Damon and Affleck say streaming has changed how people watch movies
With their brand new film, The Rip (see our review here), launching on Netflix this weekend, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are making the rounds to promote the hell out of their new thriller from director Joe Carnahan. One stop on the duo’s list is The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where they spoke about the shift in the moviegoing experience, especially when the venue is your own living room.
Matt Damon on the demands of streaming
Speaking about watching movies at home, Damon said, trying to compete for the audience’s attention is an uphill battle. There’s so much competition: lights being on, people looking at their phones, kids playing, and dogs barking. You’re doing your best to hold their attention, but there’s so much going on around them that it’s challenging to hold court. Damon continues by saying these factors change the way you make movies. For example, instead of saving the project’s most significant set pieces for the big finale, studios want you to “go big or go home” within the first couple of minutes to hook viewers and keep them from turning off the movie. When you pay money to see a film in a theater, that’s what you’re there to do. Still, when you’re home, it’s all too easy to abandon ship and make excuses to engage with the rest of your life.
In addition to wanting an expensive hook near the film’s start, Damon says studios ask you to reiterate your plot three to four times to remind audiences what’s transpired. Why? Again, people are on their phones. I’m guilty of this from time to time, but it also depends on the environment. If I’m in my living room, it’s easy for my ADHD to kick into overdrive, and my phone’s right there. However, if I’m in a theater or at my friend’s home theater that he built, I’m locked in. I put my phone away. I don’t doom scroll. It’s nice.
While discussing what grabs their attention, Damon and Affleck praised Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s Adolescence, a celebrated crime drama series on Netflix, calling it masterfully shot and holding your attention in the palm of its hand throughout.
Affleck vouches for the moviegoing experience
While Affleck agrees with Damon’s assessment of the situation, he also sees the battle for attention as something to overcome. “Make shit the best you can. Make it really good,” Affleck says with certainty and defiance. He also thinks people will always go to the movies. When people talk about movies like Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, they’re talking about going to the cinema to see it. There’s a demand to see a film of that magnitude on the big screen. Your at-home setup might be good, but there’s nothing quite like experiencing a movie like that with a crowd.
Finally, Damon and Affleck discuss budgeting and how a movie needs to recoup a specific amount to be considered a success. Not only do you need to get people to show up, but you also need them to show up on opening weekend. You need these people to talk about your movie and inspire people to follow their lead. If audiences don’t buzz about a film during opening weekend, it’s now locked in a battle for attention with everything else. If a movie costs $25 million to produce, it needs to make at least $125 million to matter, in the grand scheme. The industry is an ourobouros, and it’s forever hungry.
The post Damon and Affleck say streaming has changed how people watch movies appeared first on JoBlo.