Netflix wants to change the way action movies are made amid the never-ending battle for our sustained attention, according to “Bourne” actor Matt Damon.
In an interview on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Damon and longtime collaborator and friend Ben Affleck spoke about their latest experience costarring in and coproducing their first Netflix-exclusive heist film, “The Rip,” which was released Friday. The two actors talked about how streaming and short-form video platforms have upended the way movies are consumed, made, and sold to audiences.
Damon said Netflix is now asking for action films to have bigger sequences occur within the first five minutes of the movie and suggesting that actors reiterate the plot line to cater to viewers who are on their phones.
The actor said the “standard way” he learned to make an action film was to have the finale — “the big one with all the explosions” that a production spends most of its money on — occur in the third act.
“Now, they’re like, ‘Can we get a big one in the first five minutes? We want people to stay tuned in. And you know it wouldn’t be terrible if you reiterated the plot three or four times in the dialogue because people are on their phones while they’re watching,'” he said. “And so then it’s going to really start to infringe on how we’re telling a story.”
Damon didn’t specify if Netflix gave the instruction to the actor and producer for his latest heist movie.
A Netflix spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.
Affleck added that the suggestions aren’t reflected in every new action film or series coming out on Netflix. The actor pointed to “Adolescence,” a crime miniseries that has episodes shot in one continuous take. The show was released in March.
Damon said he felt the show was an exception.
“My feeling is just that it demonstrates that you don’t need to do any of that” stuff, Affleck said.
He later added, “It’s like supply and demand. People want to look at their phones, they look at TikTok, they’re going to do that. I think what you can do is make shit the best you can. Make it really good.”