Tim Robbins believes Hollywood is in “big trouble” if left in Netflix’s hands

Posted On November 24, 2024November 24, 2024

Tim Robbins has shared his thoughts on the increasing prevalence of streaming services, particularly Netflix, in the film industry, suggesting we’re in “big trouble.”

The actor is currently promoting the second season of Silo, Graham Yost’s dystopian series for Apple TV+. Robbins stars as Bernard Holland, who manages the silo’s IT department. The series also stars Rebecca Ferguson, David Oyelowo and Rashida Jones.

The first season of the show aired in summer 2023, earning a largely positive critical reception from viewers. The second season kicked off on November 15th, 2024, with new episodes set to arrive on Apple TV+ each week until the end of January.

Following the release of the new season, Robbins spoke with The Guardian about Silo and also shared his worries about the increasing dominance of streaming services in the industry, as well as the algorithms they use to push certain material towards viewers.

“You go on Netflix right now,” Robbins commented, “you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble.”

Robbins went on to acknowledge that three decades have passed since one of his most successful projects, Frank Darabont’s 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. Robbins starred in the film alongside Morgan Freeman, the latter of whom earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.

“When it came out it got good reviews,” he recalled, “it got nominated for Academy Awards, but nobody saw it.” Robbins suggested that it was “VHS and [Ted] Turner playing it on his television channel [Turner Classic Movies] that changed that.”

“That is a beloved movie,” he continued It remains on top of IMDb as the most favoured movie of all time. So I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last. Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years,” Robbins concluded.

It’s hard to dispute Robbins’ argument. The Shawshank Redemption certainly remains one of the most well-known and well-loved films of all time. Despite a fairly poor commercial performance upon its first release, the undeniable quality of the movie and the talent of the cast and crew ensured that it earned classic status. On the contrary, few Netflix movies seem likely to follow the same trajectory or achieve classic status.

The first two episodes of the new season of Silo is streaming on Apple TV+ now.

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