“It's a perilous time in film exhibition, and there are fewer independent theaters than ever.” — film director Martin Scorsese.
The focus on the discussion over the comments about the Marvel superhero series has been on critical comments by Martin Scorsese and actor Jennifer Aniston about the franchise. In fact, the Marvel franchise is a symptom of a larger issue.
Multiplex theatres dominate the landscape in the United States and Canada. The pressure on them is to show films that are like candy, "theme parks" as Scorsese put it, to reduce risks. The theatre owners can even justify showing the Marvel films on more than a single screen.
Ideally you can show superhero films and independent films side-by-side in a complex with 18 screens. The ratio of those films would say otherwise. To Scorsese's point, fewer independent theatres to show independent films.
"And then you're seeing what's available out there and it's just diminishing and diminishing in terms of, it's big Marvel movies. Or things that I'm not just asked to do or really that interested in living in a green screen," said Jennifer Aniston in an interview for Variety.
If you are looking east on Liberty Street toward State Street in Ann Arbor, MI, you might not think that there are fewer independent theaters. Let's look at what was playing at the State Theatre and Michigan Theatre on U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.
State Theatre — Jojo Rabbit; Parasite; Marriage Story; Pain and Glory; The Lighthouse; and Frankie.
Michigan Theatre — Knives Out; Dark Waters; and The Irishman.
Marriage Story and The Irishman are on Netflix. The multiplexes have shunned Netflix films, leaving them for independent theatres. That is part of Scorsese's concerns, especially since he couldn't get the film done through the usual studio setup.
Ann Arbor is one of the more progressive cities in the United States that embraces independent films: The exception to the trend, not the rule.
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The movie industry focuses a lot on China these days. We covered the topic earlier in the fall. The CBC had an extensive story on the impact of China on movies.
Superhero movies fall into this dynamic since they have a lot of action and not as much dialogue. Films that impress Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Aniston, and many other filmgoers have lots of great dialogue, not as much action and explosions.
If the superhero films are potato chips and independent films are vegetables, a good diet can and should have both. A diet mostly of potato chips and similar foods isn't healthy.
The powerful realm of film can handle all different genres of cinema. The Marvel world and Star Wars and everything else that is similar can and should thrive in the marketplace. Those films shouldn't threaten the existence of smaller films and theatres to show those films.
The superhero films crowd the limited options that reduce the impact of independent films and Canadian films to cross over outside Canada. They also take up limited space in Canadian multiplexes. That isn't the fault of the superhero films but their weight in the industry makes an impact.
photos credit: Marvel; me
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