Hollywood is in a major period of transition right now. The streaming era has completely upended just about every entertainment company's business model. Studios are trying to figure out how to have success at the box office while also prioritizing streaming services, which are undoubtedly the future. Netflix generated more revenue in 2024 than the global box office in its entirety. Marvel Studios, once a dominant force at the box office, isn't immune to the need for change, and a lot of that change is about finding
ways to make movies cheaper. Interestingly, an underseen sci-fi movie from 2023 is helping them solve that equation.
During a recent press conference (via Deadline), Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige spoke about a wide range of topics as "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" arrives and looks to save the studio's rough year at the box office. Both "Captain America: Brave New World" and "Thunderbolts" fell short of financial expectations, saddled by $180 million budgets. But Feige and company know that things need to change. That's why they looked to director Gareth Edwards ("Godzilla," "Rogue One") and what he did with "The Creator" for answers.
Edwards managed to make "The Creator," a massive scale original sci-fi blockbuster, for $80 million. Edwards and his team managed to shave tens of millions from the budget instead of approaching the movie in the way most studios would have. That got Feige's attention. Per Deadline, "They took notice of the VFX spectacle that Gareth Edwards made with 'The Creator,' which was shot in Thailand, and met with that pic's below-the-line heads to learn how they pulled off such efficiency."
That may already be paying off. Feige also said "the studio has scaled down production costs greatly." While $180 million is still a lot of money, that's a heck of a lot cheaper than "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" or "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," which carried reported $250 million budgets. Then there's "The Marvels," which barely made $200 million globally and cost a ridiculous $270 million to produce (not even accounting for marketing expenses).
Read more: Every Marvel Character Locked Up In The Raft
The Creator Wasn't A Hit, But It Was An Important Movie Nonetheless
The Marvel Cinematic Universe seemed bulletproof before the pandemic. But between audience habits changing, the shows on Disney+ diluting focus, and too many of the recent movies being met with a mixed response, that is no longer the case. Massive hits like "Deadpool & Wolverine" are now more the exception than the rule. Feige and Disney seem to understand this, and in order to survive, they need to drive down costs. It's that simple.
The irony here is that "The Creator" ranked as one of the biggest box office disappointments of 2023, pulling in just $104 million worldwide despite being largely praised by critics. Be that as it may, what Edwards and his team accomplished did not go unnoticed. The movie looked just as good if not better than most of Hollywood's $200 million blockbusters for less than half the price. Feige, speaking further, explained that Marvel's movies have been getting cheaper and, were it not for the SAG and WGA strikes in 2023, recent releases would have cost even less than they did:
"The movies made over the last two years have been upwards of a third cheaper than they were two years before that, i.e., Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America, Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four are all significantly cheaper than films from 2022 and 2023, and they would have been even cheaper if it wasn't for the strikes."
The real shame of it all is that "The Creator," an ambitious original movie, couldn't find success commercially. Still, if Edwards and his team can help guide studios to become more thrifty without sacrificing quality, that's a good thing. Hollywood has had an oversized budget problem for years now, and it's high time that studios began dealing with it. This movie, though overlooked in its day, demonstrated that great things are possible on reasonable budgets without the need to resort to generative AI to cut costs.
You can grab "The Creator" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.
If you're looking for the easiest way to keep up with all the major movie and TV news, why not sign up to our free newsletter?
Read the original article on SlashFilm.
