Latest news with #originalfilms
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Dakota Johnson Says Studios Only ‘Remake the Same Things' to Ensure Box Office Success: Hollywood Is a ‘Mess Right Now'
Dakota Johnson is speaking out: We need more original films. The 'Materialists' star said during her recent appearance on 'Hot Ones' that modern Hollywood is reliant on remakes and IP, which audiences 'don't want.' In turn, according to actress/producer Johnson, it's a 'mess.' 'When something does well, studios want to keep that going so they remake the same things,' she said, 'but humans don't want that. They want fresh, they want to feel new things, experience new things, see new things, so I don't know, I guess it's all just a bit of a mess right now, isn't it?' More from IndieWire The Great Comedy with Judge Reinhold, Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, and More That You Can't See 'Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore' Review: The Trailblazing Actress and Activist Gets to Tell Her Own Story Johnson continued, 'I think it's hard when creative decisions are made by committee and it's hard when creative decisions are made by people who don't even really watch movies or know anything about them, and that tends to be what's occurring a lot.' This isn't the first time that Johnson has deemed the studio system a corporate 'committee.' Johnson told the Los Angeles Times that 'a lot of creative decisions are made by committee or made by people who don't have a creative bone in their body,' such as the case for her superhero flop 'Madame Web.' Johnson added, 'It's really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think unfortunately with 'Madame Web,' it started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time.' Thankfully, there are still bigger budget (or at least mid-tier budget) original films that are going the distance at the box office, proving that audiences do in fact want new stories. One of those new original films includes 'Sinners,' which Johnson's fellow filmmakers have embraced as an 'encouraging' step for non-IP films being greenlit. Sam Rockwell recently told Variety that 'Sinners' succeeding at the box office is reignites hope for Hollywood. 'It was encouraging because it was rated R, you know? The sexuality felt palpable,' Rockwell said. 'And the fact that it made a bunch of money while mixing all these genres — 'From Dusk Till Dawn,' 'Sounder,' 'Devil in a Blue Dress' — I thought that was encouraging. It's a big swing.' Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Does Elio, Pixar's worst box office opener, show people only want animated film sequels?
For decades, Pixar could hardly miss with its original animated films. Advertisement Whether the subject was toys, fish or a cantankerous old man, the California-based computer animation studio churned out hit after hit. But since the Covid-19 pandemic, Walt Disney-owned Pixar and other animation studios have struggled to break through at the box office with the same kinds of original films that defined the industry. Instead, sequels such as Inside Out 2 have ruled the genre. The weekend release of Elio, an original film from Pixar about a young boy who seeks connection with aliens to make up for his loneliness on Earth, saw box office takings in North America from Thursday evening to Sunday amount to an estimated US$21 million, making it Pixar's worst opening-weekend result ever. A still from Pixar's Inside Out 2. Photo: TNS That also highlights the dilemma the animation business – and the movie industry at large – faces with original content. While audiences often say they want to see new stories, box office ticket sales show they gravitate toward sequels, reboots and other familiar fare.
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘I long for the good old days': Clint Eastwood lets rip on Hollywood
Clint Eastwood is channelling his 'Get off my lawn!' character from Gran Torino. In a new interview, the 95-year-old actor and director slammed Hollywood's growing reliance on sequels and remakes. 'My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home,' the Oscar winner told Kuria, an Austrian newspaper. 'I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like Casablanca in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,' added Eastwood, whose career spans seven decades. 'We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I've shot sequels three times, but I haven't been interested in that for a long while.' Eastwood is likely referring to the 1970s and '80s Dirty Harry movie series, in which he starred in four sequels: Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool. The man puts his money where his mouth is. Last year, Eastwood directed Juror No. 2, an acclaimed original courtroom thriller starring Nicholas Hoult. While the film made the National Board of Review's top 10 list, it did not receive a wide release in the US. It grossed $24 million overseas. Eastwood, who's won four Academy Awards for the films Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven, says he won't retire for 'a long time.' 'There's no reason why a man can't get better with age,' the Mystic River director said. 'And I have much more experience today. Sure, there are directors who lose their touch at a certain age, but I'm not one of them.' A secret to his longevity, Eastwood says, are the work habits he learned early in his career as an actor. 'As an actor, I was still under contract with a studio, was in the old system, and thus forced to learn something new every year,' he said. 'And that's why I'll work as long as I can still learn something, or until I'm truly senile.'
