Oppenheimer’s gigantic success and huge reputation as a director made Christopher Nolan most wanted interviewee. However, the British filmmaker avoids talking strictly about the story. He believes that the film should speak for itself. Journalists are using this situation to raise topics related to the production process, artistic worldview and the opinion of the greatest contemporary director on the film landscape. Among his statements, there was one that made headlines. Nolan stated that the success of his latest production marks a new landscape in which franchises will not matter that much.

Director’s words

“I think the success of Oppenheimer certainly points to a sort of post franchise, post intellectual property, landscape for movies – it’s kind of encouraging.” That was the whole sentence he stated in Alan Zane’s podcast. He continued by elaborating on the idea that people are starting to look for something new. They want to see something they haven’t seen before in productions. Christopher created a 3-hour long, R-rated biographical drama and the film made a billion. He stated that this encourages more artists to experiment and push their visions. Does this mean that Nolan predicts the end of “brands” and series in cinema? By no means. He has stated in other interviews that franchises are an important part in cinema and that they will always be a part of it. So what did he mean by that?

Audiences are tired of “products”

The director made a very simplistic reference to the changes in audience interest that we have seen in recent times. Until a few years ago, a title or affiliation with a particular franchise was a surefire way to make money. But, in recent years, people are targeting films that are unique. These stories may be part of a big franchise, but they attract people only if they feature a distinguished style of the director or an innovative approach to the narrative.

Audiences have become more sensitive. We are beginning to notice which productions appear generic and which stand out from the rest.
In recent years, we have seen a marked decline in the earnings of films, where the pressure of the studio rather than the hand of the director is more noticeable. Particularly in the last year, in most cases, original productions, created out of the artist’s desire, in which his distinct style manifests itself, have attracted larger audiences than generic products.

The Renaissance of Artistic Cinema

This brings joy, as it indicates to an increased appreciation of the artistic side in cinematography. The willingness of studio owners to turn the art of filmmaking into a “product” that is only meant to make money has proven to be destructive and has strained the trust of fans. It also puts film artists in a stronger position and, hopefully, they will be even more valued for their skills.

The coming years, therefore, herald a picture of cinema where the vision of authors will be much stronger. People will be looking for films that will give them something new, that will offer emotions, shown from the perspective of another human being and will not be created based on businessmen’s calculations. So are movie franchises facing the end? No, these will attract audiences, but only if they are created with a certain artistic direction and under the guidance of a filmmaker with a distinctive vision.

Why do we love artists?

But where does this come from? Why do we love films where a talented director had more creative freedom to craft art together with his collaborators?

First of all, an original director carries with him the previously mentioned “style”. These are the elements he places importance on in his storytelling. The way the characters speak, how they are portrayed. What emotions the film focuses on and how they are shown. It is also the visual way of how the story is presented, the framing or composition of scenes. Sometimes a particular director uses certain means of expression that are hard to find in other moviemakers works. Other times he uses tricks that would seem to be craft errors. But, his way of using them is so unique that it only enriches the work.

At the end of the day, it comes down to one thing: human being. We feel in the film that there is another person behind it. Someone like us but at the same time different and individual. We get to know his way of looking at the world and “talk” to him about emotions trough the movie.

Also, sometimes we get to know a certain perspective, a look at a particular subject that the director shows in his work. This is often the case with directors who work on someone else’s script. They deliver the story contained in it, but show it in a way that is enriched by their perspective on it.

After all, that’s what art is. A conversation between two people, the author and the viewer. This is what we expect from it. We want to know the emotionality of the person on the other side, his values. If we take away that human and sincere voice, we immediately feel the emptiness of what we see and the screening of the production reaches us less.

The past year

If we look at last year alone, we can pick out 5 blockbusters that were clearly financially successful. These were John Wick 4, Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3, Across the Spiderverse, Barbie and Oppenheimer. Some of these productions are parts of film franchises that are already running. But what sets them apart from other last year’s productions is the aforementioned distinctiveness and the characteristic filmmaker behind each production. We can find a generic counterpart to most of these productions.

Between explosions and fight scenes

There were several action films last year. Fast X or Expend4bles represent the side of films created under the control of producers, without flair – filled with CGI to replace the actual process on set. Both of these films sunk money. The first one even scored high financially, but the unwise management of a budget of more than 340million to patch up the lack of vision and planning brought failure to the release.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a representative of this genre as well. However, behind it stands a man with a certain vision – Chad Stahelski. The former stunt coordinator converts his knowledge into the film by creating spectacular stunts performed almost entirely on set. In doing so, he composes breathtaking choreographies, sometimes lasting several minutes. Every detail is polished. The film itself shares many similarities with Dante’s Inferno and is filled with symbolism related to it. Plus, the film is beautiful. We are talking about one of the best-looking films in the history of the industry. Every shot is a wonderful composition with brilliant lighting and colors. This film didn’t have to look like this, but it does because the artist behind it wanted it to. The production has received a sensational reception from critics and, with a much lower budget than the competition, looks better and performs better financially.

Realm of animated wonderlands

When it comes to animation, cinema is undergoing a distinct transformation. The form, which for years was a reliable way to attract viewers to theaters, is now clearly out of breath. Safe animations with ” round faces” in the style of Pixar or Disney have bored audiences. The first one released Elemental last year, which admittedly made money, but it was not a success on par with the studio’s previous hits. Disney itself, on the other hand, expected huge success from the production of Wish. The project was very conservative, safe and fit in the pattern of their previous successes. It turned out to be a huge critical and financial flop and did not interest the audience at all. To this can be added Disney’s attempts to move animation to Live-Action. These were initially profitable thanks to viewers’ nostalgia. But the audience, after a few productions noticed their shallowness and zero originality. Because of this, recent productions from this wave do not enjoy satisfactory interest.

However, an animation that was a huge success was Across the Spider-Verse. The sequel to the also well-received production about a character from the Marvel Universe enjoyed great attendance and overwhelmingly positive opinions. We’re talking about reviews calling the film one of the best in cinematic history (by the way, right up there with its predecessor). The animation was created with an incredible focus on detail. Each world and each character in the film universe was animated in a different way in a different frame rate. We’re talking 3D animation, 2D animation, stop-motion animation, animation based on cut-outs or even Live-Action inserts. Especially jaw dropping was Gwen’s vision of the world. There, the environment consisted of constantly “flowing paint,” the entire universe changed visually and colorfully to match the character’s emotions.

Sticking with the topic emotions, they are what made the audience love this production. The problems in the film are the visual manifestation and extension of the problems we face every day. The artwork touches on the problems of growing up, finding one’s own way in life, societal pressures, being pushed into different boundaries, feelings of isolation, otherness or the problems of parenthood. It resulted in one of the greatest piece of art in animation and cinematography.

From the pages of graphic novels to the silver screen

Recent years have seen the dominance of films based on comic books in cinemas. These stories have captivated audiences thanks to likeable characters and the relationships between them. This positive aspect, however, has begun to dissolve in favor of mass-produced products. The studios became greedy with the concept and decided that no matter what they produced, people would still rush to the cinema. The films were made in an extremely generic way, directors complained about the creative freedom being taken away and the productions themselves were ugly, overloaded with CGI effects that in many cases was unfinished. Such tactics ended up straining the trust of audiences who are less enthusiastic about the genre. Marvel Studios, which released Ant Man: Quantumania and The Marvels last year after long domination in the cinema, found this out most painfully. Both productions were negatively received by critics and audiences and failed financially.

In addition to the Spider-Verse mentioned in the context of animation, there was another successful entry in comic book genre, and even released by the aforementioned Marvel Studios. We are talking about Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. It was praised by critics and viewers and was a huge financial success. The reason here is the name of the creator – James Gunn. He has already established himself in the eyes of the audience in a very positive view. This is a creator who has the best understanding of the comic book medium. This results in some of the finest comic book to screen adaptations. With the above mentioned production, he was able to gain full control and creative freedom due to his well-established position. This resulted in a work that is very expressive, one of a kind, but above all incredibly focused on the emotional layer. The artist made us fall in love with these characters, and through the finale of his trilogy he completed a story about overcoming traumas, opening up to people and touched on the theme of splitting apart and moving on. All this surrounded by breathtaking scenery, with wonderful costumes and characterization. In addition, his work stands out for its crazy visual aspects. He is showing the “beauty of ugliness” through outlandish designs of various space creatures and planets. Despite the fact that the film was part of a project in a downward trend, it was not affected by it, precisely because of its originality and artistic approach in creative process.

When it comes to this branch of cinematography overall. In the context of the article’s topic, James Gunn’s name is crucial for the coming years. The director has become the Co-Chairman (with his friend, Peter Safran) of DC Studios and will oversee his own project in the form of a cinematic DC Universe. The fact that the studio chief is not another businessman but a real artist is gratifying. Finally in this function we will see someone who understands the language of filmmaking. In the announcement of the Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, he indicated that the most important thing for him in any project will be the vision of the artists. He cares about the uniqueness and creative freedom of each director or writer involved. Thanks to this, he hopes to obtain a very diverse and therefore interesting effect. The projects themselves will operate in different styles, genres and age categories. Such a vision electrifies audiences and attracts more famous names of filmmakers that we hear about in official announcements and rumors. Beyond that, James Gunn himself will be creating his own productions as part of this project starting with Superman: Legacy, set to begin shooting in march 2024.

The Barbenheimer phenomenon

The culmination of this strand was Barbenheimer. The international event that formed around Oppenheimer and Barbie was a result of coincidence. The double release of such major films with such extreme styles triggered a flood of memes and a trend that hyped people on to multiple screenings of these films. People set out to see these films dressed in the gloomy black suits from Nolan’s film and pink outfits matching with the color scheme of Barbie. All this in the form of a kind of manifesto of a favorite production or a sense of belonging to a worldwide movement.

Such a casual Internet advertising campaign has resulted in gigantic box-office successes and each title has collected more than a billion dollars from theaters. But at the very beginning of this trend are the filmmakers. Their distinct style, the expressive nature of their works and standout visuals caused the trend that spread across the Internet. It should also not be forgotten that both films are excellent productions that received a sensational critical reception. In them, the authors addressed important issues built around the protagonists. The filmmakers also made major technological advances in set design, costumes or special effects.

Along with this, last year also saw the success of several smaller artistic projects. Probably no streaming film went as viral on the Internet as the bold thriller Saltburn by Emerald Fennel. Apart from Barbie, the topic of the situation of women and their problems was raised by films such as Priscilla, The Peasants and Poor Things. Each of these productions, thanks to great reviews at festivals, have drawn large (for their scale) audiences to theaters and have enjoyed continuing interest.

Japan’s triumph in international cinema is also bringing joy. Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One, with a budget of less than 10 million dollars, offers a better spectacle than most Hollywood productions with budgets well over 200 million. Behind the film is a filmmaker who has claimed repeatedly that making a Godzilla movie would be a dream come true for him. This has resulted in a sensational production that owes its quality to the determined vision of its creator. The film returns to the symbolism within which the monster was originally created. It stands for an intergenerational trauma and a cataclysm in the face of which people are powerless. In the story, we can see the fear passed on after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki tragedies. The plot focuses on the behavior and struggle of people to survive in situations where they have no chance.

Conclusion and the following years

Answering the question from the beginning. Christopher Nolan talked about the increase in people’s sensitivity to falsehood in works of art and a greater appreciation of artistic qualities in productions. The direction in the final results indicates satisfies. It shows the triumph of originality and creative vision over the desire to turn the art branch into a money-making machine. Franchises will not achieve success for granted, but only if original ideas of artists are behind them. Financial earnings are, of course, important for the sustenance and development of the industry, but they should be the result of the work of people with a passion and desire to create.

So what productions await us in the coming years? Here we still have to wait for, hopefully, a transformation for the better. However, there are already some interesting projects on the horizon.

So I will use this article to encourage support for the productions of original filmmakers and to opt for cinema screenings of distinctive works made with passion. After all, we want cinema to move in this direction, and the filmmaking community itself to create a space friendly to people with new and interesting visions