Film financier Angus Finney (the current Europe’s Production Finance Market and the former chief of Renaissance Films) was a bit of a downer at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. Movie theaters are headed for obsolescence, he said, with tablets and other mobile devices set to supplant them “within months, not years.” (We’d argue that there isn’t anything quite like watching Avatar or superheroes bash each other on the big screen.) Meanwhile, A-list talent is headed in the same direction, he predicted, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Stars are struggling because they mean less. They don’t dictate the market any more, and, as a result, they don’t earn so much.” (Though they’re still doing pretty well for themselves.) Times are definitely changing Hollywood, but we still think that viewers will continue to prefer their big-budget awesomeness to come with a recognizable celebrity thrown in for a while.
