Former Amazon Studios head Roy Price is watching the success of Project Hail Mary from the sidelines. The hit Ryan Gosling film became a box office powerhouse without Price at the helm, but he says its success proves what audiences have been craving all along. Viewers want entertainment, not political sermons.
In a surprising turn, Price shared his thoughts in The New York Times, warning that Hollywood has “lost the plot.” He argued that the industry’s obsession with social messages has pushed the fun out of filmmaking. “Movies are starting to feel fun again,” he wrote, saying that sense of joy had vanished for much of the last decade.
Price traced the industry’s decline back to the political and cultural unrest that followed Donald Trump’s 2016 election and the upheavals of 2020. Studios and stars began prioritizing messaging over storytelling, and the audience noticed. Romantic comedies, edgy thrillers, and raunchy humor—the kinds of films that once defined pop culture—disappeared from mainstream release schedules. People stopped buying tickets and found new outlets like TikTok, YouTube, and Tubi.
“An unmistakable fear of saying or doing the wrong thing settled over the creative process,” Price wrote. Many filmmakers chose silence rather than risk offending the loudest activists online. The results were movies that felt like homework instead of entertainment, and award ceremonies that seemed more political than celebratory.
Price didn’t use the term “woke,” but his point was clear. He said the industry’s cultural self-censorship is hurting the art form and driving audiences away. Few insiders have been willing to say so publicly. Many blame the Hollywood resistance to Trump, the backlash over George Floyd’s death, and the confusion following the #MeToo movement for creating an atmosphere of fear and conformity.
That The New York Times published such a blunt piece is itself notable. The outlet often champions progressive causes that Price believes have drained Hollywood’s creative energy. Yet the paper’s editors seemed to agree the pendulum may finally be swinging back. A 2024 Times essay suggested the “woke film era” already looks dated.
Project Hail Mary may offer a glimpse of what’s next. The film’s success shows that audiences still respond to strong storytelling and emotional stakes more than preachy scripts. Price’s essay delivers a clear challenge to studio executives: start making entertainment people actually want to see, before the industry loses them for good.
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English (US) · 