Martin Scorsese on obsession with field workplace numbers: ‘It’s sort of repulsive’

Director Martin Scorsese on Wednesday took the stage on the New York Film Festival and spoke about how the emphasis now’s solely on the movie’s field workplace numbers, value, and the opening weekend.

The filmmaker began off by saying, “Cinema is devalued, demeaned, belittled from all sides, not necessarily the business side but certainly the art.”

Powerful phrases on the state of cinema by Martin Scorsese at his and @thenyff’s sixtieth! #nyff60 @FilmLinc pic.twitter.com/T37HcNMQDl

— Ellen Houlihan (@elliehoulie) October 13, 2022

He continued, “Since the ’80s, there’s been a focus on numbers. It’s kind of repulsive. The cost of a movie is one thing. Understand that a film costs a certain amount, they expect to at least get the amount back, plus, again. The emphasis is now on numbers, cost, the opening weekend, how much it made in the U.S.A., how much it made in England, how much it made in Asia, how much it made in the entire world, how many viewers it got.”

Scorsese concluded by saying, “As a filmmaker, and as a person who can’t imagine life without cinema, I always find it really insulting. I’ve always known that such considerations have no place at the New York Film Festival, and here’s the key also with this: There are no awards here. You don’t have to compete. You just have to love cinema here.”

Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie Killers of the Flower Moon will launch in 2023.