Margot Robbie Makes Movies for “The People That Buy the Tickets! Is That the Right Mindset?
While on the press tour for “Wuthering Heights”, Margot Robbie made some comments about how she picks her projects and who she makes movies for. What do I think about the comments? Let’s talk about it!
Context; Margot Robbie and Jeff Sneider’s Quotes
As previously mentioned, Margot Robbie has been promoting “Wuthering Heights” and during an interview she talked about how she makes movies for “the people that buy the tickets” and not the critics. Here’s the full quote of what she said. “I always consider the audience. I’ve never, even been on set and thought, ‘What are the critics going to think of this? What’s their emotional response going to be?’ I believe you should make movies for the people who are going to see the movies. It’s as simple as that.”
There’s been a bit of polarized reactions to these comments about whether she’s right or wrong. In particular, independent film journalist, Jeff Sneider chimed in and seemed to really disagree with her comments and push back against them. This is what he said on Twitter (I’ll never call it X). “If only Margot Robbie realized that film critics DO buy tickets to her movies. We’re forced to because we don’t get invited to screenings anymore. They’re filled with vapid influencers who look like Margot Robbie and have nothing to say about the film, but they’re popular on TikTok.” I’m not in film journalism, film critic circles. So I don’t know how much I want to comment about whether Sneider is right or wrong with these comments. He’s always had a bit of a combative side to him. He seems to be a guy that likes to fight back against this sort of stuff.
My Thoughts
With those quotes out of the way, what do I think about Robbie’s quotes? I think I agree with what she’s saying. I think her comments go nicely with how so many people are feeling about the modern Oscar nominees for best picture. The films that got nominated are films that people were talking about in their respective years. But they’re also films that people aren’t talking about years later. They’re this argument that the Academy should nominate more popular films that get people talking and not the prestige Oscar drama. I think Robbie’s quotes back that idea up nicely of making movies for the audience and not thinking about the critics.
Because the audiences are the ones that need sway to see if they want to pay their money to go see this movie. You contrast this with critics, and because their job is to review and talk about movies they sort of have to go see the movies. Whether or not critics get invited to press screenings or because they pay tickets there’s sort of a mindset of they have to because it’s their job. But with the audiences it’s nto their job to buy a ticket to Barbie or Suicide Squad, they choose to because they want to and the studio cut a good trailer. I think it’s a very good mindset to have the audience first when thinking about the movie. In particular with Barbie, Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig knew the movie they wanted to make and they made it. WB allowed them full creative control over that film and they told the film they wanted to tell. I don’t think Robbie and Gerwig were trying to make a critics movie when making that film. I think they were trying to make a movie that would appeal to women (the general audience) and didn’t try to make a movie that critics loved. The film has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, so they did make a movie that critics loved. But the reason why Barbie was this $1.3 billion hit is because they made a movie that connected with audiences. Audiences loved that movie and went to see it over and over again to be a part of the conversation.
Do you think Sony and Marvel made Spider-Man: No Way Home to appeal to the critics? No they made that movie as a love letter to Spider-Man fans they made a movie that made almost $2 billion. They made a $2 billion film in a period of time when there was a global pandemic and people weren’t buying tickets as much. Because they made a movie that audiences wanted to see. Audiences wanted to see Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland on screen together. I’m not saying critics didn’t want to go see that movie. Because everybody is a fan of Spider-Man and everybody has their favorite Spider-Man and wants to see them on screen together. But I bet you that Sony and Marvel had the audience in mind when making that film and not thinking whether or not this movie will appeal to the critics and win a bunch of Oscars? No, they wanted to make a movie that audiences would love and they did.
In conclusion here, I agree with Robbie’s statements and I think more people in Hollywood should have that mindset. Robbie is one of the top actresses of her generation. She’s done big blockbusters but she’s also been a side character in a Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino movie. And she’s earned multiple Oscar nominations for acting and producing. If Margot Robbie is saying the she’s making movies for the audiences in mind, then maybe producers, actors, directors should listen to her, because clearly she’s had success doing it.
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