Martin Scorsese, the iconic director known for pioneering the film industry with classics like “Taxi Driver” and “Mean Streets,” is expressing his discontent with the current state of Hollywood. In an interview with GQ magazine ahead of the release of his latest film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Scorsese voiced his concerns about the dominance of effects-driven blockbuster movies and their impact on the industry he helped shape.
Scorsese believes that the film industry he once knew has fundamentally changed. He likened the transformation to asking someone from 1970 who made silent films about the state of cinema in the modern era. According to Scorsese, major studios now favor easily marketable popcorn movies with franchise potential over supporting “individual voices that express their personal feelings or their personal thoughts and personal ideas and feelings on a big budget.” This shift, he argues, has led to the categorization of such films as “indies.”
The veteran director went further to assert that superhero blockbusters heavily reliant on special effects, what he referred to as “manufactured content,” no longer represent true cinema in his view. He drew parallels to artificial intelligence, suggesting that while these films may showcase incredible technical skills, they lack depth and meaning. Scorsese questioned what these movies truly offer audiences beyond momentary gratification and the subsequent fading of their impact.
Scorsese recalled moments of creative frustration in his career, such as his clashes with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein during the making of “Gangs of New York.” These experiences led him to conclude that he couldn’t continue making films under such constraints. He recognized that the pursuit of satisfying studio demands compromised his artistic vision and, ultimately, his well-being.
In an ironic twist, “The Departed,” a film influenced by studio preferences for franchise potential, earned Scorsese his first and only Oscar for Best Director.
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Scorsese’s upcoming film, is set for a nationwide release on October 20 in partnership with Apple and Paramount. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, and Tantoo Cardinal. It delves into the FBI investigation of a series of murders of the Osage people in Oklahoma during the early 1920s.
