Zahler Takes Dim View Of Current Blockbusters

Prodigal director S. Craig Zahler has a new movie coming out, following the amazing Bone Tomahawk and the even more amazing Brawl in Cell Block 99.  Dragged Across Concrete will see bent cops Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn turn outright to the dark side.  And talking about that movie among other things for the Venice Film Festival, Zahler talks of his feelings for modern blockbusters.

Do you think American cinema is in a good place?

I don’t. There’s independent stuff that’s more interesting, but I have a hard time paying attention to these swirling, pixel-salad blockbuster movies. The way they do the camera movements and how long the action sequences are, it loses the thread of the characters. I understand that it’s appealing to a different demographic.

I grew up reading comic books, so it’s not that I’m closed-minded to that. Studios are putting all their eggs in one basket. I was talking to a super successful producer about a $1m movie, which if it went well could make $3-4m. He said, ‘why would we make ten of those, when we can just make one movie for $150m?’ Even if they only double that money, it makes a lot more.

It makes sense from a business standpoint.