Sourced from Flickr, from Biblioteca de Arte.
The modern film industry is now bringing in more money than in any other era and has produced some of the most successful films at the box office. So why is there less originality in our modern blockbusters? The most notable films are currently part of a franchise or remakes/sequels of known properties. This has led to problems such as:
- The corporate takeover of the creative industries
- The decline of true freedom of expression in the modern age
- Audiences are getting used to the formula and do not want deviation
- The future decline of the industry
I will be looking at these problems, why they are present and how they can be solved.
Looking first at the modern film landscape and the highest-grossing films of the last decade, we can see that only one of the top thirty-five films is not a remake, sequel, or part of a larger franchise, this being 2013’s Frozen. If we then compare to the 70s and 80s, there is only one franchise film in the 70s out of the top ten and six original films in the top ten in the 80s. Why is this?
Disney is the main culprit of controlling franchise films and billing the top of the box office. Owning both the Marvel film rights and Star Wars, Disney can consistently bring out the highest-grossing movies, and no other company can touch them. These films are usually very crowd-pleasing and are made to draw in the largest audiences with inoffensive subject matters and a formulaic story structure. This has been the standard for far too long, and many people only go to the cinema to watch franchise films instead of something new. This is a problem for the future of the industry.
This is not to say creativity does not exist in the modern film industry, but if the highest-grossing films from the last decade are not flexing innovative ideas, then what are the problems? The modern film industry can breed more creativity and fresh ideas in different avenues. A24 is an independent film production and distribution company that produces new independent cinemas and distributes them to cinemas and streaming services. However, the most popular of these, 2018’s Hereditary, took at the box office less than a ninth of the 35th top-grossing film of the last decade. So why are people choosing to watch something they are familiar with instead of something they have never seen before?
The comfort of consuming the more oversized franchise products makes it easy to create a franchise film in the modern age and market it to a modern audience. This is because franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars are available on the most popular streaming services and there are usually one of these films in the cinema at a time as three Marvel films come out each year. This means a regular consumer of blockbusters who usually only goes to the cinema to see franchise films are now even less likely to watch an original film. Because the formula has been proven to create a big blockbuster and make a guaranteed hit, it is both safer for the company and more comfortable/convenient for consumers.
Martin Scorsese once described Marvel movies as theme parks and how they are “not real cinema”. This caused much discourse online about if he was right, and many took Disney’s side in the debate. This is expected from modern consumers who mostly only watch films like this and do not branch out and watch something new.
But maybe there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Streaming services are usually seen as killing the film industry by taking away audiences from the cinema and letting people passively watch shows and films at home. Nevertheless, this does not consider all the boundary-pushing contemporary films on streaming services. Old and new directors can have complete control of their films because they are on a lower budget on a streaming service. Films like:
- The Irishman
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things
- Uncut Gems
- Marriage Story
- Power of the Dog
These are all examples just from Netflix that are original films, from respected directors such as Charlie Kaufman and were critically and commercially successful. Though they did not make as much money as the franchise films as they were released online, the digitalisation of the film industry allowed these to flourish in this new medium.
Sourced from Flickr, by Mehmet Can
I believe the digitalisation of the film industry and the popularity of streaming services will improve the types of films being made. To stand out on these streaming services, creators must continually make films that present something new from the competition and create original, boundary-pushing content. Though most people believe the digital age has hurt the film industry, creativity is still thriving but in a new type of distribution. Streaming is the new breeding ground for innovation and creativity, further digitalising the film industry. I believe this will solve the problems of a future crash in Hollywood caused by formulated productions.
All images sourced from Flickr.
Images and multimedia used in accordance with fair use for educational purposes.
CREATIVE CONVERSATION 