On Sunday, October 5, 2025, legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott—best known for classics like Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator—delivered a stinging critique of the modern film industry at London’s BFI Southbank. The 87-year-old director, never one to mince words, lamented what he sees as an overwhelming flood of mediocre movies, asserting that Hollywood is “drowning in mediocrity.” His remarks, widely reported by outlets including Deadline, The Wrap, Yahoo News, and The Independent, have reignited a debate about quality, quantity, and the soul of cinema in the streaming era.
Scott’s comments came during a career retrospective panel, but the conversation quickly turned from his storied past to a candid assessment of today’s cinematic landscape. “The quantity of movies that are made today, literally globally—millions. Not thousands, millions… and most of it is s**t,” Scott declared, according to Deadline. He didn’t just throw out a sweeping generalization; he broke it down further, offering a rough (and self-admittedly imperfect) percentage breakdown: “80-60 percent ‘eh,’ 40 percent is the rest, 25 percent of that 40 is not bad, 10 percent is pretty good, and the top 5 percent is great,” he told Yahoo News. Scott, ever the pragmatist, added, “I’m not sure about the portion of what I’ve just said,” but the point was clear—he believes true cinematic excellence is rare in today’s overstuffed marketplace.
So what’s to blame for this perceived decline? For Scott, the problem starts at the script stage. “A lot of films today are saved, and made more expensive by digital effects. Because what they haven’t got is a great [script] on paper first. Get it on paper,” he insisted, reported The Hollywood Reporter. According to Scott, too many movies rely on visual spectacle to cover up weak storytelling, a trend he finds both troubling and unsustainable.
The director’s frustration with modern output is so profound that he’s taken up a rather unusual habit: rewatching his own filmography for comfort. “Well, actually, right now, I’m finding mediocrity—we’re drowning in mediocrity. And so what I do—it’s a horrible thing—but I’ve started watching my own movies, and actually they’re pretty good! And also, they don’t age,” Scott confessed, as quoted by The Independent. He recounted a recent viewing of his 2001 war-action drama Black Hawk Down, starring Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, and Ewan McGregor, marveling, “How in the hell did I manage to do that?”
Scott’s self-reflection isn’t just nostalgia or self-congratulation; it’s a pointed contrast to what he sees as the current state of the industry. “But I think occasionally a good one will happen, [and] it’s like a relief that there’s somebody out there who’s doing a good movie,” he said, suggesting that moments of brilliance are now the exception rather than the rule.
He’s not alone in his criticism. Actor Channing Tatum, in a recent appearance on Hot Ones, echoed similar frustrations: “When you get asked to do a movie, or you’re trying to get a movie made, it’s a very confused pipeline of possibilities, and it really feels like, at times, that you’re incentivized to make bad things to get paid, rather than make something really, really good.” Tatum’s remarks, highlighted by Deadline, suggest that the pressures of the modern studio system and streaming platforms may be warping creative priorities, pushing quantity over quality.
Scott’s critique also comes with a dose of historical perspective. He compared today’s deluge of content to the 1940s, when, as he put it, “perhaps 300 movies [were] made, 70 percent of them were similar, for example.” The difference now, he argues, is scale and the ease with which technology can mask creative shortcomings. “I think a lot of films today are saved, and made more expensive by digital effects,” he reiterated, underscoring his belief that technical wizardry can’t replace originality or strong writing.
Despite his critical stance, Scott remains as busy as ever. He recently wrapped The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic drama starring Jacob Elordi and based on Peter Heller’s novel, set for release in 2026. He’s also involved in multiple upcoming projects, including a Western drama (Wraiths of the Broken Land), a biopic of wartime photographer Lynsey Addario (It’s What I Do), and an adaptation of The Color of Lightning. According to The Independent, he has at least seven directing projects in various stages of pre-production and development. Scott also continues to produce for the Alien and Blade Runner franchises, both of which have new sequels in the pipeline.
And then there’s Gladiator 3, the much-anticipated continuation of the saga that began with Russell Crowe’s Maximus. Scott teased a few details about the project, telling Deadline, “He’s around and he technically is the Emperor of Rome, and so I have a footprint about what I think it should be.” The upcoming film will follow the events of 2024’s Gladiator 2, which starred Paul Mescal as Lucius, the son of Crowe’s character, alongside Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Denzel Washington.
For all his gripes about the present, Scott is not ready to retire. “To me, the vineyard would be my retirement occupation, but I ain’t gonna retire,” he told The Independent. His passion for filmmaking remains undiminished, even as he laments the industry’s direction. “To me, my job is not work. It’s a passion,” he said in a 2021 interview with The Independent. “It’s just ‘next’ and I just move on.” Scott’s relentless drive, he explained, is the antidote to creative stagnation: “We tend to work 18 months ahead. Otherwise, you have these horrible gaps. You finish the movie, and if you haven’t thought what else you’re gonna do next … you’re hoping something good’s gonna land on your desk. It never does.”
Yet, even as Scott and others voice concern about the dominance of formulaic blockbusters and the streaming model’s demands, there are glimmers of hope. As noted by ScreenRant, 2025 is shaping up to be a competitive awards season, with original films like Sinners, One Battle After Another, It Was Just an Accident, and Hamnet drawing critical attention. Other projects, such as Weapons and KPop Demon Hunters, have captured the zeitgeist, while quieter releases like Sorry, Baby showcase the enduring power of auteur-driven storytelling. These successes suggest that, despite the noise, innovative and meaningful cinema can still break through.
Scott’s tough love for Hollywood may sting, but it comes from a place of deep investment in the art form. As the industry grapples with its future, his words serve as both a warning and a challenge: raise the bar, or risk losing what makes movies worth watching in the first place.
