Is the film industry hit-driven?

  The film industry can appear a brutal area of profession. A swansong of a movie which a director/producer pours their heart and soul into can be obliterated and tossed aside at the box office by a huge blockbuster movie raking in more for the opening week than the director’s well worked masterpiece could do in its entire existence. Indie and niche films, no matter how flawless they are, can often be overlooked by the majority audience, who opt instead for an embarrassingly awful reboot of an already well-milked franchise. Veteran of the industry Eric Fellner suggested that “The film industry is a hit-driven industry”, which may very well be true.

  It doesn’t take an eye well-trained in the ways of film to see that the real money-rakers in the business are more often than not the heavyweight companies. The now highest grossing film of all time, Avatar, made nigh on $1bn at the box office-a number unimaginable by any amateur film maker -but a key reason for its success was the man at the helm, James Cameron. A virtual godfather of film and the man who gave us Alien, Terminator 2 and Titanic, Cameron was again on par with his latest effort. His past films skyrocketing in overall value, he poured all his resources into the film, even building on the still somewhat new medium of motion capture. The audience had never seen anything like it, and all other box office competition simply lost their work ethic.

  While Avatar was most definitely a new direction in cinema, other chart-topping movies are ever so slightly questionable. Harrison Ford returned in Indy 4 not so long ago to an unimpressed line of critics, in undeniably the worst of the four films, yet it still stormed to the no.1 spot and flattened everything in its path during its cash-grabbing assault on our eyes. Films such as the controversial critic favourite and future cult classic Kick-Ass were left to rot underneath the pile of family-friendly and 3-D romps. Scott Pilgrim Vs the World may also be set for box office doom and (preferably) a cult following in later life, proving the inconvenient truth; the fat cats rule the industry through and through.

  By the shockingly ironic statistics, it seems that audiences go for the sorry excuses for making more money on the ignorant populace rather than the true classics. Smaller indie companies like Kick-Ass’ Marv can become relatively forgotten in the sea of Viacom and Fox’s totalitarian ownerships of all but a few companies. Many a company before Marv films turned the script for Kick-Ass down due to its lack of appeal to the mainstream audience, which connotes that the larger companies simply want the majority audiences, thus bringing in the big bucks. And if a movie presented to us by such traditional champions as MGM and Warner Bros becomes a favourite among the year’s blockbusters, be prepared to see sequel after sequel fed out along with corresponding merchandise diverse enough to fill an entire aisle at Toys ‘R’ Us. A fine example of this franchise building and driving into the ground of once decent movies is The Wachowski’s brainchild The Matrix Trilogy.

  In conclusion, the box office looks conquered by bland franchises, infinitely funded award nominees and mainstream nightmares, with no sight of minority companies or indie favourites, only coming to light as the cult hits and deservedly money-making hits they really are when they reach DVD. The film industry is most certainly hit-driven, but the world of mainstream looks more blatantly than ever to be a pocket emptying franchise factory. Looking beyond this we could find films countless times better wanting some much desired attention.