The state of cinema is “in very bad shape,” Brian Cox, star of HBO's “Succession,” said at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Saturday, pointing the finger at major studios like Marvel and DC.
“What’s happened is that television is doing what cinema used to do,” Cox said when asked about the state of popular movies and television. “I think cinema is in a very bad state. I think it’s lost its place because, in part, of the grandiose element between Marvel and DC and all that. And I think it’s starting to fall apart, actually. You kind of lose the plot.”
Cox went on to cite the Marvel Cinematic Universe's latest box office hit “Deadpool and Wolverine” as an example, saying that while superhero movies “make a lot of money,” from an actor's perspective, the work becomes “diluted” after so many comic book releases.
“So it’s a good time for some actors to do these things,” Cox said. “When you know that Hugh Jackman can do a little bit more, and Ryan Reynolds… they’re going down that path and they’re doing a lot of box office. They’re making a lot of money. You can’t ignore that.”
In 2003, Cox co-starred in the highly successful X-Men sequel, set during a time when 20th Century Fox still controlled the outcast mutant supervillains. Cox played William Stryker, the megalomaniacal military scientist who gave Logan his adamantium skeleton and created Wolverine.
Cox joked that he “often” forgets that his character “created” Wolverine in the MCU. “Deadpool meets… Wolverine, who I created, but I forgot. Actually,” Cox added, “when these movies come out, there's always a part of me that's [as Stryker] “And they never paid me any money.”
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report on Cox's conversation.
