The Franchise Killed the Director Star
Take a second and think of all the big time director names you know. Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. What is one thing they all have in common? Well, it's that they are getting old. How many new young popular directors can you name? It used to be that a directors name alone could get people in seats. But as the franchise and sequel machine has taken over Hollywood, they find themselves ever more increasingly interchangeable in the corporate filmmaking world. No longer does the directors creative vision take priority, as the executives want to protect the brand and franchise. In recent times, we have seen various directors walk off of projects due to creative differences as studios are more interested in blockbusting franchises and big bucks than in nurturing new voices and visionaries.
Tim Burton is 64 years old. Feel old yet?
Take a look at the Filmography of Chloé Zhao and you can see she experienced quite the whiplash from going from Nomadland to The Eternals. She went from passion projects where she mainly had creative control to where you are clearly working with someone else’s intellectual property, character and universe. Chloé Zhao now had to work with three other writers, producers and editors to make sure the film felt natural in the Marvel Cinematic Universal. She was known for elegiac, character-driven dramas with small casts that were personal and particular. But in the Eternals it feels like a big part of her style and personal touches were lost through out the process. The movie's vision felt less made by one person, and more made by a board of committee members. Unlike other film studios in which the director has an extremely high degree of creative control over their films, Marvel works very collaboratively with their directors and none of their directors ever got a "final cut" over any of the films they direct. Some directors do well under this model, while others do not.
It used to a dream where you make a successful indie film, you would get to go and make bigger films with your creative vision. But in today's franchise and IP world, if you make successful indie films chances are you'll end up directing a big franchise. The familiar argument is when indie directors sign on to direct huge budget popcorn movies is that they will be putting their own stamp on the material. In some movies, like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, you can feel this in certain scenes with Sam Raimi's horror influence peeks through. It almost makes the film feel unique and stand out in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But due to being tied in with a TV show (Wandavision) and having to maintain it's place in the Franchise world, it feels constrain, like Sam Raimi wanted to push the movie father in his creative style. But this was only after Scott Derrickson left the project due to "Creative Differences", where he wanted to focus on a more personal project The Black Phone. So Sam Raimi had the challenge of trying to take over a project mid way through production.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness feels trapped between being a horror movie and a typical Marvel Film.
Studios have become more adept at marketing franchises, and rebooting old television shows and movies in a way that has ensured that the director of the films goes pretty much unnoticed. Can you name the directors who made the Harry Potter films? Most likely not. The power of a director to pull in audiences has become almost non-existent as the auteur becomes a dying breed. Their unique signature no longer required. This is despite there are young directors out there making great content, and having new stories to tell. Will they be destined to remain in a niche? Respect for their voices and stories has diminished, and the director as an all-powerful figure in American cinema is on the way to becoming the stuff of legend. Now, once again, it's the studios rather than the auteur who are calling the shots.
This has negatively impacted the industry as it feels like finding those unique and exciting movies are harder then ever. Sometimes, a creative vision sneaks through and surprises us, such as Greta Gerwig's Barbie. Gerwig and Baumbach were given full creative freedom in writing the film, and it's the rare example of where an artists creative vision meshed well with a IP. Greta Gerwig did not have to deal with a board of directors or a large writing team which allowed her style to come through. This should be the approach Marvel and Disney should take, allowing their directors to take their series and IP's in new interesting directions. Can you picture a Star Wars movie that goes for complete horror, or a musical Marvel movie? The current state of Franchises and IP's have become to predictable and safe. Which might explain how some of Disney's lasted movies have failed to connect with audiences.
An IP movie with a voice of it’s own, it’s possible and should happen more often.
Will the Film Director be replaced by AI & Robots? Most likely not, as someone has to control the film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualize the screenplay while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The Film Director has a higher chance of being replaced by the Entertainment Executive Team Board.
