Steven Spielberg Made a Scary Prediction About Hollywood 10 Years Ago; It Finally Came True
The industry is in a downward spiral, and the major players have seen it coming for years.
Studios over individuals; the COVID pandemic, the rise of streaming services, and ticket prices leading to fewer and fewer people in theaters; the writers' and actors' strikes; the AI-generated content epidemic…
These are the main symptoms of a huge change taking place in the cinema industry right now, a change that will either bring new opportunities or be the downfall of Hollywood.
As one of the key figures of the New Hollywood era, Steven Spielberg is probably the right person to turn to in times of uncertainty. And unfortunately, his prognosis for the future of the movie industry is not as positive as we would like to hear. Back in 2013, while speaking at the opening of a building for the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the director predicted a collapse in the industry.
'There's going to be an implosion where three or four or maybe even a half-dozen megabudget movies are going to go crashing into the ground, and that's going to change the paradigm,' Spielberg said (per The Hollywood Reporter).
The iconic filmmaker explained that the direct results of this 'paradigm shift' would be the fluctuation of movie ticket prices, where moviegoers would have to pay much more to see a Marvel blockbuster than an auteur film, the urge to make projects for the masses while ignoring niche audiences, and the increasingly slim chances for films to be released in theaters.
'You're gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you're probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln,' the director said, referring to his 2012 biographical drama. 'I think eventually the Lincolns will go away and they're going to be on television.'
Even though the pioneer of the modern blockbuster later denied that he was predicting the total collapse of the industry, his words from 2013 sound like a prophecy today. Just look at the price of theater tickets: not every family can afford to go to the movies on a weekend these days.
And to back up Spielberg's words, filmmakers are struggling to release their projects to increasingly empty theaters and have to negotiate deals with streaming services that we know aren't in a hurry to offer residuals or an extra buck. So it looks like 'implosion' is in the way after all.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter.