For most of the last decade, the conventional wisdom in Hollywood was settled and grim: the mid-budget film was dying. The $30–80 million original story — not a sequel, not a franchise, not based on beloved IP — had been gradually squeezed out by a system that preferred either enormous tentpoles or cheap streaming content, […]
TV & Movie Industry
The TV Reboot Cycle: When Does Nostalgia Become a Business Model?
There is a stat that explains everything about the current state of network television. According to Screen Rant, 65% of new network TV series get cancelled within their first season. A brand-new show, with unknown characters and an unproven premise, is more likely to disappear than survive. A reboot, by contrast, arrives with a built-in […]
The Biopic Problem: Can Hollywood Keep Sanitising Icons?
Here is a number worth sitting with: Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua, has grossed over $939 million worldwide as of this week. It is now the highest-grossing music biopic ever made. It holds a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. Both things are true simultaneously, and that tension is the whole story. A […]
AI in Hollywood: Who’s Winning, Who’s Losing, and What It Means for the Films You Watch
Two things happened in Hollywood this year that don’t quite fit together — and that tension is exactly the point. At SXSW in March, Steven Spielberg stood in front of an audience and said he has never used artificial intelligence in any of his films. The room erupted. Meanwhile, Netflix was weeks away from spending […]
The Paramount–WBD Merger: Hollywood’s Biggest Power Shift in Years
Some deals change a company. This one changes an industry. On April 23, Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to approve a $110 billion acquisition by Paramount Skydance — a transaction that would bring two of the most recognisable names in entertainment history under a single corporate roof. Warner Bros. The studio behind Casablanca, The Dark […]