Does the US film industry need more disaster movies?

Cast your vote
and if you feel like sharing your take on this, go ahead and drop it in the comments below.

Look, American cinema is already a total train wreck on its own—so what's one more disaster to add to the pile? 🤷

Christian Taylor3 said:Nah, American cinema is pretty much a disaster zone all on its own—so what’s one more catastrophe in a sea of failures? 🤷

🤣 Damn, I actually wrote that... Look, let's wait until we start seeing decent movies popping up in general—not just once in a blue moon—then maybe we can sit down and talk about specific genres...

Christian Taylor3 said:Nah, American filmmaking is basically a total train wreck on its own—so what’s one more disaster to add to the pile? 🤷

LOL...😂

Emily Campbell4 said:ha ha ha ha😂

I don't know why you're laughing, considering you're basically the eternal optimist of this group. 🙂 But seriously, we're going to see some decent American films eventually—this endless flood of incredibly boring stuff can't possibly last forever. Then again, I wouldn't exactly bet my life on those disaster flicks either. I mean, who's actually footing the bill for those? 🤷 Forget the disaster movies; we really need to start leaning into intriguing stories (and maybe some actual genre work while we're at it?). Thank God (or the devil, take your pick), there's no shortage of inspiration out there if you just bother to look around.

Horror flicks, those massive historical epics, total flops, or sci-fi movies—they usually tank because of the money side of things. It’s just hard to pull off high-budget stuff when you're working with a tiny budget here in the States.

@Christian Taylor3/">@@Christian Taylor3 👍
We don't even really need a movie, honestly, given that we're already absolutely drowning in a sea of reality shows as it is.

Just to add to what’s already been said, it feels like every other American movie is just some disaster flick. Honestly, given how oversaturated everything is right now, maybe we should just stop making so many of them.

Christian Taylor3 said:Nah, American cinema is already a total train wreck—so what's one more disaster movie to add to the pile? 🤷

I'd sign off on that... but honestly... if we actually started making different genres, maybe even some disaster flicks (there are plenty of scripts out there that would kill in the US), maybe the whole industry wouldn't be such a mess in the first place.🤷

brightcobra said:Vote
or just drop your two cents in the comments if you feel like it.

So, brightcobra, what’s the deal? Are you busy drafting a screenplay and finally hit that crossroads where the movie either becomes a total disaster or some cheesy rom-com? 😁 I mean, what was the actual logic behind this poll? Are you planning to take a pulse of the public and then pivot your script based on what you think American cinema "needs"?

We just don't have much of a tradition when it comes to genre filmmaking—if you don't count the occasional passion project from some hobbyist. In this country, it’s either a gritty drama or a sitcom; there isn't really a middle ground.

We definitely need one. I mean, after all those crazy storms we've been having lately—the snow melting and then the water levels just spiking everywhere—it feels like the perfect setup. Imagine a movie where some kind of monsters emerge along the Mississippi River right after a massive flood, just terrorizing the locals while the government does absolutely nothing because they're too busy obsessing over the next round of presidential elections. It would make for a killer American disaster flick.👍

I honestly think we’re overdue for something unique—you know, a post-apocalyptic, surrealist disaster flick, but one that somehow weaves in elements of a romantic comedy. 🤷

Think along the lines of something with the grit and soul of a John McCain biopic or even those classic forbidden romance dramas. 🤷

ruggedjackal46 said:So, brightcobra, what’s the deal? You writing a script and you've hit a wall where it’s either going to be a total box office bomb or some sappy rom-com? 😁 I mean, what was your actual goal with this poll? Are you planning to just poll the public and then write whatever script you think American cinema "needs"?

I simply wanted to gauge whether there would actually be any interest, because without an audience, nothing succeeds. There wasn't any ulterior motive here.

What? 🤷

Christian Taylor3 said:Nah, American cinema is already a total wreck—so what’s one more disaster to the pile? 🤷

haha 😂
definitely the best comment I've seen on this board 🙏

Anthony Smith3 said:I’ll sign off on that... but then again, maybe if we actually started greenlighting movies across different genres—including disaster flicks, since there are plenty of scripts out there perfectly suited for our neck of the woods—the whole film industry might actually start improving.🤷

I don’t have any real beef with American cinematic disasters, but let's be realistic here: even at the top tier of the US indie scene, budgets rarely break the million-dollar mark. I’ve said it before and I'll say it again—it is a total nightmare trying to build a solid financial foundation for a feature film when you're working with those kinds of numbers. Honestly, the only people who can actually pull off a coherent production on that kind of scratch are Matanić, Brešan, and Ivanda. If you want proof, just ask the knight how much money he was actually working with on his sets. A quick summary of the forest.I mean, honestly, looking at how things are going with Milić and Rukavina, who knows exactly how many more projects they’ll actually end up filming? VidovgradBy the way, both of those titles are pretty clearly genre films, and honestly, it feels like that trend really started picking up steam with the previous one. Applying for that competition. We really need to ground things in reality here. If we’re talking about making a disaster movie, we have to ditch any delusions of grandeur right from the jump. We simply don't have the budget for that kind of megalomania—it would be nothing but a massive drain on our time, energy, and money, to say the least. If anyone is actually dead set on pulling off an American disaster epic, they seriously need to sit down and study the work of Alfonso Cuarón.Children of Men, The Road by John Hillcoata John Hillcoata, why not him? Smallpox faith. So, if you're bringing up Goran Marković, I guess the point is that you don't actually need a massive budget for CGI to pull off a total disaster of a movie.

brightcobra said:I was honestly just trying to gauge whether there was any actual interest in this, because let's face it, you can't really have any kind of success if nobody is watching. I didn't mean anything by it, truly.

Son, just hang in there. Topics. There’s a massive amount of useful stuff on there, really. All you have to do is actually pay attention and use your brain, obviously. I’m rooting for you. 🙂

hollowsailor48 said:I’m thinking we need some kind of post-apocalyptic, surreal disaster flick—but you know, with those weird romantic comedy elements thrown in. 🤷

Like something along the lines of *The Notebook* meets a total wasteland scenario.🤷

Is this what you had in mind?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1350498/

Christian Taylor3 said:Nah, American cinema is already a dumpster fire—what’s one more disaster to the pile? 🤷

Saw the thread title and knew the first comment would be exactly this kind of nonsense. 😁

American cinema needs a GOOD movie first and foremost.
Genre doesn't matter.

If we could just have at least one quality film per year that gets praised primarily by the audience instead of those pseudo-critics of ours. And obviously, a film that people actually bother to watch🤷. We need decent filmmaking to become the standard, not some statistical anomaly.

Right now, expecting a sci-fi film in America is a total joke.
Let them try making something interesting on a smaller budget first.

And preferably, let's move away from war themes. If a war story is absolutely necessary🙄... let's try not to end it with the lead character being raped or dying. If I weren't American and watched one of our war movies, I'd honestly think we lost the war.🤷.