Where Do Movies Go from Here?
The box office had record numbers. But the question remains: What really is the future of the industry?
With Barbenheimer’s box office success -$235.5 million on opening weekend- it would seem that the movies are far from dead. To that point, however, ‘dead’ or ‘dying’ was always a strong word.
Few art forms have ever ‘died.’ Despite the several articles and experts that claimed the art form was dead, painting still remains prominent in museums, an industry that in fact, earned more than the film industry last year. Many would argue that the art form has simply turned digital, via software like Adobe Photoshop or Fresco.
Books, which were declared dead as more consumers used the web and social media, have remained present in our daily lives — only 5% of Americans said they hadn’t read a book in one survey.
One could even use the human species as an example: would we say that the cavemen are dead, or that they evolved? Both are true. At the very minimum, ‘dead’ or ‘dying’ are incomplete words.
Instead, mediums change and evolve. More specifically, the technology used, its prominence, and the way viewers consume the medium change. With the film industry in mind, the question is how? How might the film industry change?
About 3 months ago, Apple had something to say on this with the VisionPro’s release:
In Apple’s vision of the film industry, the theater experience is more accessible: viewers have access to screens as large as 100 feet, sound more immersive than the ‘surround sound’ in theaters, and ‘environments’ exactly like the ones in movie theaters, all at the tip of their fingers. (Of course, this is assuming that Apple eventually decreases VisionPro’s price to make the product more accessible).
With that said, it is harder to predict how consumers will use new technology, like VisionPro, rather than what technology will emerge. Prolific essayist Matthew Ball notes that 20 years ago, few experts predicted that the internet would lead to entire generations using emojis, tweets, or short filmed “Stories” to communicate. However, Ball also points to ‘volumes,’ made popular by The Mandalorian, as technology that could change how the film industry tells stories.
For reference, a volume is a large circular room filled with LEDs, so that when a real-time rendering engine (e.g. Unreal) is used, the LEDs can then project virtual worlds instantaneously. Besides the numerous benefits for the production, volumes are important because they allow studios to rely on virtual assets (instead of physical ones). By doing so, the production of not just films, but all derivative works is made easier. “Rather than launch a Star Wars integration in Fortnite, Disney will just populate their mini-worlds on Fortnite Creative using what they’ve already built.” Disney conducted a variation of this with the Avengers Endgame x Fortnite crossover in 2019. A similar situation can be said for other industries, like fitness (e.g. Peloton could offer courses on a virtual Avengers Campus) or gambling (e.g. consumers could play blackjack on the virtual version of Canto Bight). Users could even join their heroes in canonical events that allow them to directly participate in the story being told.
Another growing technology that’s received a lot of attention is AI. Most recently, AI aided Method Studios’ artists to create the credits for Marvel’s Secret Invasion. Indiana Jones 5, released earlier this year, relied on AI to de-age Harrison Ford for 25 minutes of the film. AI can also be used to create digital clones of actors that have already died, like James Dean in an upcoming movie. Of course, there has been conflict over how AI is used in the industry and its implications (see the SAG-ACTRA and WGA strikes), but depending on the result of the strikes, the tool could play a much larger role in the industry.
Other technologies can intersect with the film industry (e.g. VR and Web 3.0 technologies like NFTs), but there are several constraints, both technological and practical, that must be addressed before they are widespread. As of now, NFTs require the same amount of electricity that a home uses in a day and a half, and VR conflicts with the fundamental tenets that movies rely on (ie. the ability to see the protagonist and the director having control over where and what a viewer looks at).
Regardless, with Barbenheimer’s success, which marks a change from the post-pandemic trends of the industry, the film industry will continue what it, and industries in general have always done: change.
