Perhaps I'm being a bit unfair to Gore Verbinski in that headline—The Mexican is underrated! I really like The Ring! And that first Pirates of the Caribbean was totally not-terrible!—but I have to admit to some amusement when I hear him warn that Hollywood is "on a crazy road to extinction."
As a reminder, in the New Abnormal studios are more concerned with "intellectual property" than they are "good movies" or "watchable entertainment." What can they sell across how many platforms to which quadrants of viewers? This is all that matters. And Gore Verbinski has been happy to play into that system, making a trio of films based on a ride at a theme park that averaged a production budget of $225 million and grossed an average of $894 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
His new release, The Lone Ranger, has a listed production budget of $215 million. It is based on an old television show. It stars a guy with worldwide brand recognition. It is, almost by definition, a product of the New Abnormal. You'll excuse me if I am somewhat leery of Verbinski's complaints:
So if you’re not making Harry Potter or you’re not making something that you can synergize and advertise across all of these huge platforms… It’s easier for me to get 150 million dollars to make a movie if I’ve got giant robots in it than it is to make a 40 million dollar drama. I mean that’s the wasteland.
I can go make the movie for 10 or 150, but you can’t make Lawrence of Arabia. You couldn’t get it made. Steven couldn’t get it made. You couldn’t try to get The English Patient made today. It’s true, everything they are saying is true.
Well, okay. But Verbinski lives in a world of his own creation. I'm not saying it's his fault—corporate forces beyond his control are conspiring against all of us, I'm sure—but I am saying that he has been a willing collaborator. He has profited handsomely from helping to build (and continuing to build!) the universe he now decries.
(And with that, I am off to see The Lone Ranger. Because I am a hard-working journalist. Wheeeee!)