The rebirth of the blockbuster came with Jaws 1975 and cemented by Star Wars in 1977 and ushered in an era where studios had no idea what to do so they gave the keys to the kingdom to young directors like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron, and so on. Which led to director created and controlled massive blockbusters like the original Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, The Terminator, and so on. Many kickstarted franchises but organically, there was no plan in place, no producer laying out decade long arcs that every film had to adhere to.
Studios trusted them and their producers remained very hands off in this period. Spielberg even started producing and stuck very closely to this vision of being very hands off and letting the director do what they want which lead to other director controlled blockbusters like the Back to the Future trilogy.
Later examples like Peter Jackson on Lord of the Rings, left to pretty much do whatever he wanted. Or the Wachoski's on the Matrix.
However we are now in an era where Marvel does 2-3 movies a year and the producer is the lead voice on the film, where directors can get kicked off a film and have them heavily changed in reshoots to fit the overall goal of the producer controlled franchise. And now it is quickly becoming the norm. WB is doing it with DC. And ironically the same with Star Wars with their now yearly movies.
With these producer led franchises of 2-3 Marvel movies a year, soon 2-3 DC movies a year, and a Star Wars movie a year....and who knows what else. Even when a voice can come through like James Gunn in Guardians of the Galaxies it is still part of these massive hands-on studio franchises that adhere to the overall goals of the main producer and the franchises long-term plan.
Is there any room for the director controlled unique blockbusters in this genre anymore? Major blockbuster films defined by the directors vision, not part of a massive franchise plan. It seems like those days look pretty much over for now.
Studios trusted them and their producers remained very hands off in this period. Spielberg even started producing and stuck very closely to this vision of being very hands off and letting the director do what they want which lead to other director controlled blockbusters like the Back to the Future trilogy.
Later examples like Peter Jackson on Lord of the Rings, left to pretty much do whatever he wanted. Or the Wachoski's on the Matrix.
However we are now in an era where Marvel does 2-3 movies a year and the producer is the lead voice on the film, where directors can get kicked off a film and have them heavily changed in reshoots to fit the overall goal of the producer controlled franchise. And now it is quickly becoming the norm. WB is doing it with DC. And ironically the same with Star Wars with their now yearly movies.
With these producer led franchises of 2-3 Marvel movies a year, soon 2-3 DC movies a year, and a Star Wars movie a year....and who knows what else. Even when a voice can come through like James Gunn in Guardians of the Galaxies it is still part of these massive hands-on studio franchises that adhere to the overall goals of the main producer and the franchises long-term plan.
Is there any room for the director controlled unique blockbusters in this genre anymore? Major blockbuster films defined by the directors vision, not part of a massive franchise plan. It seems like those days look pretty much over for now.
