Zachary Levi has called upon cinema audiences to stop attending “garbage” films as a means of demanding higher-quality content from Hollywood.
The Shazam! star appeared at comic convention Fan Expo Chicago on Saturday (12 August), where he shared his thoughts on the state of the film industry during a panel discussion.
According to Levi, 42, the film industry lacks consideration for its audience, and therefore doesn’t put in the effort to produce consistently entertaining work.
“I personally feel like the amount of content that comes out of Hollywood that is garbage – they don’t care enough to actually make it great for you guys. They don’t,” Levi told the audience, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“How many times do you watch a trailer and go, ‘Oh my God, this looks so cool!’ Then you go to the movie and it’s like, ‘This was what I get?’” he continued.
“They know that once you’ve already bought the ticket and you’re in the seat, they’ve got your money. And the only way for us to change any of it is to not go to the garbage. We have to actively not choose the garbage. It’ll help. It’ll help a lot.”
Levi’s most recent film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, was a sequel to the first Shazam film from 2019, in which he plays the brawny superhero alter-ego of a teen boy.
Also starring Helen Mirren, Adam Brody and Lucy Liu, the film garnered middling critical reviews. The Independent’s critic awarded the sequel two stars, and described it as “a film that isn’t without promise, but feels far too messy and corporatised to have any real affection for”.
Zachary Levi— (Getty Images)
Levi is known for making controversial remarks about the film industry. Earlier this month, the Tangled voice actor had to walk back a comment made at Comic Con Manchester describing the rules of the current actors’ strike as “so dumb”.
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In July, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined screenwriters, who downed pens in May, in protest over issues relating to streaming residuals and the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI).
Levi was thought to have belittled the rules of the strike for actors, which prohibit them from promoting new or forthcoming projects.
In a statement, the actor responded to the negative reaction his words sparked, and said that an “offhand remark made in jest” had been taken out of context.
“I fully support my union, the WGA and the strike,” Levi stated. “I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative system that us artists are subject to work in since I started my journey in this business 25 years ago.”
