But what won't be around forever is the day's of 200 million dollar budgets. Yes they will always be associated with the Spider-Man's ect (Iron Man's budget topped off at 140 Million) but the let it be known that the summer of 2009 was a summer of change.
Let's take a look back 10 years shall we? If we're throwing around the word "Indie" we might as well look at where it starts. That year Paul Thomas Anderson released Magnolia, reaching a total of 1056 theaters in the US and making 44 million world wide. Mediocre numbers by today's standards, but the kicker is the movies 37 million dollar budget. Or how about Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich opening at only 600 theaters and netting a profit of 9 million.
Or how about a producers dream: The Blair Witch Project, possibly the start of mainstream independence. At a mere 60,000 dollar budget, the film opened to a limited 27 theaters and after word of mouth hype, would go on to reach 2, 538 theaters domestically. The movie would wind up making 248,939,099 dollars, something no one anticipated from its 27 theater opening.
But while producers and critics alike are still trying to understand The Blair Witch Project and it's success, ten years later we're having our own independence in cinema (pardon the pun). The modern studio is trying something different now and I suspect that this trend will only increase with time.
Lets jump from '99 to 2004. Ever heard of a film called Napoleon Dynamite? The 400,000 dollar budget not only started Fox Searchlight into the hub for major independent distribution and made actor Jon Heder a star, but made a modest 44 million domestically thus starting a revolution.
Fox Searchlight is to independent distribution as Stephen Spielberg is to the science fiction genre. Look at the studio's line up from '01 to '04, it speaks for itself: Bend it Like Beckham, 28 Days Later, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite and Super Troopers plus about 30 others that all have had relative mainstream success (I ♥ Huckabees [2004] success is questionable but, still a quality movie. That counts for something). Let's not forget Sideways, the movie that put the studio on the map with it's 5 Oscar nominations (one being a win for screenwriting). Art house distributor Focus Feature also had success with movies like The Swimming Pool, Gosford Park, Lost in Translation, and The Pianist.
After 2004 things get better and better for the independent industry. In 2006 we have the crowd pleaser and sleeper hit Thank You For Smoking and BEST PICTURE NOMINEE Little Miss Sunshine, the film most people will go on to associate with Independent filmmaking for the next 5 years. Following the success of Little Miss Sunshine, "indie" strikes again with 100 million dollar grossing Juno, another best picture winner.
But that's the past and by this point in my column you've probably begin to wonder what 2009 has to do with any of this. Well let me first say that this years movies would not have been released had it not been for these past 10 years. It's important to say because it's been a struggle for indie movies to find an outlet (hence why the Sundance Film Festival is such a good avenue for that).
Well 2009 started off with Coroline, a darker animated film, who's success should certainly help a movie like 9 (which comes out later this month) and will hopefully help the Tim Burton type adult animated movies coming onto the market.
But animation aside major hits this year have been Away We Go, (500) Day's of Summer, Taking Woodstock and probably this fall's Whip It! If 2009 is changing these movie's course at all it should be later this year when the Academy of Motion Pictures releases their Best Picture nominees. But why is this a big deal? Earlier this year the Academy is allowing for 10 nominees instead of simply 5, hopefully allowing for more independent movies like Away We Go to edge out more heavily advertised and backed competition.
And even look at why these movies have become hits. This summer was dominated by CGI, Action filled blockbusters, no one will argue that. But when movies like The Hurt Locker are hitting 11 million dollars and (500) Days of Summer are domestically making their money back when movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine are struggling to cover their budget, you have to wonder whether struggling to find a major hit is better than releasing one of the 1000's of independent movies waiting to be made and making your money back overnight.
Now no one's saying that the motion picture industry is as simple as I've just made it out to be. World wide yes, Wolverine covered it's money back plus some. But things start here in the US and will carry. Who's to say that in ten years the next Juno might now make bank in places other than North America and corner the foreign market.
But if there is one distinct way to realize that low budget is taking over would be from this old saying. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Whether blatant or hidden people like indie. On the audience side of things look at Adventureland, a movie that had a higher end budget but disguised itself as a independent movie, or even 2008's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, another movie with a high budget that fooled it's audience. And on the producer side of things look at recent hit District 9. Looking at the numbers you'd never assume it was made for only 30 million dollars, and yet went on to make 90 million and counting all with the lower end indie style. Cloverfield did the same thing with only a 25 million dollar budget (it would go on to make 170 million world wide).
Looking to the future we get that with upcoming Where the Wild Things Are in both senses. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I'd expect lots of flattery coming from Hollywood soon.
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