James Gunn says the shared cinematic universe model is flawed

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Well someone had to say it right? Personally, I didn’t expect it would be James Gunn; he’s the man of the hour still with all his new found success, and one might think that he would be more than happy to keep his opinions to himself so not to wrinkle the suits of some studios out there. You know how business can be with rebels and we also know how it operates – if something works, it needs to breed more success. They run ideas into the ground and when the trend no longer works (see: found footage genre), you start to lose.

One of the biggest trends right now is the shared cinematic universe. Marvel has their incredibly successful MCU, and DC, Sony, and Warner Bros. are coming out to play with some potential competition. Not to mention Universal’s plan to turn the classic monsters into an action-oriented shared cinematic universe (still scratching my head over that). They're all looking to build on a shared universe and as James Gunn points out, it's a risk that's flawed and studios are losing out with this vision of something more than a single great movie experience.

Via his personal Facebook, Gunn delivered this memo (or mission statement for JERRY MAGUIRE fans):

CARTS BEFORE HORSES & HOLLYWOOD'S NEW LOVE OF SHARED UNIVERSES

Listen, I love big ass shared universes in movies, as well as huge franchises. But I'm a little worried about the numerous shared universes being planned by the studios, without having a strong base film to grow from – or in some cases, NO base film to grow from. Star Wars had the original Star Wars, the Marvel Universe had the original Iron Man, the Dark Knight series had Batman Begins, even movies like Transformers and Twilight – these were movies audiences loved, and the audiences demanded more from these characters. But these days studios are trying to grow trees without a strong seed. Execs and producers and sometimes even directors are focused on the big picture, without perfecting the task directly in front of them – making a great movie. And studios are trying to grow franchises from non-existent films or middling successes. It's like they aren't taking audiences into account at all anymore.

I know George Lucas, Kevin Feige, John Favreau, etc, had ideas where their films would potentially lead in the face of success. But I don't think it ever got in the way of making that first movie count as if it was the last, of making it something wonderful that people would love whether it led to other films or not.

In short, I think this new business model is flawed. I think filmmakers and studios should be prepared for the big picture, but never, ever let it get in the way of making a single great film. Be a little more experimental and see what works as opposed to trying to force success. And mostly, remember that we as an industry exist to serve the audiences, to communicate with them – they have a voice in what we create as well. We are not here to dictate what they want to see, mostly because that's simply not possible.

He said what I trust a lot of you are thinking right? There are too many movies that get ahead of themselves and ask us to stay around for sequels and spinoffs right off the bat. It's greedy and does a tremendous disservice to a potentially great movie; DRACULA UNTOLD wasn't abysmal until the final moments where instead of a payoff there was a future cash grab in the making. Not every movie has to connect to the next one! There are exceptions of course if you’re looking at Marvel or STAR WARS; they have the fan base already from comics and past movie achievements. Gunn said what had to be said.

Do you think Gunn is right that the business model is flawed? What’s the end result if it is? Does STAR WARS get a pass?