Steven Spielberg Predicts A Decline In Superhero Movies

Steven Spielberg has been in the film industry for most of his adult life. In an interview with the Associated Press, which can be read on Yahoo News, Spielberg made the bold prediction that the days of the superhero movie are numbered and will see a decline in popularity much like westerns did as a genre.

“We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western. It doesn’t mean there won’t be another occasion where the Western comes back and the superhero movie someday returns. Of course, right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.”

The question Steven Spielberg was answering was about a previous statement he made in 2012 regarding a financial implosion in big budget action movies. Steven admitted in the next question that was asked that he was actually surprised by the success of Jurassic World, which Spielberg produced.

Companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, and Fox are certainly hoping that Steven Spielberg is wrong. Currently, according to Den of Geek, there are 58 superhero movies scheduled to come down the pipe and are planned to continue coming out through the year 2020.

In the interview, Steven Spielberg admits that there might possibly be a day when superhero movies return, as there may be a day when the genre of westerns might as well. Perhaps the argument could be made that the resurgence of genres past have already begun.

There have been several Westerns released in recent history that Spielberg seems to have ignored. True Grit, directed by the Cohen Brothers, while a remake, was still a western and was wildly popular. The film was also nominated for several Academy Awards. Steven Spielberg also fails to mention that Quentin Tarantino seems to be trying to single-handedly bring the Western genre back with movies like Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight.

Could it possibly be sour grapes that Steven Spielberg’s name on a movie may not be a guarantee that it will sell? Entertainment Weekly mentions that Steven Spielberg had trouble getting his movie Lincoln into theaters, and while it wasn’t exactly a flop, the Spielberg movie about the Great Emancipator did not exactly enjoy the same profits that modern superhero epics tend to.

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