>But these shitty experimental mega movies? Nah, they are on
>the way out.

These will always pop up, the $100-150 mil "new potential franchises," because without them, well, there aren't more franchises. (Pacific Rim 2 is going into pre-production now.)

The studios/corporations use the money from the big successes (the mega-budget franchises that exist) to alleviate the hurt when these flop, but if they hit, new franchise, more sequels, bigger budgets, more success.

Spielberg didn't specify "non-franchise paradigm shift" either IMO. He believes that eventually a studio will sink after consecutive mega-budget failures, and that will scare people into a paradigm shift away from bigger budgets. If the new Bond and Spider-Man underperform AND their attempts at new franchises tank, then those studios may start considering a shift in policy.

And while I think that will *eventually * happen, the author thinking that this year indicates a paradigm shift or that Spielberg was predicting this year's events is an outrageous stretch. I believe it will happen once $300-400 mil movies become more commonplace-- and that absolutely is coming.