When it comes to established franchises, it is becoming increasingly clear that
Whether we're talking about Marvel, X-Men, Fant-four-stick, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Halo, Call of Duty and so on. No one cares. Perhaps each of these franchises has been metaphorically been milked to a point the well has run dry - or that complacency has set in - the result is that no one is buying, watching, or consuming.
The new Mandrake and Grok is poised to possibly break even if they're lucky (NOTE: to break even, it's (budget + marketing) * 2 ... although it should be closer to 2.5 if we're being honest). Whereas low-budget upstarts like The Backrooms, Obsession, and Iron Lung have made back (at minimum) 10 times their money back.
It's heartening to see brand new worlds being embraced by audiences while they show a palpable apathy towards established franchises. To add to this, these new films are being sourced from YouTube talents, much to the chagrin of the old guard of Hollywood. I, personally, will welcome this. I have watched many movies over many decades and I have had zero desires to see anything from Hollywood in a very long time. Perhaps aspiring YouTube filmmakers are the catalyst for a new era of Hollywood, where demographics and focus groups give way to people who simply want to tell a compelling story.
I feel like it's obvious that the audience for modern filmmaking is dying. They're far too focused on agendas, representation, PG ratings and PC sensibilities that they've lost sight of what cinema is all about. We do not need to be preached to. We need to be told a story that doesn't play it safe; nor spoonfeed their plot points many times (AKA the Netflix formula) just because we're living through the ADD generation. If the film respects the viewer, those who actually wish to be entertained will respond positively.
And so they have. I would never have thought that YouTube would be the savior of (Western) Cinema but they do look like they're poised to do just that. Now, all we need is, perish the thought, for Steezy Grossman to make his Hollywood debut as the next Jackass. I kid, I kid; he is such talentless hack. If he makes it in Hollywood, then he is the four horsemen and end times are nigh.
