There’s a tedium to movies that come out nowadays, it feels like they’re either remakes of something you actually like, or a superhero film formulaically constructed to sell toys.
Original ideas aren’t non-existent in the current landscape of the movie industry, but ones that are backed by large studios with bundles of cash are few and far between.
Independent films or movies produced by smaller studios with original ideas shouldn’t be super concerned with not having the budget of a blockbuster film.
That being said, not having the money to market your film could mean not as many people will see it as they should.
“I do think too many blockbuster movies that come out are in some way based on another franchise either as a movie adaptation or a sequel to something else,” Delta student Santiago Unciano said.
There are endless examples to Unciano’s point, whether it be the last batch of “Star Wars” movies that were released or more recently the new sequel to “Beetlejuice.”
Studios love to play it safe.
“They remade ‘A Star is Born’ three times because I think they know the marketability will be there, like the name itself will garner attention from audiences so they’ll know they’re not gonna lose money,” Delta student Ezekiel Holman said.
When it comes to what’s marketable in the film industry, one should look no further than superhero movies. Marvel just came out with “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which they packed $200 million into and it ended up grossing over $1 billion worldwide.
On the other side of that coin is a movie like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” which had $40 million less in budget and somehow had much better looking special effects.
“Furiosa” is an adaptation of the “Mad Max” franchise , but that being said it was directed by George Miller just like all of the other “Mad Max” films and it retains his same vision.
On top of all of that the “Mad Max” franchise is unique in the fact that it isn’t adapted from anything, it’s a completely original IP.
All of that being said, “Furiosa” ended up flopping at the box office despite receiving stellar reviews. “Furiosa” only made $26 million opening weekend and grossed $178 million overall, just going over breaking even on the film’s $168 million budget.
When comparing the flop of “Furiosa” to a film that flopped more recently like “Borderlands” which only made $30 million in its opening weekend, it’s not that bad at least Warner Brothers can say they broke even.
The main difference is that “Borderlands” is a cash grab trying to capitalize on the fans of the game, and “Furiosa” is a sequel to an original franchise.
“Original ideas are often restricted to smaller studios simply because while the concept and execution may be great, by their nature they are not as widely accessible and enjoyed by general audiences,” Unciano said.
The reason why the flop of “Furiosa” is depressing is because now Warner Brothers, the studio that produced the film, are less inclined to make more “Mad Max” movies or take risks on films that aren’t sure things and take their money and pour it all into superhero films and remake alike.
“I’m just thinking of movies that my mom would watch like ‘Titanic,’ ‘Legends of the Fall,’ ‘American Gangster,’” Holman said when asked about the state of blockbusters today.
“Everything just trickles back into having so much, all these things are putting something out all the time, there’s no anticipation for anything.”
Movies in this day in age do have a quantity over quality problem, but again those original ideas are still out there even if they aren’t being spearheaded by large studios.
“There’s probably hella good movies out there that just don’t get marketed at the same level as big studio movies, like A24. I know that they have hella good movies but I haven’t seen a bunch of their movies just cause it’s kind of alt and indie,” Holman said.
It’s true that A24 is one of several smaller studios that produces hidden gems such as “The Lighthouse” or “Hereditary” but therein lies the point, everyone should see these films but without marketing, they won’t .
