“I have no illusions,” Oscar-winning director Damian Chazelle said on a podcast in March. “I won’t get a budget. Babylon Size up anytime soon, or no less than not on this next one.
Chazelle was reflective of her 2022 Paramount Pictures epic starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, which received mixed reviews and grossed $63 million worldwide against a reported budget of $80 million. “Certainly, financially, Babylon Didn’t work at all,” Chazelle said. “I probably won’t get it. [the next] made one. I have no idea. We will have to wait and see.”
This ambiguous feeling will not be an outlier. Directors — from Oscar winners like Chazelle to up-and-comers — are in a precarious position with regards to major studio projects. Not that that is latest. Regardless, the definition of film prison has at all times been: Lose a lot of cash from the studio and you will not should make one other studio feature for a while, if ever.
But resulting from current market conditions, there may be little margin for error for directors. Speaking with greater than a dozen industry insiders, The Hollywood ReporterSays studio filmmakers are coping with a particularly inhospitable environment now, even in comparison with a few years ago.
Fewer movies are being made, from big-budget movies ($120 million plus tentpoles) to even lower midbudget offerings ($45 million to $60 million plus), which have traditionally given filmmakers more opportunities for financial success. are provided. The properties which are being greenlit, especially the IP-driven ones, are being micromanaged by probably the most risk-averse studio executives who’re still attempting to work out the best way to make a movie a pandemic. Post-disease releases while belt-tightening and shifting management teams make hiring decisions amid surprise layoffs.
“[Everyone] went on strike and came back to a different industry,” said a studio head on condition of anonymity. “Everything is decelerated, every part is being investigated and everybody has a latest boss.”
Warner Bros. Discovery’s top position has been in place for lower than two years, and in some areas of the studio, even less. Then there’s the industry-wide pressure to deliver windfalls that move the needle on the box office and fuel the associated revenue streams that can satisfy shareholders (think: Warners’ Barbie). Film slates—now a massive line item—sit inside the larger narrative of publicly traded corporations.
Insiders say non-writing directors are having a particularly tough time. Due to the limited variety of studio movies, open directing assignments that may normally be in the grasp of young filmmakers are going to top talent. Elsewhere, up-and-coming directors, who’ve a festival film or two and are searching for the subsequent step, are getting boxed out. Long gone are the times of Colin Trevorrow jumping from Sundance darling (Safety will not be guaranteed.) From Jurassic World.
Now, latest talent must deliver multiple successful projects in a row, without slip-ups, before they’ll afford the grace (even when only) to fail on the studio level. With studio directors for filmmakers, “you basically get one shot,” says one top manager. [at proving yourself]3 times in a row.”
For their part, executives report that the variety of working directors is dwindling, even with a bombshell or two, with big budgets to deliver on time, on budget and on brand. Can be trusted. Stunt-person-turned-director David Leitch is at the highest of the studio’s wish list as someone who can direct entertaining movies while maintaining excellent rapport with talent.
For the past decade, because the midbudget studio movie — often a proving ground for up-and-coming helmers — has gone, streaming has offered a protected harbor for directors. “Streaming was a good thing and a bad thing for directors. It used to be almost impossible for a director to go to jail from a streaming film because you could only ‘lose’ a certain amount,” says a producer behind the studio release. , citing the usually large marketing costs for theatrical titles. But there’s a big downside to this approach: Directors whose movies have “done well” on platforms—that’s, raced up the Nielsen or Netflix streaming charts—have found that titles are a real drag. Do not promote profession, in comparison with traditional theater run. “No one cares if your movie does well on streaming,” surmises one representative bluntly.
Without box office data on the pitch meeting, there’s one other supposedly quantitative measure for promoting or demoting directors: Rotten Tomatoes. The industry has long had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with evaluators Called into query And there are Sensitive to distortion. “Critical acclaim is overwhelming now,” says a director’s rep. “The Rotten Tomatoes score is the first thing people look at when I produce a director. This inevitably affects the director’s hiring decision. One executive offers: “When you hire a director, all you’ve is their past work and one meeting.”
Directors unable to search out work in the studio system can take refuge in Waqar TV. Post Birds of prey — a 2020 film that suffered reshoots and underperforming on the box office — directed by Cathy Yan has landed episodes of the HBO series. succession, earning him an Emmy nomination. Still, episodic work will only get you there. “When you’re handed the keys to a Ferrari and drive it a few blocks without an accident, no one cheers for you,” offered one producer of studio movies. And directors can write themselves out of jail, packing independent directorial efforts. (Of course, producer-financiers who could back indie endeavors are facing financial difficulties in 2024. See: Bron’s demise.) Last yr, it was announced that Yann would direct the indie sci-fi love story. Will do. updatea film he also wrote.
Angry filmmakers and reps point to directors like Robert Zemeckis, who had a huge run of movies in the ’90s but has yet to search out a financial success in the past decade — but despite the studio’s got the green light. Welcome to MarvinIts most up-to-date theatrical release grossed $13 million on a $39 million budget. “Well, if you can provide Tom Hanks,” says one executive in Zemeckis’ defense. (His next film, Here, Due out in November through Sony and Starz Hanks.)
Insiders also lamented the shortage of business at the highest of the studio system. Michael De Luca, at age 29, was running New Line and breaking into young and impressive filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson. He then headed MGM and, now, heads Warners, working with the identical filmmakers.
Everyone who was spoken to. THR For this story, from filmmakers to reps and executives, note that the precarious state of the studio and the implications for potential filmmakers will disproportionately affect female directors and filmmakers of color, as in Film Jail. Often happens. In 2023, of the 116 directors reviewed in 2023, 12.1 percent were women, based on USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which noted that the number has been flat over the past several years. So far in 2024, three of the highest 25 grossing movies released this yr were directed by women.
“You used to be able to get away as a working filmmaker where, if you didn’t leave bed, you could work for 20 years,” says one representative whose clients have several theatrical releases this yr. are In 2024, filmmaker clients may find themselves out of labor — not necessarily sent to film jail, but due to uncreative market forces, “they’re just squeezed out,” the person added.
As for Chazelle, during CinemaCon in April, Paramount’s Brian Robbins announced from the stage at Caesars Palace that he would write and direct his next film. Babylon The reported setting of Studio Chazelle’s latest film? A jail.
How to Succeed as a Director (By Really, Really Trying)
Is this the worst time ever to be tasked with shepherding a big-budget studio film, or are things really looking up for you immediately? Consult boards, chutes and ladder styles to reinforce your game.…
Adobe (3); Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Courtesy of HBO; Courtesy ©AMPAS
A version of this story first appeared in the April 24 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Credit : www.hollywoodreporter.com