Between 1980’s “Used Cars” through to 2000’s “Cast Away” and “What Lies Beneath,” filmmaker Robert Zemeckis churned out banger after banger of mainstream studio films that still entertain and hold up to this day.
“Romancing the Stone,” the “Back to the Future” trilogy, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Contact” – very, very few had runs as good or consistent as Zemeckis in the 20th century.
In the 21st century however, the helmer’s works have been frankly lackluster. A trio of off-putting CG animated films was followed by a number of live-action films that were not well received aside from 2012’s alcoholic pilot drama “Flight” and to a lesser extent “The Walk”.
That hasn’t stopped him from continuing forward with his newest work, the ambitious single location-set “Here,” having just premiered at the AFI Film Festival to disastrous reviews thus far – standing at just 25% (5.5/10) on Rotten Tomatoes.
Appearing on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, he responded “I don’t know” when asked if he has any other projects currently lined up after this, and says the industry is in the midst of total creative turmoil these days:
“Things are slow… There’s a strange thing happening that I’ve never seen before which is that nobody is in a hurry to make anything… I think nobody knows what to do. What do you make? What do you do?”
Asked about his classic pre-“Polar Express” films, he says he doesn’t believe any of those films would be made in today’s climate:
“The truth is that all of the movies you just listed; I wouldn’t be able to make any of them today. Making ‘Here’ is a miracle. It’s a ‘comp’ as we say in the industry. It’s tough to get them greenlit.”
He’s likely referring to modern day cinema being so highly IP-driven which leaves original mid-budgets a very rare breed these days. “Here,” which cost $80 million to produce, opens in cinemas Friday.
