John Waters Says Gen Z Only Wants to Watch ‘Comic-Book Movies in a Mall’
John Waters is lamenting how much fans of smart indie dramas are “fading” amid the modern adoration of IP.
Waters told The New Yorker, as part of a profile of his pal “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Happiness” director Todd Solondz, that Gen Z moviegoers would rather pay for Marvel films than arthouse features.
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“Todd still has the fact that the intelligentsia likes his movies,” Waters said of Solondz’s filmography. “But I think, unfortunately, that audience is fading, because young people want to go see comic-book movies in a mall and have a riot after.”
Waters, meanwhile, is developing his novel “Liarmouth” for the big screen with Aubrey Plaza set to star.
Solondz admitted that he even had to come to terms with not being accepted as a “Hollywood filmmaker” as he stayed away from high concept features.
“I don’t think it was until after ‘Palindromes’ that I said, ‘You know what? I’m not a Hollywood filmmaker.’ It’s hard to believe — people would think, You really thought you were? But, in my head, because my movies are very simple narratives and they’re engaging…,” he said. “They just happen to be un-engaging for people who don’t like the subject matter.”
Solondz added that his long-gestating film “Love Child” would be his first “Hollywood movie,” despite helming six films across his three-decade spanning career.
“It’s really the first feature I’ve written that actually has a plot,” Solondz said. “It’s a very Hollywood movie.”
“Love Child” centers on a “precocious, conniving 11-year-old named Junior, who wants to be on Broadway and is maniacally obsessed with his mother,” as the outlet reported. Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez were cast in the lead roles in 2017; Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell later replaced the duo in 2021. Now, Elizabeth Olsen and Charles Melton are set to star…if Solondz can secure financing.
“My predicament of continuing to write scripts and never getting a movie made — it’s very funny to me,” Solondz said. “Seeing myself get all excited and hopeful — and then very sad at the same time, cause nothing happens. It’s like I’m living a movie of my own making!”
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