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Director John Landis attacks Hollywood studio system
Tuesday November 26th 2013John Landis, the director of iconic 1980s films Trading Places, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, has attacked the Hollywood studio system for its lack of original ideas.
Speaking at Argentina’s Mar del Plata film festival, Landis said studios had become “giant international things that don’t pay taxes”. He said most are “subdivisions of huge multinational corporations” that are “not in the movie business any more”.
“Time Warner, British Petroleum, Sony – these aren’t companies, they are fucking nations,” Landis said. “Some of us were very lucky. I started to make movies for the studios in the 70s. They were dying, but at least they were still studios,” he added. “[Now] there are no original ideas … something no one understands is that it is never about the idea, it is about the execution of the idea.”
Landis went on to call the industry “ridiculous”, and said that attempts to get people into theatres had created a glut of bad 3D films.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted, Landis admitted that good movies were still being made, but suggested these were few and far between. “There will always be good movies being made. It’s just harder and harder to see them,” he said. “And the studios are no longer interested in making good movies – they’re interested in movies that will bring you in.
“So you have movies like Avatar, or Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. It’s wonderful to look at. Now, is it a good movie? No! But it’s entertaining, and it’s a spectacle and technically astonishing.”
He added: “I’m not that old, but many of my movies made more money the second, third or fourth week, because we used to have what we call word of mouth. Now, if a movie doesn’t make money its first two days, you’re fucked!”
Landis, whose last movie was the poorly reviewed comedy Burke and Hare, in 2010, suggested that television studios were more innovative because executives there were not driven by fear: “There are a lot of interesting things being made in cable TV now because they can afford to take the risk,” he said.
Source: The Guardian
Front Page, Industry News
Director John Landis attacks Hollywood studio system
Tuesday November 26th 2013John Landis, the director of iconic 1980s films Trading Places, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, has attacked the Hollywood studio system for its lack of original ideas.
Speaking at Argentina’s Mar del Plata film festival, Landis said studios had become “giant international things that don’t pay taxes”. He said most are “subdivisions of huge multinational corporations” that are “not in the movie business any more”.
“Time Warner, British Petroleum, Sony – these aren’t companies, they are fucking nations,” Landis said. “Some of us were very lucky. I started to make movies for the studios in the 70s. They were dying, but at least they were still studios,” he added. “[Now] there are no original ideas … something no one understands is that it is never about the idea, it is about the execution of the idea.”
Landis went on to call the industry “ridiculous”, and said that attempts to get people into theatres had created a glut of bad 3D films.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted, Landis admitted that good movies were still being made, but suggested these were few and far between. “There will always be good movies being made. It’s just harder and harder to see them,” he said. “And the studios are no longer interested in making good movies – they’re interested in movies that will bring you in.
“So you have movies like Avatar, or Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. It’s wonderful to look at. Now, is it a good movie? No! But it’s entertaining, and it’s a spectacle and technically astonishing.”
He added: “I’m not that old, but many of my movies made more money the second, third or fourth week, because we used to have what we call word of mouth. Now, if a movie doesn’t make money its first two days, you’re fucked!”
Landis, whose last movie was the poorly reviewed comedy Burke and Hare, in 2010, suggested that television studios were more innovative because executives there were not driven by fear: “There are a lot of interesting things being made in cable TV now because they can afford to take the risk,” he said.
Source: The Guardian
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Front Page, Industry News
Director John Landis attacks Hollywood studio system
Tuesday November 26th 2013John Landis, the director of iconic 1980s films Trading Places, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London, has attacked the Hollywood studio system for its lack of original ideas.
Speaking at Argentina’s Mar del Plata film festival, Landis said studios had become “giant international things that don’t pay taxes”. He said most are “subdivisions of huge multinational corporations” that are “not in the movie business any more”.
“Time Warner, British Petroleum, Sony – these aren’t companies, they are fucking nations,” Landis said. “Some of us were very lucky. I started to make movies for the studios in the 70s. They were dying, but at least they were still studios,” he added. “[Now] there are no original ideas … something no one understands is that it is never about the idea, it is about the execution of the idea.”
Landis went on to call the industry “ridiculous”, and said that attempts to get people into theatres had created a glut of bad 3D films.
As the Hollywood Reporter noted, Landis admitted that good movies were still being made, but suggested these were few and far between. “There will always be good movies being made. It’s just harder and harder to see them,” he said. “And the studios are no longer interested in making good movies – they’re interested in movies that will bring you in.
“So you have movies like Avatar, or Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. It’s wonderful to look at. Now, is it a good movie? No! But it’s entertaining, and it’s a spectacle and technically astonishing.”
He added: “I’m not that old, but many of my movies made more money the second, third or fourth week, because we used to have what we call word of mouth. Now, if a movie doesn’t make money its first two days, you’re fucked!”
Landis, whose last movie was the poorly reviewed comedy Burke and Hare, in 2010, suggested that television studios were more innovative because executives there were not driven by fear: “There are a lot of interesting things being made in cable TV now because they can afford to take the risk,” he said.
Source: The Guardian
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