8 Feb – Roland Emmerich has joined a slew of filmmakers who are not amused by the large number of superhero movies in theatres in recent years. The director, who spoke to Den of Geek to promote his new movie, "Moonfall" recently, expressed his belief that superhero movies (and Star Wars) are destroying the industry. "It's ruining our industry a little bit, because nobody does anything original anymore," he said.
Aside from the similar points previously made by Martin Scorsese and Jodie Foster about such franchises that have conditioned audiences to favour formulaic storylines, Emmerich also stated that it is more difficult to get financing for an original project compared to a movie based on an IP as popular as Star Wars, Marvel or DC Comics. "You should make bold new movies, you know?" he added. "And I think, actually, Christopher Nolan is the master of that. He is someone who can make movies about whatever he wants. I have it a little bit harder, but I still have a big enough name - especially when it's a disaster [movie] or has some sort of disaster theme." It is noted that original movies have not been as successful as superhero and popular franchises, what with Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" or Ridley Scott's "The Last Duel" not doing well in theatres compared to "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which has now grossed USD 1.7 billion.