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Notes -
Note : this is a uniquely Hollywood problem.
British TV media seems to be as creative as ever. Indian movies are in a golden age of new IP. Salman's lousy pseudo sequels and RRR overshadowing Bahubali's thunder proves that. Japan seems to be in the midst of a creative revival too. Major long running shows are ending, all the lazy soft-sequels are stumbling out of the gate (Boruto) and the newer IPs are crazier than anything that has come before (DANDADAN, Chainsawman).
This is my guess too. It has allowed creative directors to get bigger budgets than they could've imagined. Directors cast 1 big name for the thumbnail, and the rest of the mini-series gets filmed indoors. Great way to make a good buck, get more $$ over longer view times and if viewer numbers are tied to thumbnail/trailer impressions anyway, then that's all you need.
Some have mastered this model. Mike Flanagan managed to make money off Midnight mass. Would have been impossible in any other era. TV shows like Bear should have been a movie, but they managed to turn it into a nice 8 episode T series and get an unusual project greenlit.
Speaking of Japan's pop culture, Gundam, one of the oldest franchises around, has actually been doing stupidly well recently thanks to the Witch From Mercury series. The trick? They tried something new, and it's paid off to the point that the Gunpla has been flying off the shelves and it's brought in new fans just like Iron-Blooded Orphans did.
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