They say that, when the river sounds, water carries, and the bombshell that has turned out to be ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, which already occupies the eighth position in the list of highest grossing films in history, has been the trigger for a good handful of conversations about the future of film distribution and exhibition. A more dire future than many of us would like.
A coal black future
There are many voices that have been raised defending the theory that Marvel’s latest hit will change – even more – the way we consume cinema, suggesting that the theaters will end up almost exclusively in projecting blockbusters —Mainly belonging to large intellectual properties—, relegating the rest of the feature films to the helpful streaming platforms.
The latest heavyweight to echo this current of thought has been Ben Affleck. The actor-director has predicted in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that cinemas will receive only about 40 titles per year that will not leave too much room for originality.
“I think the movies in theaters are going to be more expensive and they are going to be treated as events. Mainly they will be aimed at younger audiences and, above all, like ‘Hey, I love the Marvel Universe, I can’t wait to see what It happens later. ‘There will be 40 movies a year in theaters, probably all of them sequels, animation, and franchises.
Personally, I fully share the vision of Affleck, who you have already seen clear symptoms of the change referred to, firmly believing that the conception of ‘Argo’ as a feature film would not have been possible today, with many possibilities that it would end up as a miniseries for some streaming platform. And since I have started the text with a set phrase, I will finish with another: I have no proof, but no doubts either.