Now that we’re a couple of weeks removed from the end of 2019 and the Oscar nominations have been announced, we’re beginning to be able to write the narrative of what the film industry went through over the past 12 months. It was a year of record-breaking blockbusters, huge bombs, surprising masterpieces, and much more. Thankfully, we have someone like Quentin Tarantino available to sum it all up and add a bit of hope for those thinking the film industry is in a downward spiral.
Speaking to Deadline, the question that is posed to most filmmakers was brought up about what the future of the film industry looks like, considering so many streaming services are taking mid-budget films out of theaters and the cinema is dominated by superheroes and franchise films. Well, according to Tarantino, whose “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” did pretty damn well at the box office, there was a war that happened in 2019, and the result isn’t what you expect.
“…I actually think a war for movies got played out this last year,” said Tarantino. “As far as I can see, the commercial product that is owned by the conglomerates, the projects everybody knows about and has in their DNA, whether it be the Marvel Comics, the ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Godzilla’ and James Bond, those films never had a better year than last year. It would have been the year that their world domination would have been complete. But it kind of wasn’t.”
He added, “Because of what you said, a lot of original movies came out and demanded to be seen, and demanded to be seen at the theaters. That ended up becoming a really, really strong year. I’m really proud to be nominated with the other films that just got nominated. I think when you sum up the year, it’s cinema that doesn’t fall into that blockbuster IP proof status, made its last stand this year.”
READ MORE: “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” Wins Best Picture At Critics Choice Awards
In the eyes of Tarantino, 2019 could have been the year that “Avengers: Endgame” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” completely obliterated the original films that were attempting find audiences at the multiplex. However, just based on the strength of those original films (obviously, including his own ‘Once Upon a Time’), the film industry was able to weather the franchise storm and remain alive.
He continued, “If it hadn’t done it this year, it might have been the last stand for movies like that. This is a really groovy year. To combat something like ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ which for the month before it came out and the month after, you couldn’t talk about anything else. They tried to do that with this last ‘Star Wars’ and I don’t think it quite worked, but you couldn’t get on United Airlines without running into all the tie-ins, and even the safety commercial had a ‘Star Wars’ scene.”
Now, Tarantino doesn’t get into the idea that Scorsese and others have been throwing around that streaming services like Netflix are snatching up the original films that would have been able to find audiences on the big screen, but it’s clear that the filmmaker is awfully optimistic about the future of cinema. That is, as long as quality content continues to be released.
Speaking of the future, remember that whole “Star Trek” film from Tarantino? Well, it’s beginning to look like the filmmaker is distancing himself from the project more and more. Early reports said he was directing, with Tarantino hinting at that possibility. However, now, he says that he’s hardly involved and hopes it gets made, but he is probably not directing.
“I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut,” he confirmed.
So, the dream of an R-rated “Star Trek” film from director Quentin Tarantino seems to be gone.