‘Thor’ actor Stellan Skarsgård has had a wide-ranging career in cinema. Having starred in small indies, comic book films, blockbuster action flicks, provocative dramas, and thought-provoking science fiction, he opined that ‘there’s no distribution channels’ for mid-budget films.
During an interview with The Guardian, a reader asked Skarsgård about ‘The Irishman’ director Martin Scorsese’s harsh criticism of comic book films. While the ‘Dune’ actor declined to directly challenge Scorsese, he did share his thoughts on how theaters show movies.
“The problem is that the system that allows eight people to own half of the wealth in the world enhances the power of the market forces, so small and independent cinemas rarely exist anymore outside a few big cities,” he said. “There’s no distribution channels for all the mid-budget films that have the best actors, the best writing because they can’t throw up $3 million for a marketing campaign. When cinemas let them in, they do so for one week and if it doesn’t pay off in a week, they’re gone.”
“Remember that ‘The Godfather’ first opened in 100 cinemas in the United States –- big films now open in 4,000. They had small ads in the New York Times, but it grew and grew because it was such a good film. The people’s opinion has no chance anymore. And that is sad,” the ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ actor continued.
“I think that we should have Marvel films and more rollercoaster films. We should have other films, too. And that’s the sad thing: when raw market forces come in, studios start being run by companies that don’t care if they’re dealing in films or toothpaste so long as they get their 10% [return on investment],” Skarsgård explained.
As SlashFilm noted, “The difference in his opinions compared to folks like Scorsese and Ridley Scott is that Skarsgård isn’t hating the players, he’s hating the game.”
Skarsgård has starred in such films as ‘Thor: Dark World,’ ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ ‘Nymphomaniac,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,’ ‘Good Will Hunting,’ and ‘Mamma Mia!’