The $30 million mised opportunity

The 1990s were a great decade for cinema, with many successful films that had a prestige bent and were made by legitimate filmmakers.. However, the industry has lost its touch with thrillers, and many of the more intelligent, thoughtful thriller premises wind up being made into prestige television shows.

The loss of the thriller is a major detriment to the current film industry because Hollywood rarely makes smart, engaging entertainment for adults. Even though not every '90s thriller is going to end up having the same cultural legacy as Se7en or The Fugitive, there are quite a few that deserve a second look.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

The industry would kill to have films like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil today. This 1997 adaptation of an acclaimed, bestselling true crime novel about an unusual murder trial that was held in Savannah, Georgia is the rare courtroom drama that manages to be riveting, even though it is fairly obvious from the moment that it begins who the killer is.

Clint Eastwood was the perfect choice to helm a tricky thriller about the minutia of the legal system, and the film's success is a testament to the power of intelligent storytelling.

Bad Influence: a film ahead of its time

Arlington Road is a film that was ahead of its time in examining the rise of anti-government extremism and domestic terrorism,as it certainly plays differently today in wake of the tragic events of the past decade .

While at the time the film courted a significant amount of controversy and ended up underperforming at the box office because of its proximity to the Waco Siege and Oklahoma City bombings, similar events have become so commonplace in the America of today that Arlington Road feels even more pertinent.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The industry is missing out on smart, engaging entertainment for adults, and many of the more intelligent, thoughtful thriller premises wind up being made into prestige television shows. The loss of the thriller is a major detriment to the current film industry because Hollywood rarely makes smart, engaging entertainment for adults.

Even though not every '90s thriller is going to end up having the same cultural legacy as Se7en or The Fugitive, there are quite a few that deserve a second look. The industry would kill to have films like these today.