10 Problems With The Modern Movie Industry Nobody Ever Admits

4. The Hype Machine Is Making Everything So Passive

Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out on 17th December 2015. We're now only at the start of February 2016, yet already it feels like it's gone. And let's not mince words - this is a movie that had its hype building for years. Putting aside all the rumours of a sequel trilogy that persisted during George Lucas' tenure, there were three solid years of build-up to Episode VII, with a teaser released a full twelve-months in advance and excitement getting to levels that best even the biggest of recent cultural events. And now it's all over. How does that happen? How does the most anticipated movie of the millennium, one that actually succeeded too, feel like a nothing after a month, with minimal screenings left and the conversation swiftly moving on to other things? Heck, Avatar was dominating discussions well into 2010, and that film's since proven to have had no staying power. The problem is the hype, and on a more macro style how we consume movies. The discussion of big tentpoles is skewed towards the pre-release, with much more copy written and consumed about trailers and speculation than subsequent analysis of the movie itself. If you Google any major release, the image results are invariably fan made pics from early development rather than the polished stills and one-sheets because that's when it was the hot topic. It's just a thing now. That's how it works. We got excited for Star Wars. We saw Star Wars. And now there's Batman V Superman in a couple of months that's already getting everyone hot under the collar, but by the time that hits in March everyone'll be gearing up for Captain America: Civil War. And so on.