It shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that most movies nowadays either fall into one of two camps, small low-budget indie production, or giant blockbuster, but Jude Law is busy reminiscing about the in-between.
Law is about to debut in another gigantic franchise when he shows up in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew in just a few days. This will mean that the talented actor has now appeared in the Wizarding World, the MCU, and now a galaxy far, far away, but it seems he’s got fond memories of crafting movies that weren’t given hundreds of millions to play with.
During a recent interview with the Associated Press Law explained how the film industry is lacking in mid-budget movies right now, and even goes as far as to call them the “heart of filmmaking.”
“I mean, I feel very lucky that when I came into this business, they were making [mid-budget films], and some of those first films that I got to make with people like Anthony (Minghella), looking back now, it’s remarkable that we were allowed to get away with that. But it’s also an era, it’s a type of film and type of storytelling that I think we miss. Giving the correct kind of budget and time and patience to stories like that is absolutely at the heart of filmmaking, and I think it’s a gaping hole at the moment.”
If you’re wondering what movies Law could be referring to as mid-budget, he mentions by name Minghella who directed the actor for several projects in the late 90s and 2000s starting with The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain, and then Breaking and Entering. The first of those movies had a budget of just $40 million, which might seem like a lot of money, but compared to what’s spent on productions nowadays, it’s peanuts.
Of course, major blockbusters have their bonuses. Given that Law is reported to have earned $500,000 per episode for his appearance in Skeleton Crew we expect he’s not complaining about the project being a high-budget production, even when that money is coming from a studio that is currently going through its fair share of issues.
The movie industry is drastically changing, and recently there have been a lot of legendary creatives highlighting their problems with this changing market. In fact, Wolfs director Jon Watts revealed that he won’t be coming back for the sequel to the Brad Pitt flick since the movie’s Apple TV Plus release was sprung on him at the last moment.
Watts isn’t the only person who has a problem with these digital-only releases. Tim Robbins warned of the issues with digital streaming platforms that have too much power over what movies are prioritized to be shown to audiences, and what that can do to the industry.
The good news about streaming is that it does allow for some of the mid-budget movies Law is talking about to get made, so hopefully that will be enough to keep the heart of filmmaking alive.
Published: Dec 2, 2024 06:34 am