Last summer, when I watched the eagerly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine (it was fantastic), I had one major thought leaving the theatre: will this be good or bad for Marvel? Most of the film’s jokes were aimed at the current state of superhero films and how completely abhorrent and unwatchable they have become; the harder the audience laughed, the more truth there was in the joke. My final conclusion was that the outcome would be great for this specific film, yet presumably not so much for the ailing superhero industry.
But my hypothesis doesn’t matter; what does matter is that they dared to make something as self-mocking as that film, which ultimately paid off, at least for that installment. This brings us to now, where Seth Rogen’s eagerly anticipated Hollywood satire, The Studio, has just been released to rave reviews, currently sitting at 96% on rottentomatoes.com. The series feels like a modern spin of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard mixed with Robert Altman’s The Player (the latter of which directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg have noted as a direct influence, specifically the opening one shot take).
The official synopsis reads: “In ‘The Studio,’ Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of embattled Continental Studios. As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their own insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. With their power suits masking their never-ending sense of panic, every party, set visit, casting decision, marketing meeting, and award show presents them with an opportunity for glittering success or career-ending catastrophe. As someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes movies, it’s the job Matt’s been pursuing his whole life, and it may very well destroy him.”
Although only the first two episodes have been released as of yesterday, March 26, on Apple TV+, I can’t help but wonder what will be made of this Hollywood tale. Personally, some of my favourite films are the ones made about Hollywood, especially the unflattering ones, because I love to see the warts of the world I admire so much. But this series releases at a time when the whole world now knows how badly the big studios are doing as they unsuccessfully pump out sequels, franchises, and live-action remakes (cough, cough, Snow White), seemingly losing billions of dollars by the hour. As marketing budgets seemingly eclipse the entire film budget, the studios are betting it all on reheated products rather than novelty, and this series clearly highlights that.
Back in the day, the big studio heads like Michael Ovitz and Robert Evans were the gatekeepers of Hollywood; nowadays, if you have a hundred bucks and an iPhone, you can sweep the awards season. Studios are more willing to bet $300 million (AED 1.1 billion) on a sequel that nobody asked for than spend $1 million on an unknown filmmaker, who then goes on to fund his own film, proving that he didn’t need the studios after all.
It’s a very precarious time indeed, and with independent studios and financiers mushrooming across the world (basically anywhere but Hollywood), the bigwigs are in a real squeeze.
We’ll see how The Studio plays out. For now, just enjoy watching Martin Scorsese play himself as he shouts at Seth Rogen.
