James Gray is right — by overwhelming people with ‘reliable’ movies studios, and cinemas, are digging their own grave
The pandemic has brought about a reckoning in cinemas that was, in fact, a long time coming.
James Gray, director of The Lost City of Z and Ad Astra, had some choice words about the current state of theatre going — and laid the blame squarely on studios.
For those who haven’t seen it, here’s a full transcript:
“I think the movie business made a critical mistake, and really it wasn’t a recent mistake, but a big mistake.
“To think of it as ‘This film did not make a ton of money, thus we don’t make that film. This film will make a ton of money, thus we make that one.’ A very strict balance sheet equation. Why is that mistake? That’s a no brainer. Any first level MBA guy or woman should know that.”
“Here’s what happened: When you make movies that only make a ton of money and only one kind of movie, you begin to get a large segment of the population out of the habit of going to the movies.”
“And then you begin to eliminate the importance of movies culturally. When you are so quarterly earnings bottom-line minded; you lose the big brain vision.”
“I have no problem with a comic book movie. I have seen excellent ones made. I think Tim Burton’s second Batman movie is a beautiful movie and Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant in it. I think what Chris Nolan does and my friend Matt Reeves certainly did with the deep dive of his Batman film; I know there are things that can be done in the genre.”
“It’s not an argument saying that all comic movies are terrible; of course they should be made.
“The slate though, the fact that it’s no longer broad based for theatrical by the studios, means they have forced a smaller, and smaller and smaller segment of the population to like it.”
“‘I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse..’ and you know instantly what that movie is! You cannot quote me a single line from Aquaman.”
“What does that mean? It means the cultural — and the Academy Awards, they know it. ‘Why is the viewership going down?’”
“It’s going down because we didn’t make the investment in the broad-based engagement with the product.
“Maybe Ang Lee’s Ice Storm didn’t make a billion dollars, but it maintained broad-based interest.”
“So, we’ve got to force it back. The studios should be willing to lose money for a couple of years on art film divisions, and in the end they will be happier.”
Other directors have made similar warnings about the future state of the industry, namely cinema acolytes such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
Tarantino’s 2015 anecdote about about the dominance of Disney’s theatre dealings with Star Wars is worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pd6yO-jBRo
Gray’s own blockbuster Ad Astra, with a budget of up to $100m, was a high-profile box office flop, despite being a star vehicle for Brad Pitt (it’s also a pretty damn good movie).
But high-profile risks are becoming rarer.
The top grossing films (worldwide) this year include Dr Strange 2, Uncharted, The Batman, Fantastic Beasts 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and soon Top Gun 2 will join the party (thanks in part to Tom Cruise’s relentless promotional work). Thor 4, set for a July release, will make over £1bn at the box office.
Marvel success is akin to shooting fish in a barrel (Disney’s Star Wars, although still successful, has been a bit more of a struggle due to a shoddily planned production).
James Gray is absolutely right at the need for broad-based appeal, and for both studios and cinemas to keep faith with the theatre-going public, even at the risk of an expensive flop (such as The Northman).
Movies are made for movie theatres and movies are an art form that matter more than the bottom line. If studios only invest in feeding the majority, that majority will, over time, shrink.
Maybe The Northman lost money but at the very least it got people into the cinema to see something NOT based on pre-existing IP.
You have to spend money to make money but you also have to spend money to broaden the appeal of theatre-going.
What is most important is not the overall spend but the faith to put the smaller releases in the cinema in the first place.
Trade magazines are guilty of adding fuel to the box office fire; within days of release a film is tarnished with the label of ‘flop’.
A24, launched in August 2012, will soon celebrate it’s 10th birthday — and is celebrating its biggest box office hit with the balls-to-the-wall Everything Everywhere All At Once.
It is paying sweet dividends after being responsible for films such as Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Minari, The Lighthouse and The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The upcoming A24 Alex Garland picture Men will be a further test of their box office mettle.
But at least it’s something different and that should be celebrated, encouraged, nurtured and promoted.
Or else, slowly, the majority will kill cinema.
