When Money Doesn’t Talk: The Film Industry’s Budget Blunders

Inspired by Hollywood’s broken budgeting system, VAGUE Resident discusses what inflated blockbuster economics reveal about the future of Western cinema.

Western cinema has taken over the art of filmmaking over the past few decades, garnering not only global attention, but the privilege of being seen as the ‘default’ by the rest of the world. As films from other parts of the world produced in other languages consistently remain referred to as ‘international,’ and taken less seriously in the grand scheme of the film industry as a result, Western cinema has been at the forefront of driving audiences to take the craft for granted, emphasising the consumption of the art form over the artistry that remains in focus elsewhere.

The last few years have seen an immense rise in the prioritisation of social media follower counts over true talent. Maya Hawke’s interview earlier in the year only underlined this; speaking out about the role of social media within the industry and how the funding of films today depends immensely on collective cast following. As producers refuse to seek out new talent for the sake of guaranteeing exposure to a follower count that maximises profits at the box office and on streaming platforms, the quality of films produced has naturally declined.

At the same time, several Hollywood produced films have received insanely high budgets at the cost of smaller projects not getting funded. This, naturally, brings up the question of priorities: have we lost another industry to a consumerist mindset?

“The last few years have seen an immense rise in the prioritisation of social media follower counts over true talent.”

As we approach the end of a year that has cost us many of the industry’s greatest — including the late directing legend David Lynch, known for pushing the envelope and being truly artful in addressing heavy and extremely important topics — many genuine lovers of cinema have begun to question the choice to fund soulless projects like the Russo brothers’ The Electric State (2025) with over $300 million over the production of Lynch’s long list of unrealised ideas from Ronnie Rocket (1976-1991) to One Saliva Bubble (1987).

It is becoming more and more common to see creative, original art projects within the industry get cast aside in favour of films constructed with the sole intent of making profit at all costs. While this may seem insignificant to many, lovers of cinema are getting increasingly frustrated, and rightfully so.

While many exceptional films this year such as Sinners or Mickey 17 seem to invite heavy criticisms based on box office profit, or lack thereof, the projects receiving immense budgets rarely even get mentioned by mainstream media outlets for their shortcoming. They receive backlash from the public, sure, but this isn’t enough to change the flaws within the budget distribution in Hollywood.

In an age of remakes, reboots and influence, the art of film seems to be losing out on being shared with those who love it to an extent, purely because of the increasing focus on factors that shouldn’t influence its creation at all. As another industry falls prey to a consumerist landscape, the question of whether we’ll have any genuine art left in the incoming decades hangs over the heads of all who love it.

credits

words — sara fabek zovko

design — karina so.