Video summary
Jeffrey Katzenberg addresses the persistent narrative of cinema being in crisis, arguing against simplistic conclusions amidst a period of extraordinary disruption and transformation. He notes that while streaming platforms have significantly altered the landscape, history shows that every time theaters are declared dead, new phenomena like *Barbie*, *Oppenheimer*, or even video games such as Minecraft emerge to shatter those predictions with phenomenal success. Katzenberg emphasizes that movies remain a unique form of storytelling and expresses optimism that they will not disappear, despite the industry navigating treacherous times involving digital distribution shifts, AI tools, corporate consolidation, and legacy business declines which bring uncertainty and fear. The discussion extends to the trend of expanding movie franchises into streaming series, citing examples like *Star Wars*, parts of the Avengers franchise, Amazon's investment in Lord of the Rings, and a spin-off season of Daredevil that Katzenberg found mesmerizing. He contrasts this with his skepticism regarding certain investments but maintains an overall optimistic view based on recent successes like the latest episode of Handmaid's Tale and the film *Sinners*, which he praises for its incredible performance, writing, and production quality. This expansion allows audiences to engage deeply with narratives over time, creating a sense that these stories are special enough to sustain word-of-mouth interest even in an era dominated by digital consumption habits. Katzenberg also reflects on the inverse trend where series conclude their narrative arcs with movies, referencing *Peaky Blinders* and noting how shows like *Mob Land* feel like modern iterations of classic storytelling structures that resonate across generations. He highlights a significant cultural connection point between himself and his children through these shared stories; while older versions might have seemed dated or poorly made to younger audiences today, current superhero films map directly onto contemporary thinking. This intergenerational engagement allows families to discuss the same core stories told in completely different ways, bridging gaps between what was happening when Katzenberg was young and what is happening now for his kids. Addressing the prevalence of AI-powered villains in modern cinema, such as a "Jafar of 2025 powered by Chat GPT," Katzenberg attributes this shift to societal concerns regarding the ascendancy of artificial intelligence and issues like inequality affecting both working-class and upper-class perspectives. He observes that contemporary storytelling has moved beyond simple good-versus-evil dynamics seen in earlier works like *Suicide Squad*, where characters were forced into moral compromises, toward much more complex villainous motivations rooted in real-world anxieties about technology's role in society. This evolution reflects a deeper understanding of the human condition and technological impact, allowing for richer character development that resonates with modern audiences facing similar existential questions.
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What do you make of the modern world of
cinema? We keep hearing about is cinema
in crisis. Is streaming platforms made a
dent in the ability for you to make
movies in the way that you used to?
What's your read in that situation?
Well, it's complicated. I think people
always want to distill it down to simple
things. I think it is for sure a moment
of extraordinary disruption and
transformation.
um every time everyone wants to declare
movies and movie theaters dead, you
know, something else comes along and
sort of shatters that idea and you know
whether it's Barbie or Oppenheimer or
Minecraft or whatever the latest thing
is is that when you know Sinners you
know it's just which is just a
phenomenal
you know movie and and it just gives
people that sort of renewed
uh uh not optimism that no there's still
a place for this. Um but we you know the
world is changing all the time. You you
know you can't you you know you have to
understand and navigate your way through
it. And I think the industry as a whole
is navigating its way through pretty
challenging if not treacherous times
whether it is digital distribution,
whether it is AI tools, um consolidation
of these companies,
um uh you know legacy businesses
um uh declining and how do you
transition to the next? And I've lived
through a couple of them myself and they
are they are really really hard and
they're really really challenging and
much of the time you are having to
navigate through really uncharted
places and uh so lots of uncertainty in
that a lot of fear uh with it but um I I
still remain quite optimistic that uh
movies are a great form of storytelling
and a unique form of storytelling and um
they're not going away. What do you make
of this world where movies get ported
out into series for streaming? We've
seen this happen with Star Wars. We've
seen parts of the Avengers franchise
have this go Lord of the Rings, massive
bet by Amazon, which uh I don't know the
books, but uh not convinced how great of
a investment that was. Um, what do you
make of this sort of expansion out into
other areas like that? Yeah, I think
it's I mean, listen, there have been
phenomenal examples of great success.
Um, I just watched the latest season of
uh Daredevil, you know, which is a
spin-off of a spin-off of a spin-off,
and it I thought it was incredible. I
mean, I was just completely mesmerized
and engrossed in it and following just
like I can't wait for the, you know, the
next season of it. And um it it just,
you know, I'm I've been now almost, you
know, almost a decade of Handmaid's Tale
and watched the latest episode last
night. My head almost exploded. M
um so I thought Sinners as I said was
just a remarkable movie and oh my gosh
you you got to I mean it's just it's an
incredible performance. It's incredibly
made. It's beautifully written. It's
it's it's special and the audience
somehow or another they knew it. They
sensed it. got there, the word of mouth
of it, you know, and so again, I'm an
optimist uh in this. So, you know, also
it's not my job anymore. So, it's easy
for me to be sideline the outside and
you know, like that old Monday morning
quarterback and I'm sure many people in
Hollywood tell you what's interesting on
that um movies going to series is the
inverse which would be peiquey blinders.
Oh my god. series that's going to finish
the entire narrative arc with a movie.
Okay. Have you seen Mob Land? Not yet.
Okay. Well, it's so interesting cuz I
literally It's almost It's not done yet
either. And I literally I was watching a
couple nights ago with the latest
episode of Mob Land with my wife and uh
and I said to her, I said, "You know,
this really just feels like the modern
version of Peiquey Blinders. One of my
favorite shows of all time." Oh my god.
Even even with like a lot of these shows
that have repeats, they get reset in
time like as like the the sort of the
modern pattern change like like the five
versions of Spider-Man like you go look
at the old one and you look at the new
one. It's really interesting because
it's much more uh mapped to the current
Zeke guys like whatever however people
are thinking about it. So, a lot of
those elements as there's like a new
generation of people that are sort of
re-engaging with superheroes and uh
stories from the past. To me, it's like
a nice connection point with my kids.
You know, we this was what was happening
when I was young. This is what is
happening now. You are young. Yeah.
Exactly. And so, you know, it's the same
story but just told a completely
different way, but it's something we can
connect over. We can talk about it.
That's a really that's a really really
good point that you have uh when you run
it back with a movie the what is the
cultural millu at the moment what's
happening what are people worried about
Superman you know like you know what my
son looks at well why does it look like
it's you know cut out of like cardboard
was at the time you know so it's sort of
a it's like it's a cool moment that kind
of brings people together as well well
how many movies now have got some uh
lone wolf AI powered evil. It's the
Jafar of the of 2025 powered by chat
GBT. You know that why is that? Well,
it's because people have got concerns
about the sort of ascendancy of AI. Um
there's issues to do with uh inequality
a lot of the time now. So, you're
looking at what's happening from a
working-class perspective, what's
happening from an upper class
perspective in a way that may not have
been done previously. You've got much
more complex villains, right? Suicide
Squad was
bad guys being bad but needing to be
good in order to stop worse guys from
doing something. You know that's not
that Nathan was very good. Yes. I just
want to say that beautifully done. Do
you hear Do you hear that? Very good.
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