Netflix has become the go-to American studio for creative freedom and auteur-driven cinema. It’s not even a debate anymore. The studio system has become a cinematic cesspool of formulaic drivel. Netflix isn’t destroying cinema, rather, it’s actually saving it. Just look at the directors who decided to bring their passion projects to the streaming giant these last 5 years: Scorsese, Coen, Fincher, Soderbergh, Cuaron, Baumbach, Lee, and Bong.
And now, the latest marquee name you can add to that list is Charlie Kaufman. Yesterday, Netflix announced that Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” will be released on September 4th. Written and directed by Kaufman, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is based on Ian Reid’s novel of the same name, and is being described as a psychological thriller about a young couple in an isolated farmhouse.
“I was looking for something that somebody would let me direct and it’s easier to get something made if it’s based on a book, or a comic book, or a movie that’s already existed,” Kaufman told the Wall Street Journal. “The producer I work with happened to have a deal with Netflix. I don’t know that Netflix knew going in that I was going to make it into something that was less of a thriller than the book, and I don’t think I knew that either. The book is leading you to a reveal, and I felt like that might be obvious and disappointing in the movie. Things are more mysterious in words than they are in images.”
Kaufman then went on to note how, despite his critically-acclaimed films, ranging from 2008’s “Synecdoche, New York” to 2015’s “Anomalisa,” he couldn’t find sufficient funding to make “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” that is until Netflix reached out to help.
“I could play around and experiment, but the business has changed enormously, and it all happened around 2008 when studios stopped making movies and started making tentpoles,” said Kaufman. “The reason something like Netflix attracts filmmakers is because there’s nowhere else to make those things. It’s infuriating to me when people say Netflix is ruining movies because—no, movies ruined movies, studios ruined movies, and that’s the truth.”
I can’t really pinpoint the exact year it happened, but there was no doubt a gradual deterioration in American cinema during the last decade. What happened? Well, the oft-mentioned reason is the rise of the superhero genre with “Iron Man” in 2008, which kickstarted the 20+ movie MCU, not to mention the DCEU as well. This led to Disney monopolizing the industry with Marvel movies, live-action remakes, and countless reboots.
When all is said and done, film historians will look back at the 2010s and beyond, many years from now, and they will write about how corporate greed manifestly overpowered risk-taking at the movies these last 10 years. One cannot necessarily blame Disney for having studios copy their blueprint. This all came at a time when movie audiences chose hibernation at home with Netflix instead of opting to go out and pay $40 for two movie tickets. And yet, the mouse house found a way to create a record-breaking movie formula, but so did Netflix, and we should be grateful for the latter.
The man doesn't stop. James Gunn has confirmed he's already hard at work writing his next film, even as ‘Man of Tomorrow’ makes its way toward theaters next summer.