Why Are Films Made?

Generally, films are produced to make money, but there may be other factors at play. Looking at the films covered in the last post about promotional campaigns, I will research them further and find why I think they were made.

The Blair Witch Project - The Blair Witch Project may have been made for a variety of reasons.
At the time when The Blair Witch Project was made, in 1999, horror films were extremely popular, however, The Blair Witch Project broke the conventions of a horror film and came across to the audience as extremely authentic and real. After all the marketing, with much less access to the internet than there is now, it would have been hard for people to know if the film was based on real events or was a fictitious story. The promotional campaign suggests that people would have been genuinely intrigued to see the film and the film was designed to leave them not knowing whether the story was real or fake. Another reason why the film was produced is The Blair Witch is a popular American myth.  Also, directors, Myrick and Sánchez, had been planning the film since they were film students. It is likely that they had a passion and a desire to make the film and knew exactly what they wanted to do from the start. Finally, Myrick and Sánchez knew that the film had to potential to do well if everything went to plan.

Batman: The Dark Knight - One reason why I think that The Dark Knight was produced is because superhero films are extremely popular at the moment and will be likely to produce a good return and would have a good chance to be successful. The film is also based on the popular DC comics and continues a series of films, continuing on the Batman franchise. It is also part of a trilogy of Batman films. Finally, while The Blair Witch Project is an independent film, The Dark Knight isn't; therefore, the budget would be much bigger, which would allow for large name actors to star in the film and expensive special effects and graphics could be used.

Dunkirk - Dunkirk could have been produced for many different reasons. The evacuation of Dunkirk would have a personal meaning to director, Christopher Nolan, as his Grandfather was a navigator on a Lancaster bomber and died near Dunkirk in 1944. Also, Dunkirk is a different type of film to anything Nolan has done before. Nolan has previously directed films like The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar and Man of Steel, all of which have been successful. So Nolan may have wanted to try something different and see whether he could produce another successful film of a different genre.