Zachary Levi Calls Out “Hollywood Garbage”

Charlie Kaufman was also recently outspoken about the quality of current releases and how A.I presents a problem going forward.

Zachary Levi as Shazam in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Zachary Levi continues to be one of the more outspoken actors, especially at a time when performers and writers can’t talk up their work given the strikes.

In fact, he broached that very subject recently, receiving backlash for seemingly speaking out against the strikes.

Levi recently clarified his comments on striking.

“I fully support my union, the WGA, and the strike. I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative system that us artists are subject to work in since I started my journey in this business 25 years ago. This strike is necessary to protect ourselves, our writers, and all those working in production who make the industry move.”

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Levi calls out Hollywood garbage

Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,'a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

(L to R) Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure 'Shazam! Fury of the Gods,'a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

But this weekend, he turned his attention obliquely to work, calling out the studios for producing what he called “garbage”.

This is what Levi said at Fan Expo Chicago, as reported by Entertainment Weekly:

“I personally feel like the amount of content that comes out of Hollywood that is garbage — they don’t care enough to actually make it great for you guys. They don’t. How many times do you watch a trailer and go, ‘Oh my god, this looks so cool!’ Then you go to the movie and it’s like, ‘This was what I get?’ They know that once you’ve already bought the ticket and you’re in the seat, they’ve got your money. And the only way for us to change any of it is to not go to the garbage. We have to actively not choose the garbage. It’ll help. It’ll help a lot.”

It’s a matter of some irony that audiences rejected Levi’s latest output, as superhero sequel ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ flopped at the box office earlier this year, making $133.8 million worldwide (not great given its estimated $125 million budget and unknown marketing costs).

Charlie Kaufman speaks out

Jessie Buckley as Young Woman and director Charlie Kaufman on the set of 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things.'

Yet Levi wasn’t alone in his comments. Charlie Kaufman, the writer/director behind ‘Synecdoche, New York’ and 2020’s ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ was leading a masterclass at the Sarajevo Film Festival and urged filmmakers to find a new way to create work outside of the studio system.

According to Deadline, this is what he said:

“At this point, the only thing that makes money is garbage. It’s just fascinating. It makes a fortune, and that’s the bottom line. It’s very seductive to the studios but also to the people who engage and become the makers of that garbage, especially if they’re lauded for the garbage because they don’t have to look inward or think long about what they’re doing.”

He also touched on the subject of A.I. –– which has been a hot-button topic, especially between writers and the studios as the strikes rumble on.

This was his comment:

“Once you give that up and allow the studios to use AI to write their screenplay, there’s no going back. Then there’s no hope because AI can’t create a moment of humanity. As long as people are doing it and there’s that struggle, then there’s always a chance that something will come out of it that will be worth something to human beings.”
(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s action adventure Shazam! Fury of the Gods,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.