Studios Hard Up for Recession-Themed Movies

As major companies and start-ups are bowing down to the crushing waves generated by the blow the economy has received, Hollywood is wondering whether it is not actually sitting on a potential storytelling goldmine that it should explore. A recession-themed film could turn out to be an instant hit at the box-office, making the most of an extremely dire situation, studio execs have already admitted, as noted in a HollywoodReporter piece.

However, history has showed Hollywood that, while it’s best to be always the first to do something, so as to not fall in the copycat category, basing a movie on such a serious topic as this crisis can have disastrous consequences. Therefore, due caution must be exercised – but that does not mean that a movie on this is long from here, the same piece underlines.

“I wouldn't say it's a feeding frenzy just yet. But some development people I’ve talked to have let it be known that, if you do have these ideas, they will rise to the top of the pile.” one particular movie agent told HR. However, whereas the TV realm leaves plenty of room to integrate such a story (“Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives” being just two of the shows to have already incorporated recession-related topics in their plots), feature films are not that “flexible,” which means including a story like this in one needs time and proper consideration.

All this is occurring in a context in which Fox has already started work on a much-talked “Wall Street” sequel, Baz Luhrmann is doing “Gatsby,” which is to be seen as a mirrored representation of the current situation, and Participant Prods. is developing the socially relevant “Minimum Wage.” So, while a recession-themed movie might still be a short period of time away, about as much as we need to adjust to the changes it brings, it’s almost a certainty as far as movie studios are concerned.

“If you wanted to show a mirror to people that says ‘You’ve been drunk on money,’ they’re not going to want to see it,” Luhrmann said, whose latest production “Australia” was recently released, and who wants to move quickly on “Gatsby” because this recession could be just the break he needs for it to make it work. “But if you reflected it on another time, I think they'd be willing to.” he explained.