ James Gray
💯
King Gray
Wyt
I think of this as being very optimistic. Mr. Gray is a very smart guy. Appreciate his insight.
Then he should be promoting tentpole films more than producers.
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