20th Century Fox has been at best the laughing stock of fan boys, as producers and executives have a reputation for interfering with their major projects, resulting in disappointing box-office returns. Tom Rothman once stated audiences were stupid, only wanting short, explosion-filled movies.
But Fox has finally got the message in 2011 that people want intelligence in their blockbusters, that quality has a much longer shelf life. Film fans were worried that X-Men: First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be redundant pieces of work, but they ended up surprising everyone as very smart, character-driven blockbusters where action was not the major selling point. That’s all we wanted and as such, audiences rewarded those movies. Lets hope Fox does not drop the ball again.
Fox Searchlight has also kept on producing interesting movies that consistently earn Oscar nominations. In the UK in 2011 I have already seen 127 Hours and Black Swan, as well as this year's offerings Another Earth and Shame. Even I thought hated The Tree of Life I can still sense that at least it attempted to be a meaningful piece of work.