Independence Day (and most recently, Moonfall) director Roland Emmerich has reiterated his disdain for IP-centric Hollywood blockbusters, saying in a new interview that franchises like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe are “ruining” the film industry.
The filmmaker’s latest assertion that such properties are void of creativity comes via Den Of Geek, where he reflected on the evolution of the disaster film as a viable genre for summer blockbusters. “Naturally Marvel and DC Comics, and Star Wars, have pretty much taken over,” he told the publication. “It’s ruining our industry a little bit, because nobody does anything original anymore.”
Emmerich went on to say that Hollywood’s cohort should focus more on making “bold new movies”, citing Christopher Nolan – whose latest effort, Tenet, earned a five-star review from NME – as “the master of that”. He pinned Nolan as “someone who can make movies about whatever he wants”, noting: “I have it a little bit harder, but I still have a big enough name – especially when it’s a disaster [movie] or has some sort of disaster theme.”
Emmerich’s comments echo a 2019 interview with Screen Rant, where he agreed with Martin Scorsese’s criticism that Marvel films were “not cinema”. At the time, Emmerich said the superhero epics were “taking over our business”, deriding them for making it “really hard for other movies to be even heard”.
The auteur’s latest film, Moonfall, is currently in cinemas. Among its biggest stars are Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson and Donald Sutherland, with a synopsis reading: “The world stands on the brink of annihilation when a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling toward a collision course with Earth.
“With only weeks before impact, NASA executive Jocinda ‘Jo’ Fowler teams up with a man from her past and a conspiracy theorist for an impossible mission into space to save humanity.”
In a four-star review of the picture, NME’s James McMahon said Moonfall “is what multiplexes were made for”, calling it “hugely enjoyable” with “a likeable cast”, and asserting that “there should be no doubt Emmerich can still visualise the end times like no-one else”.
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