Adelphi University Quill Awards 2022 — Honorable Mention for Best Arts Review
By ERIC ZIMMERMAN
In an op-ed article for the New York Times acclaimed director Martin Scorsese criticized current blockbuster movie franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for their formulaic approach to producing movies. He said, “That’s the nature of modern film franchises: market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified until they’re ready for consumption.”
Scorsese’s comments sparked controversy among moviegoers, with the seeming majority disagreeing with him. Personally, I share Scorsese’s criticisms. The MCU films all follow the same Marvel formula that is dominating the film industry to the detriment of aspiring filmmakers who want to make more unique films.
According to Franchise Entertainment Research, Inc., of the 138 movies released in the U.S. in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, 58 of them were franchise films. These films made $23 billion at the worldwide box office and made up 83% of the United States’ box office revenue. At 17%, this was the lowest percentage of total box office income made by non-franchise films in Hollywood history. With these statistics, it’s clear that the film industry will shift away from making non-franchise films over time.
According to a JerEcho survey, 64.4% of JHS student respondents answered that they like Marvel movies. However, not as many actually go to see them in theaters.
Arguably, this relationship is fueled by the “training” of general audiences to prefer franchise films over non-franchise films. When children grow up consistently watching formulaic MCU movies, they’ll believe that all movies should be like those. Film critic and Long Island University Professor Michael Atkinson said, “They think these big franchise movies are the only ones worth seeing. They have been trained. They think that’s what movies are.”
Atkinson also identified how the definition of blockbuster has changed over time, further reflecting Hollywood’s shift in focus. He said, “Blockbuster has become a genre. It used to be what they call a movie after it already made 50 or 100 million dollars. But now they call it that before the movie was even made, before it was even released.”
MCU movies and other franchise films are causing a decline in the importance of the director. In Marvel movies, the CGI-filled action sequences are designed before a script is even finished in a process called pre-visualization. Much of cinema is becoming more reliant on computers than actual filmmakers.
While I respect that the MCU entertains millions of people in its enormous fandom, its formulaic movies have played a major role in the decline in popularity and success of original films made by unrestrained filmmakers.
Original featured image courtesy of the author.