Much like jumping into the world of television, there is no longer a stigma attached to "respectable" actors doing blockbuster movies. They are more than just vehicles to sell toys (though, they are still that, too), but the projects are the money-making anchors to major studios, and some of the most popular entertainment around the world. If you want to make a global stamp with your face and brand, join a comic book movie. And Matthew McConaughey, perhaps even more so following the disastrous Cannes debut of Gus Van Sant‘s "The Sea Of Trees" (read our review), is doing just that.
"I’ve read some Marvel and DC scripts and I’ve talked about working with them on some scripts, none of which I’ll share with with you what they are — or were. Yeah, I’ve circled some of those. Nothing has been right for me yet. But I’m sure open to it," he told Variety. However, there are a lot of factors involved for the actor in terms of signing up for something which could be a very long commitment, and he admits he hasn’t found that right balance yet.
But there’s another reason he’s pondering a superhero flick — the sort of mid-budget movie he made his name on, and that even helped launched his comeback, is getting harder and harder to get financed at a studio level. "Lets go through it. You have the huge tentpole action: Marvel, DC Comics, ‘Avengers,’ ‘Iron Man,’ etc. After that, what do you got? At the bottom of that, you’ve got a ‘Dallas Buyers Club,’ where you don’t even have $5 million to do it. You’ve got to do it in 27 days. The films I’ve been making are mid-budget or low-budget dramas. There are no superheroes. There are no franchises. Those were early to get made in the late ’80s, early ’90s. Robert Zemeckis and I met a few months ago, and he was like, ‘You could never make ‘Contact’ again today, because no studio will budget it,’ " he said.
READ MORE: The 5 Best Pre-McConaissance Matthew McConaughey Movies
And that’s a reality that’s becoming more crystal clear by the day. That said, McConaughey is one of the few actors who could get something like "The Sea Of Trees" made these days. But given the response to that drama, even he might have trouble getting another ambitious indie movie off the ground anytime soon.
