Anthony Mackie is an actor that has one of the more rare careers in 2020. Rare in the sense that not only is he a major film star in one the biggest franchises in the world (The Marvel Cinematic Universe), but he’s also someone that has found a sweet spot on the streaming side of things with the recent films “Point Blank” and “The Banker,” as well as the upcoming series “Altered Carbon” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” And it’s this experience that gives him a bit of experience and insight discussing the current state of film.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Mackie is optimistic about film but not about the theatrical experience. According to the actor, he believes that great projects are being made, but for the most part, you don’t have to leave your house to see them.
“To be frank about it, filmmakers don’t work in film anymore,” Mackie explained. “If we look at the movies we grew up loving, that we think are the best movies of all time, those movies won’t be made now by studios; they’ll be made by streaming services.”
He continued, “So if your movie isn’t an event—if you’re not in ‘Avengers’ or ‘Suicide Squad’ or ‘Star Wars’—it’s very hard to get people to go to the movie theater, for many different reasons. Fear factor, cost. I have kids, and for me to take my kids to the movies, it’s $115. So we watch movies at home. As soon as Fortune 500 companies bought all the film studios, the idea of making films was dead. So that being said, the only place you can go and work with the filmmakers you adore is streaming services.”
Of course, just because Mackie believes that streaming is the present and the future, that doesn’t mean that the actor thinks films are dead. You just don’t have to leave the house to see good movies, anymore.
“Great movies are being made, they’re just not being made for the theaters because young people don’t want to sit in a room and chill out,” he said. “They want to move, and watch it on their cell phones and tablets. They can’t sit still; it’s a different world now. We had time, because we didn’t have cell phones. We could sit in a movie theater and make out with a girl and eat popcorn. But dudes don’t do that anymore. You can do that virtually now; you don’t have to hide in a movie theater.”
Anyone who has uttered the words “Netflix and chill” unironically can probably attest to Mackie’s assertion.
It’s obvious that nothing the actor is saying is completely false. If you read this site consistently, you know that almost daily a new streaming series or film is announced with a great director and/or a great A-list cast. It’s just how things are working nowadays. We’ll just haven’t seen the full impact of that transition just yet.
Anthony Mackie can next be seen in the new season of “Altered Carbon” on Netflix now and in the Disney+ streaming series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” this August.
