The film industry is in a difficult place at the moment. The one-two punch of the 2020 lockdown and the new prominence of streaming services has threatened the business of theaters in a way that has never been seen before in cinema’s entire history. Less and less people are showing up at theaters for anything other than big-budget spectacle films.
This has placed small-and-mid-budget filmmakers in a difficult position. If the movies do not sell tickets, studios will have little reason to bankroll future projects of a similar nature. It’s a difficult problem to solve. But Hollywood filmmakers seem to be taking the opposite of the right approach of addressing the issue with a less-than-generous attitude towards the very audience that keeps the film industry in business.
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Playing the Blame Game
Sony Pictures
Few people could have suspected two decades ago that the simple act of watching a movie would someday be seen as a deeply political act or a societal statement. Yet that is what Hollywood’s publicity machine and social media has turned movie watching into. Consider the case of Elzabeth Banks, who directed the 2019 Charlie’s Angels reboot.
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After the movie failed at the box-office, Banks claimed that the reason behind it bombing was that “Men don’t go see women do action movies,” despite Wonder Woman, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Captain Marvel becoming huge hits around the same time. Something similar happened when the 2016 all-female Ghostbusters reboot underperformed, which was squarely blamed on “toxic male fans” of the franchise while ignoring the very real issues with story and characters the film suffered from.
Veteran Filmmakers Get in on the Act
20th Century Studios
It is not just the audience’s personal biases that filmmakers have recently blamed for the failure of their movies at the box office. Renowned director Ridley Scott was naturally displeased with the lukewarm reception to his 2021 action drama period feature The Last Duel. Scott claimed that the movie failed because of “the audiences who were brought up on these f**king cell phones,” who did not come to the theaters to support the film.
Sam Mendes is another blockbuster veteran filmmaker whose movie Empire of Light did not do well at the box office. Once again the blame for the movie’s poor performance was laid squarely at the feet of the audience by Mendes, who claimed that viewers have grown such bad habits through a steady diet of blockbuster superhero movies and franchises like Avatar that prestige cinema including The Fabelmans, Bardo, Armageddon Time and Babylon are flopping left and right despite the massive talent attached to the projects.
Focussing On the Main Issue
Universal Pictures
Considering the current state of cinema as a whole, it is hard to view the attitude of Hollywood filmmakers as anything other than tone-deaf sour grapes. How else would you view the case of millionaire filmmakers complaining about how awful it is that middle-class filmgoers are not spending their hard-earned money on movies that the filmmakers deems worthy of success? The same filmmakers who owe their very success to moviegoers actually supporting their movies in the past.
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The truth is the general audience does not go to the movies to bask in the talent of the director/actors/writer. The only reason for going to the movies has always been to see a film that looks like it could be an engaging viewing experience. In the past it used to be movies like Jaws, Star Wars, and Gladiator, and today it happens to be the MCU, the Fast & Furious films, etc. If a movie does not work at the box office, the very simple reason is that it’s story failed to engage the audience despite whatever artistry might be on display in the movie.
It’s Not All Doom and Gloom
Searchlight Pictures
Modern small and mid-budget filmmakers frequently make it seem like general audiences are only showing up for superhero movies these days. But that is far from the case. The thing is many small and medium budget movies succeeded at the box-office since the 2020 lockdown, including Smile, The Menu, Nobody, and Marry Me.
What has undeniably changed is the fact that more and more such movies are finding a new home on streaming channels instead of theaters. But that does not have to be a bad thing. Streaming has become what DVD sales used to be in the past, a way for smaller filmmakers to create the kind of movies they want to make without the pressure of box-office success. This is a boon for many noted directors like David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, and Rian Johnson, who have made giant streaming hit films in recent years like Mank, The Irishman, and Knives Out 2: Glass Onion.
A Refusal to Look Inward
Variance Films
Despite the pessimism from certain filmmakers, Hollywood is actually more robust than ever. Not only are more films being made than ever before, but foreign film industries like Korean and Indian cinema are also finding prominence in the west thanks to streaming giants like Netflix championing their works.
In this day and age, it is still perfectly possible to make a small to mid budget movie successfully. The only question, and it is a question that has always remained central to the success of a movie no matter the budget, is how its story can connect at a personal level to the audience members. Instead of blaming viewers for their modern theater-going habits, filmmakers should look inward and try to genuinely analyze what it is about their movies that is just not appealing to audiences. At the end of the day, audiences owe nothing to filmmakers, and it is up to Hollywood studios to try to woo viewers back to cinema halls with a compelling and memorable theatrical experience.
