Have blockbusters gotten too big?

Age of the Geek Column: By the time you read this column I will be two time zones away, once again on my annual pilgrimage to Comic-Con International in sunny San Diego.
There I'll be joined by 140,000 of my closest friends, many of whom will spend a healthy chunk of the week waiting in line for a chance to see the latest on the next wave of upcoming superhero movies and maybe get an autograph from an actor or two. You can count on seeing Tom Hardy, Jason Momoa, and Ryan Reynolds, all there to promote their work.
But one face you probably won't be seeing at the convention is Jodie Foster, who recently had some choice words about the dominance of superhero spectacles in the theaters, complaining that the big budget blockbusters don't have the depth that she wants to see in films and that they are "ruining the viewing habits" of the movie goers.
As a criticism it's not entirely invalid. I love superhero movies as much, or probably a little more, than the next guy, but high art they are not. Likewise, there's no denying that Hollywood is utterly dominated by big budget franchise films. Since the turn of the century it's been a rare occurrence that the highest grossing film of the year hasn't been either a superhero movie, a young adult novel adaptation, or a Star Wars film. In fact, pick any year of the 21st Century and you're likely to see the top five dominated by those categories, with the occasional Disney movie mixed in for good measure. (Of course, we're rapidly approaching a point where they will all be Disney movies, but that's a column for another time).
For an academy award winning star like Foster, I can see how that can be frustrating. The power dynamic of Hollywood has changed.
Once upon a time, movie stars ruled the day, bringing audiences with them wherever they went. These days that's not so much the case. Sure, a movie with a big-name actor will still perform better than one without, but outside of a few rare exceptions there are few stars left that can sell a movie entirely on their own.
Even the actors in the most successful franchises generally don't take their audiences with them when they move on to other projects. The whole world may follow the adventures of Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, but Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and Robert Downy Jr. don't draw nearly the same crowds in films where they aren't wearing colorful outfits and getting into big CGI battles.
So is Foster right in her criticisms?
Well, kind of.
She's right in that the domination of big budget spectacles is having a stifling effect on the industry. People will only go to the theater so often and it's hard to justify putting the same time, money, and effort into seeing a mid-budget drama or comedy as a major event movie.
For example, opening this week is Denzel Washington's "Equalizer 2," which looks like a perfectly entertaining action movie. I've no doubt I'd enjoy watching it, but there is virtually no chance I'll be making a special trip to the theater to do so.
But I would probably catch it on Netflix.
And I think that's what's missing from Foster's critique. The demand for large franchise films may be pushing other kinds of movies out of the theaters, but it's not like those movies don't have a place to go. Streaming services and television are quickly becoming the prime destination for films that don't have six figure budgets.
Adam Sandler figured this out years ago, signing up for a four film deal with Netflix in 2014 and resigning for four more last year. Once upon a time Sandler was a movie theater regular, able to make bank on any low-brow comedy he attached his name to. But who, in 2018, is going to make a trip to the movie theater and pay movie theater prices just to watch Adam Sandler yell a lot, perform some physical comedy, and eventual learn a humbling lesson about how to be a better person?
When you know that the potential audience of your movie is likely to say, "Eh, I'll catch it on Netflix," you might as well skip the theater and go straight for where the audience wants you.
Is this good for Hollywood? Who knows?
It sure seems risky to abandon the movie theater ecosystem to behemoth franchise. Can theaters survive on blockbusters alone?
They might have to.
Still, even if it's not a movie theater, there will always be a place for the risky and innovative low-budget film.
Like we've all learned from "Jurassic Park," yet another blockbuster franchise, movies will find a way.
Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and says you should still support your local theater. Specifically, the Windsor Theatre in Hampton, which he is on the board of.