In November 2019, acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese published an op-ed in the New York Times in which he clarified what he meant when he said Marvel movies aren't "cinema."
One of his main arguments was that the mass-produced feel of superhero films quash bold and inventive movies from artier filmmakers, as studios push to make ever-profitable superhero flicks and movie theaters struggle to stay open unless they're prioritizing that type of content. He wrote:
So, you might ask, whatâs my problem? Why not just let superhero films and other franchise films be? The reason is simple. In many places around this country and around the world, franchise films are now your primary choice if you want to see something on the big screen. Itâs a perilous time in film exhibition, and there are fewer independent theaters than ever⊠if youâre going to tell me that itâs simply a matter of supply and demand and giving the people what they want, Iâm going to disagree. Itâs a chicken-and-egg issue. If people are given only one kind of thing and endlessly sold only one kind of thing, of course theyâre going to want more of that one kind of thing.
The piece made Scorsese a bit of a bogeyman among MCU stans, while the MCU's detractors, of which there are many, have applauded Scorsese for his take.
This morning, MCU detractors on Scorsese's side were seemingly given proof of what he foretold when a tweet showing the Times Square AMC's showtimes for Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness went viral on Twitter.
The AMC in Times Square has 70 different screenings of Doctor Strange today. (This is not all of them, I couldnât fit them all in a single screengrab.) pic.twitter.com/RrHWWceyB9
â Matt Singer (@mattsinger) May 5, 2022
Indeed, the Times Square AMC is showing Doctor Strange at least three times an hour, and that's not including the several other screenings of the film in upgraded, more expensive theaters.
Seeing a Marvel movie most people who aren't already deeply invested in the MCU won't see take up dozens of screenings in theaters depressed many film lovers, who took it as a sign that the Marvel endgame (no pun intended) was in effect.
A local megaplex (which has 30 auditoriums) has a total of⊠no bullshit⊠69 showtimes for DOCTOR STRANGE on FRIDAY ALONE.
There are a total of 16 other films playing here the same day, but only averaging 3.375 showtimes.
Smaller films are hardly being given a CHANCE anymore pic.twitter.com/yhlKRc6vTJâ Dominique Meyer (@ZA4E) May 5, 2022
This is the thing Scorsese was talking about https://t.co/9KqjymhIyB
â Mr. Chau (
Srirachachau) <a href="https://twitter.com/Srirachachau/status/1522297634202918912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The infamous Scorsese Op-Ed, was largely about how chasing tentpole profits and increasing focus on IP driven media monopolies was bad for film as an artform and would largely muscle out movies that weren't part of a franchise. Case in point, 77 theater screens devoted to 1 movie</p>— Jarod Buell (
JarodBuell) May 6, 2022
Scorsese's op-ed continues to age like fine wine as we march further into a world where theaters limit their offerings to only what a few mega-conglomerates tell them to play. https://t.co/KFxMsUcP9t pic.twitter.com/ZX50ac0req
â joe (@BoisteryBumpkin) May 5, 2022
tweeting âMartin Scorsese and the Multiplex of Madnessâ then sealing my phone in a time capsule and moving to a cottage off the grid https://t.co/jA2a8v1RPX
â Matt Hunziker (@matthunzi) May 5, 2022
For what it's worth, there are some who have hyped up Multiverse of Madness on account of it being directed by Evil Dead and original Spider-Man trilogy director Sam Raimi, though not everyone is as impressed after early screenings.
Seeing Multiverse of Madness a day after Everything Everywhere All At Once did make it a pretty underwhelming experience. A $200 million budget, and the craziest thing it can imagine happening in the multiverse is âwhat if cars drove at the red light instead of greenâ
â Alistair Ryder (@YesitsAlistair) May 5, 2022
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