Is it me or is there no cultural "thing" in the 2020s
The 60s had James Bond, the 70s had Francis Ford Coppola's films and Star Wars, the 80s had Indiana Jones, Spielberg's films, the 90s had Quentin Tarantino, Jurassic Park, the 2000s had LOTR, the Fox/Sony Marvel films, the Nolan Batman movies (or really just Nolan in general) and the prequels, the 2010s had the MCU.
Now let's look at the state of some of the big franchises now
James Bond: On ice since 2021. Yes NTTD made a ton of money despite COVID, but complaints of neutering and killing off Bond were apparent. I don't think this was woke Bond like most claim but it sure as hell ain't Connery or Moore. Now the latest projects we've had are.... a video game (which tbh doesn't look to bad, but we'll have to see if it flirts with modern audiences or not) and a reality show starring Brian Cox. Not the worst thing but a lot of questionable choices have been made.
Star Wars: Complete and utter irrelevance. Star Wars started strong in 2015, only to just fall apart completely in 2017 and went from one of the most important stories in modern history to just another franchise. And they're finally breaking their 7 year hiatus with..... a Disney+ streaming show with a divisive lead actor... Yeah.
Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power is a divisive corporate mess that no Tolkein fan takes seriously, and The Hunt For Gollum doesn't excite many people. "Why yes let's have the dude who cracked Dakota Johnson to play Aragorn what a terrific idea.".
Marvel: Yeah as Drinker stated it's really the last Hail Mary for the MCU. They're calling Doomsday a direct sequel to Endgame, giving us all the MOM cameos we wanted. It'll make a billion I'm sure of it but it won't be sustained.
DC: Yeah James Gunn's DCU Written by and Directed by James Gunn is the most astroturfed freaking series out there. People act like Hamas Propagand- I mean Superman 2025 is some next big hit when it's box office numbers are questionable and their major release for the year is..... a female Superman. Also why is it a live action project with John Stewart, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner banished to streaming that deserves a movie. You know it's bad when the freaking Clayface movie is the one that sparks the most interest. And I also find it funny when most people think modern superman they think Henry Cavill and not David Corenswet. David seems nice but come on Henry defined Superman for Gen Z.
Tarantino/Spielberg/Coppola and other legacy directors: I'd say the only one who carries any sort of weight is Tarantino, he's been the most consistent and he's generally not so political and doesn't give a shit what people thinks. Spielberg does have a new movie coming out but most of his stuff I haven't seen (last modern Spielberg movie I saw was Bridge of Spies). All the other legacy directors don't have much weight or generate as much hype as they did in their prime.
Nolan: I put him in a separate spot because his name still sells but I think The Odyssey is gonna be the first to fracture his untouchable legacy. I mean with all the inaccuracies and race swaps. He has time to revert back to his old self but that window is closing if he keeps up this act, the prior franchises all prove one thing: Name brand isn't enough to sell tickets anymore.
So that begs the question, with the big power players of Hollywood in not so ideal positions, Wtf is the big thing in the 2020s? Dune maybe? But even then it doesn't feel as big. Video game movies? Maybe but that's more a genre and not a franchise. Actors don't feel as magical anymore it feels like seeing influencers being paid millions to play pretend. Movies don't need to be high art but there needs to be sincerity. A lot of modern films don't feel sincere. Only movies I saw in cinemas was 28 Years Later Part 2 and Project Hail Mary.
Sad state we're in. This all could've been avoided.