Danny Boyle is worried that the adult film—that is, films made for adults—are going the way of the dinosaur as a result of the pernicious influence of Pixar and television:
Speaking of the films of his youth—Boyle grew up in Great Britain in the 1970s—he laments "They were adult films, with adult themes, adult sexuality, adult violence, adult dilemmas. And we’ve lost that, or we’re in danger of losing it. … You can see what’s happened with movies, what I call the Pixarification of movies is happening. Now Pixar makes great movies, don’t get me wrong, they are very sophisticated storytelling. … But they are family friendly, and that’s the danger."
I'm somewhat sympathetic to Boyle's argument; indeed I spent a fair portion of my review of his latest, Trance, complaining that Hollywood had no idea how to market his talents to the masses. And I'd quibble with his using Pixar as a label for the proliferation of family friendly pap if only because Pixar, as Boyle notes, makes great films. It's really more of the Dreamworksification of cinema, no?
Furthermore, I'd suggest that we are in no danger of losing the adult film altogether. Off the top of my head, this year we've seen Side Effects, Pain & Gain, Trance, Evil Dead, Spring Breakers, and The Place Beyond the Pines. We can argue whether or not some of those count as "adult," I suppose, but I'd say they fit within Boyle's rubric.
That being said, we're certainly seeing fewer of these types of products and more of them are dying on the vine before they have a chance to get to mass audiences. (Remember Upstream Color? Didn't think so.)
What's to be done? Well, the patron model shows us one way to fix things. But the problem will only grow as long as adults stay away from movie theaters. Studios aren't going to crank out adult fare as long as movies like Killing Them Softly—which received a wide release and starred a huge name—gross less than they cost to make and market. If there's no demand, the supply's going to dry up. If we want adult films to be made, we need to patronize them when they're in theaters.
In other words, the Pixarification of movies isn't Pixar's fault. It's yours and mine.