Marvel’s Anthony Mackie had some strong words about the state of Hollywood and why he believes streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ are becoming “the only place you can go and work with the filmmakers you adore.”
During a recent interview with Collider to promote the release of Altered Carbon Season 2 – now streaming on Netflix – Mackie discussed how the process of making movies has changed and why “Fortune 500 companies” buying up all the studios is the main reason so many directors and actors made the jump to streaming service.
To be frank about it, filmmakers don’t work in film anymore. If we look at the movies we grew up loving, that we think are the best movies of all time, those movies won’t be made now by studios; they’ll be made by streaming services. So if your movie isn’t an event—if you’re not in Avengers or Suicide Squad or Star Wars—it’s very hard to get people to go to the movie theater, for many different reasons. Fear factor, cost. I have kids, and for me to take my kids to the movies, it’s $115. So we watch movies at home. As soon as Fortune 500 companies bought all the film studios, the idea of making films was dead. So that being said, the only place you can go and work with the filmmakers you adore is streaming services.
Mackie went on to explain his frustration with how expensive it’s become to go to the movies (especially if you have a family) and why he doesn’t blame people for subscribing to streaming services instead.
Great movies are being made, they’re just not being made for the theaters, because young people don’t want to sit in a room and chill out. They want to move, and watch it on their cell phones and tablets. They can’t sit still; it’s a different world now. We had time, because we didn’t have cell phones. We could sit in a movie theater and make out with a girl and eat popcorn. But dudes don’t do that anymore. You can do that virtually now; you don’t have to hide in a movie theater. And if you take a girl to a movie theater now, it’s $20 for each ticket, and she’s going to want popcorn and nachos, and then you add two sodas, and you’re out $70 and you haven’t even gotten in the theater yet. We used to go to the dollar show in New Orleans, and you’d get popcorn for $5, soda for $2.50, you’re out-of-pocket $10! So now you can pay $7 [for streaming], or you go on two dates a month, and that’s $150 just to see a movie.
Do you agree with Mackie’s comments? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Collider