Quentin Tarantino: Ryan Reynolds’ Netflix Movies “Don’t Exist in the Zeitgeist”

Excuse me for being late on this topic. Jet-lag got the best of me.

A particular point in Quentin Tarantino’s viral interview with Deadline’s Baz is making some waves because there is a lot of truth in what he is saying.

Tarantino offered an opinion on the streaming phenomenon, calling out Netflix for making expensive blockbusters starring Ryan Reynolds that made no real cultural impact after being unceremoniously released:

“I mean, and I’m not picking on anybody, but apparently for Netflix, Ryan Reynolds has made $50 million on this movie and $50 million on that movie and $50 million on the next movie for them […] I don’t know what any of those movies are. I’ve never seen them. Have you? I haven’t ever talked to Ryan Reynolds’ agent, but his agent is like, ‘Well, it cost $50 million.’ Well, good for him that he’s making so much money. But those movies don’t exist in the zeitgeist. It’s almost like they don’t even exist.”

What he seems to be referring to are Reynolds’ two hotshot Netflix “blockbusters” “Red Notice,” “6 Underground,” and “The Adam Project,” which broke streaming records, but barely made a dent in the culture.

Let’s not forget Reynolds also starred in the Apple TV comedy “Spirited”, opposite Will Ferrell, which also broke watch records, but is anybody actually talking about it?

You can also throw non-Reynolds streaming blockbusters “The Gray Man” and “Extraction” into the mix as well. These are, basically, made-for-TV movies with abnormally high budgets.

Yes, all of these big films might have been watched by millions of people, but their cultural impact has been fairly stagnant. Barely anybody talks about them.

Tarantino said this in the context of him personally leaving the industry. He just feels like things aren't going in the right direction. This is not him throwing shade at Reynolds, he was just giving an example of why he's not into it anymore.

Then again, there are movies like “The Irishman” which, like it or not, did break into the zeitgeist. Netflix movies aren't inherently inferior, you just need to hire a good filmmaker to up the quality of the filmmaking.