Robert Zemeckis Says None of His Classics Would Have Been Greenlit Today

This week, Robert Zemeckis is set to premiere “Here,” starring Tom Hanks, at the AFI Film Festival. This will be a reunion of sorts for Zemeckis, Hanks and screenwriter Eric Roth who haven’t worked together on a project since “Forrest Gump.”

Zemeckis was a guest on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, and when asked whether he has any other projects currently lined up after “Here” the usually busy filmmaker responded, “I don’t know,” and added that this uncertainty is due to the industry being in total creative turmoil:

Things are slow […] There’s a strange thing happening that I’ve never seen before which is that nobody is in a hurry to make anything [..] I think nobody knows what to do. What do you make? What do you do?

During the chat, Zemeckis went on to talk about some of his classic films, including “Forrest Gump,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Back to the Future,” “Contact,” and “Cast Away.” The filmmaker considers himself lucky to have lived during a time when original films could still entice audiences. He also doesn’t believe any of his classic films would have been made in today’s climate:

The truth is that all of the movies you just listed; I wouldn’t be able to make any of them today. Making “Here” is a miracle. It’s a “comp” as we say in the industry. It’s tough to get them greenlit.

There’s of course some truth in what Zemeckis is saying; We’re currently living in the age of the I.P. blockbuster and original films that top the box-office are a rare breed now. Zemeckis has certainly felt this change. In the last 20 years, he hasn’t had many hits but has somehow continued to direct original content. Has Zemeckis’ luck finally run out?

It doesn’t help that Zemeckis has become a very hit and miss director. There have been some well-received films (“Flight,” “The Walk,”) but also plenty of duds (“Welcome to Marwen,” “The Polar Express,” “Beowulf,” “Pinocchio,” “The Witches,” “A Christmas Carol”).

It’ll be interesting to see if Zemeckis will be able to find funding for another film. In the meantime, “Here,” which cost $80M to produce, is set to hit theaters on November 1.