I have already commented on more than one occasion that the more you immerse yourself in the world of the international box office and the more you understand the dances of figures, percentages, losses and profits, the more exciting it is. And, although deep down we are talking about an art like cinema in which budgets and collections should be the least of it, the obsession with him box office has ended up going beyond the industry to affect the fans.
Of numbers, capitalism and “sheep”
But, executive producers and investors aside, What level of concern for the financial aspect do prestigious filmmakers have? Of course, we cannot speak for everyone, so we are going to focus on the specific case of a James Gray whose latest film ‘Armageddon Time’ has been translated into a critical success and, at the same time, a commercial hit.
Gray, whose filmography has always kept this dichotomy in mind, explained in an interview with GQ why does not attach great importance to the economic operation of its feature films in a world dominated by franchises.
“Commercially, the film [Armageddon Time] it was a failure. But everything is. I mean, I know that’s not true. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is not. But you’re currently in a situation where literally every one of those movies isn’t doing well, and in a way, that’s the great equalizer.
But you also know, as a movie lover, that this has nothing to do with the long-term reaction to a movie. I’m a movie lover and I have no idea what the box office was for, you know, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ or something like that. So I try to separate myself from that as well. Because I can’t do anything about it.”
In addition, the person in charge of jewels like ‘Ad Astra’ or ‘Z: The lost city’, has not wasted the opportunity to throw a dart at people with fixation by the box office and who use their data as a throwing weapon.
“It tells you something about how indoctrinated we are with capitalism for someone to say, ‘His movies haven’t made a cent!” It’s like, well, do you have shares in Comcast, or are you such a sheep that you think that has any value to anyone?”