I honestly wonder how much control he actually had over the franchise or blockbuster movies he’s made.

Eg. The Sundance to Blockbuster Franchise pipeline is a well known thing in the industry. They farm talent for their latest franchise movie.

They don’t actually give the directors they hire much (if any) artistic freedom. The movies are far far too expensive to take risks like that. They simply need the name for on the poster, to give their McDonalds movie a veneer of artistic credibility.

It’s sad, because young talent thinks they’re being offered a great opportunity, when in reality they’re being whored out. The large studios know they’re too inexperienced to offer much pushback and that they can pay them less than they’re worth because ‘exposure’.

Obviously JJ is a big name, but I assume he also spends all day fighting with the producers and the studio when making a big movie like this. Or he doesn’t and he basically represents the studios, a bit like that Mitchell and Webb “Are we the baddies?” sketch. I dunno.