When heavily marketed movies for grownups still flop one after the other, it's easy to feel cynical about the state of cinema in the United States. Movies like "Women Talking," "Tár," "Babylon" and "The Fabelmans" are losing tens of millions of dollars during their theatrical runs, meaning it's becoming harder and harder for "adult" films to get studio funding. "Babylon" is just soak-ing in irony as it's a movie about the excesses of Hollywood in the roaring '20s, reportedly ending up making around $200 million less than it needed just to break even on its massively inflated budget.
I know many film snobs currently lamenting that Hollywood only makes superhero movies anymore, but why would they keep pumping out films for grownups when they aren't making money? If we want fewer superhero movies, we have to actively not go see superhero movies in the theater. If we want more movies like "Women Talking" and "Tár" then we have to go see them in the theater (or at least pay to watch them on VOD). It's a pretty simple equation. Don't whine to me about the lack of health food options through a mouthful of McDonald's.
It's not some new piece of information that the majority of filmgoers really only head to theaters to catch the blockbusters like Marvel movies, "Top Gun: Maverick" or to add to the two and a quarter billion that the new "Avatar" has made. But aside from giant Hollywood spectacle, the one other genre of film that almost consistently makes a tidy profit are horror movies. Almost every horror movie, regardless of quality, ends up making its budget back along with some gravy on top.
As someone who still adores the theatrical experience (while also spending most of my time helping program films for a boutique arthouse cinema), the freedom of going to the movies and being able to see "Avatar" or "Women Talking" is exhilarating. In order for movie theaters to remain important, we have to be able to see a variety of films, not just the ones owned by Disney. But here's the issue: people still won't flock to movies like "Tár" in the movie theater, not when the film is almost three hours long and doesn't have any explosions or blue people. Especially not when they can wait to watch it at home on a streaming service they already pay for.
When so much of a movie's "success" is riding on how much money it makes opening weekend, I think the only way we're going to continue getting movies like "Women Talking," "Babylon" and "Tár" in the theater is if "prestige" directors start taking lessons from genre filmmakers and make movies on a realistic budget. Don't get me wrong, Damien Chazelle put every single cent of his $80 million budget onscreen in "Babylon," but you can't tell me anyone involved with that film thought it was going to make money, let alone break even.
Some 40% of the arthouse movie theaters in America closed their doors permanently during COVID-19, and it's highly unlikely many more will ever open again in our lifetime. They haven't quite gone the way of the drive-in, but no one opening an indie theater in 2023 is planning to get rich. You do it for the love of the cinema or you don't do it at all.
Last weekend I went to Regal and saw a horror movie I've been hearing some buzz about called "The Outwaters." Regal was only playing the movie on Friday and Saturday night and then it was gone, so I didn't have much of a choice about when to catch it (though I respect Regal for showing it, even if only for a single weekend). The film follows four friends who go out to the Mojave desert to film a music video until things descend into chaos, madness and cosmic horror. There are moments in that movie so transgressive that I was creeped out to my bones, and it's filled with images that I will legit remember forever. The budget was $15,000. Making a movie that lasts and speaks to people (or at least to me) doesn't take millions of dollars. It just takes passion, vision and a voice.
I realize that it's almost impossible to compare something like "The Outwaters" with "Babylon (one is a parade of flesh, degradation and depravity and the other is a horror movie), but if something on the scale of "The Outwaters" can be made for around $15K, then I have a feeling something like "Babylon" could be made for a lot less. Yes, you need a bunch of period costumes, cars and sets, but, again, great writing, acting and filmmaking can go a long way for covering for stuff like that. People do actually want to suspend their disbelief.
So, thanks for coming to my TED talk. I don't ever want to live in a world where I can't go see something like "Women Talking" or "Babylon" in the theater and I think shooting them faster and cheaper like horror movies might be how to save Hollywood from itself and how to keep movies like that alive. But hey, the new "Avatar" just made over $2 billion. What are you going to remember about it in two weeks?
