George Clooney Talks Hollywood’s Changing Landscape

August 20, 20244 Mins Read

Published: August 20, 2024

Mega Star Says This About Hollywood’s Changing Landscape

By Movieguide® Contributor

George Clooney says Hollywood studios are getting “eaten up” by big companies, making it harder to sell movies based on star power alone.

“Paramount’s one of the great original studios,” the actor said when asked about Paramount Pictures’ pending sale to Skydance. “But some of it you just have no say in. Because the business, it’s all getting eaten up. It’s like everything — it’s all getting eaten up by big Walmarts and Amazons around the world. Our version of mom-and-pop shops in a small town is Paramount.”

Movieguide® previously reported on the Paramount-Skydance merger:

Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount was approved on Sunday; the companies have since revealed their vision for a shared future.

The largest immediate impact that would come from the merger would be a $1.5 billion cash infusion to help the struggling studio stabilize, allowing top talent and creatives to feel comfortable signing onto new projects from the studio. Luring these high-quality individuals sits at the center of the company’s plan for the future.

“[Paramount] will be a premier, creative-first destination for storytellers, dedicated to top-quality content and will be positioned to improve profitability, foster stability and independence for creators, and enable more investment in growth areas,” the companies said.

While building on the longstanding legacy of Paramount, Skydance will look to incorporate its specialty as well, helping the company overhaul its technology to become an industry leader in the space.

“[Paramount will] focus on technological advancements, across multiple entertainment platforms including animation, gaming, film, sports, news and television,” said David Ellison, the head of Skydance. “[Skydance will provide] modernized infrastructure, offering scalability and ingenuity.”

Clooney also discussed the lack of movie stars today, pointing to studios’ lessening power as the reason why.

“They haven’t developed stars the way the studio system used to,” he explained. “We kind of were at the very end of that, where you could work at a studio and do three or four films, and there was some plan to it. And I don’t think that’s necessarily the case anymore. So it’s harder for you to sell somebody something on the back of a star.”

Clooney added, “But it’s a great time as a young actor. Because when I was a young actor, if you looked at the back of the ‘LA Times’ every Monday morning, they had the 64 shows that were made. And of those 64 shows, if you’re actually on one of them, you’re trying to be in the top 20 to keep your show on the air. But that was it. Then the studios were doing five films a year. Now there are 600 shows, so there’s a lot more work for actors.”

Clooney has recently talked about his own career longevity as he and friend Brad Pitt prepare for the release of their latest movie, WOLFS.

“It’s been like 40 [years] for us already, which is…scary,” he said. “I remember I talked to [Matt] Damon about this 25 years ago, when he first hit with his movie and won the Oscar. I was like, ‘Just know that if you get a 10-year career, playing at that level, it’s an absolute jackpot.’ Nobody sustains it much longer than that. So yeah, I’m surprised that I still have the work.”

WOLFS will debut in theaters before heading to Apple TV+.

“WOLFS is the kind of big event movie that makes Apple TV+ such an exceptional home for the best in entertainment,” Apple Original Films’ head of features Matt Dentler said in a statement. “With George and Brad’s remarkable and engaging chemistry under Jon Watts’ extraordinary direction, WOLFS blends all the great elements of comedy, action, and drama into a hugely entertaining movie that will leave audiences ready for what’s next.”