Ryan Gosling's Frank Comments About The Struggling Movie Theater Business Have Fans Nodding Hard

It's no secret that movies are kind of... well, dying, unless they're super-hero movies. And even some of those aren't doing so hot anymore, either.

Star Ryan Gosling recently got candid about just how bad it's getting, especially for the movie theaters we are no longer going to as much as we used to, especially since the pandemic.

Movie theater attendance still hasn't rebounded to its pre-2020 levels, and it's caused a full-on crisis in Hollywood.

But unlike most Hollywood luminaries, Gosling had a remarkably level-headed take on the matter that many are calling refreshing: Basically, that this is all mainly Hollywood's fault, not consumers'.

At an NYC screening of his new film Project Hail Mary, Gosling thanked the audience for seeing the film in a theater as it was intended, not on streaming.

But he was quick to add:

"I think obviously theaters need you, but it’s not your job to keep them open, it’s our job to make things that make it worth you coming out."

"So, that’s what we did with this film.”

Amen and amen. Many have spoken about the central problem in Hollywood today: Yes, market forces are making the business increasingly difficult, but the industry has responded by being almost entirely unwilling to make anything besides safe bets.

That means comic book movie after comic book movie after comic book movie, with the occasional innovative film that pushes the envelope.

But despite how often supposedly "niche" movies have huge box office—such as Black-themed films like Sinners and the films of Jordan Peele, for example—Hollywood seems reticent to move them beyond "niche" status.

As one person on Reddit responded to Gosling's comments:

"Yes to this—studios need to prioritize more thoughtful, well-made original films, rather than churning out reboots and sequels on sequels where the budget is used up on star power and CGI and the writing is dumbed-down so that the audience can be on their phones at the same time." --u/Youare10plybud

Hear hear—and that goes for TV, too, which suffers from the same problem.

Writers have repeatedly discussed how Netflix, for example, often requires scripts to be quite literally dumbed down for people who can't put their phones down for a 30-minute episode of television.

Yes, the market forces against the entertainment industry are real, but so is the simple fact that a movie ticket is now $20 in some places and most of what we get is the same old stuff, over and over and over again.

Hollywood seems intent on denying this reality exists, however. As another Redditor put it:

"I’ve seen so many people on film subs and in Hollywood acting like it’s our personal responsibility to keep theaters afloat and attack people personally who say they’d rather wait for streaming sometimes..."

"But we’re also not obligated to give our money to what’s often a lackluster experience for the sake of ‘keeping cinema alive’ or whatever." --u/SpiritualAd9102

So people found it refreshingly self-aware that an A-list Hollywood star like Gosling was willing to state the obvious.

So far, Project Hail Mary is a case in point: It exceeded box office expectations with a nearly $141 million opening weekend.

Seems like Gosling knows a thing or two about what he's talking about. Hopefully Hollywood listens.