NEW YORK — Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming “The Marvels,” has a diagnosis for the recent struggles of superhero movies. It basically comes down to, she says, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”
Success inevitably breeds bigger budgets. Box-office expectations get inflated. Even superhero spandex can’t sustain endless cycles of wash, rinse and repeat.
“Growth has to stop at some point,” says DaCosta. “As you make more and more films, you want those films to be more interesting, more dynamic and to appeal to different audiences. But that requires risk. And there’s a conundrum where you’re so big that you can’t take risks. I think that’s what the audience is feeling. They’re like: ‘I’ve seen it before, and I liked it the first time.’”
When “The Marvels” opened in theaters Friday, it debuts in uncommonly uncertain times for superhero films. There’s talk of oversaturation. DC and Warner Bros. are in makeover mode. Box office-dominance this year has been ceded to Barbie and Mario.
While no one’s doubting the supersized place of superheroes in Hollywood, mass success for Marvel no longer seems quite so automatic. For DaCosta, whose two previous films were the Jordan Peele-produced horror remake “Candyman” and the acclaimed 2018 indie crime drama “Little Woods,” it’s imperative that superhero movies aspire to be fresh and daring — films, she says, like “Across the Spider-Verse.”
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‘+’ NEW YORK — Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming “The Marvels,” has a diagnosis for the recent struggles of superhero movies. It basically comes down to, she says, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Read More