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Could the Pandemic Cause the Decline of the Franchise Era of Hollywood?
We Could Be on the Verge of Witnessing the Rebirth of the Mid-Budget Movie
Felix Quiñonez Jr.
When Warner Brothers took Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s latest cerebral, big-budget summer blockbuster off the release calendar, it also took any hope that we would have anything resembling a typical summer at the movies.
More importantly, it’s made it increasingly clear that Hollywood is undergoing a seismic change that could see a slow but steady shift away from Hollywood’s reliance on big-budget, too big to fail blockbusters, the kind that Christopher Nolan specializes in. And surprisingly, it could even see the rebirth of the mid-budget Hollywood movie.
Believe it or not, studios weren’t always tripping over themselves to establish their own “cinematic universe” or desperately trying to kickstart a franchise. Having a “built-in audience” or fans that will see every entry in a series without hesitation, was not crucial to get a movie made. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and its comic book brethren took over Hollywood, it was the mid-budget, star-driven films that dominated movie theaters.
