‘Star Wars’ Director J.J. Abrams Is Worried That Smaller Films Like ‘Booksmart’ Can’t Exist In Theaters

Despite being one of the best movies of the year, Booksmart has underperformed (or, put less charitably, flopped) at the box office. There are many reasons why, as we’ve already discussed, but it’s not like Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is the only comedy to get trounced by the Marvel machine; it’s hard out there for a non-Disney movie, and even J.J. Abrams — you know, the guy who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens and came back for The Rise of Skywalker — is worried about what this means for the future of the industry.

“When you have a movie that’s as entertaining, well-made, and well-received as Booksmart not doing the business it should have. it makes you realize that the typical Darwinian fight to survive is completely lopsided now,” Abrams told the New York Times. “Everyone’s trying to figure out how we protect the smaller films that aren’t four-quadrant mega-releases. Can they exist in the cinemas”

Paul Feig is worried they can’t, which is why the Bridesmaids director regrets not bringing A Simple Favor, his well-liked (and well-dressed) mystery-comedy starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, to Netflix. “I’ll be honest,” he said, “there are times when I go, ‘God, we should have done A Simple Favor for streaming, because that’s the kind of movie you want to watch when you’re ready to have fun, but is it necessarily the kind of movie where you rush out to the theater, park your car, and pull out your wallet just to see it”

Either way, at home or in a theater, Lively’s outfits are incredible.

Anyway, instead of seeing Avengers: Endgame 116 times, maybe check out something like The Last Black Man in San Francisco or The Souvenir Movies with post-credit scenes can be good, too.