Two major Hollywood voices have recently weighed in on the state of the 2025 movie schedule and film industry as a whole, and neither is exactly thrilled. Legendary director Ridley Scott and actor-producer Channing Tatum have shared their candid thoughts about the pressures and pitfalls of modern moviemaking.
What Ridley Scott Said
During a recent screen talk at the BFI Southbank on Sunday, October 5, Ridley Scott joined a Q&A session and didn’t mince words when asked if he’s been keeping up with anything on the movie or October TV schedule. Maybe he’s been eyeing Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth with his Hulu subscription. After all, he knows that world better than most. But per Yahoo! News, the legendary Alien director offered a blunt take, saying:
Well, right now I’m finding mediocrity, we’re drowning in mediocrity. So what I do, and it’s a horrible thing, but I’ve started to watch my own movies, and actually they’re really good.
One title in his oeuvre in particular left him stunned. The Blade Runner creator added:
I watched Black Hawk Down the other night and I thought, ‘How the hell did I do that?’
It’s tough to argue with that take, as Black Hawk Down is widely regarded as one of the most intense and realistic war movies ever made, with a stacked cast to match. Still, praising your own work? That’s a bold vibe.
While Scott admitted that the industry occasionally produces something worthwhile, he called it a rarity, saying it feels like a “relief” when a genuinely good film breaks through the noise.
Channing Tatum’s Take
While Scott speaks from the vantage of a director and elder statesman of cinema, Channing Tatum recently offered his own perspective from inside the Hollywood machine, and it’s equally disheartening. During a recent Hot Ones interview, the Magic Mike star discussed the complex and often compromised state of film development today. He explained to the host:
I think, now, when you get asked to do a movie, or you’re trying to get a movie made, it’s a very confused pipeline of possibilities, and it really feels like, at times, that you’re incentivized to make bad things to get paid, rather than make something really, really good, for the fucking people that actually get to see these things.
The actor didn’t name names, but his frustration seemed to echo a larger sentiment felt by both artists and audiences, which is that it’s harder than ever to get genuinely great, original work made when the economics are built around predictability and profits.
The Two Share Similar Concerns From Different Angles
Although Ridley Scott and Channing Tatum come from different corners of Hollywood, they agree on one thing: too many movies are being made for the wrong reasons. Whether it’s creative compromise, studio interference, or franchise overload, both point to an industry that often sidelines quality — and even when strong films do get made, as with The Rock’s The Smashing Machine (which performed poorly), they don’t always do well at the box office, as the audience doesn’t always show up.
It’s worth noting, despite their concerns with the industry, neither Scott nor Tatum is stepping away from the game. The filmmaker’s next project, The Dog Stars, is slated to release on the 2026 movie release schedule. As for Tatum, he is set to return to the big screen soon with Roofman, a new NSFW crime drama that is scheduled to land in theaters on October 10th and is already generating buzz.