Pete Davidson & Bill Murray On The Future of Cinema and "Background Movies"

I think the recent trend of sending out a young star and an older star to do press together is awesome. You always get a multigenerational view, and I think really thoughtful answers from both sides. Recently, Pete Davidson & Bill Murray sat down for the Club 30 with Henrik Lundqvist Podcast. - YouTube www.youtube.com On their episode, they chatted about their incredible careers and the generational differences that shaped their comedic paths. They also unpacked their new movie, Riff Raff, of which we interviewed the director recently. What Makes a Great Movie (According to Bill Murray)Bill shares his perspective on what makes a movie truly great, which involves chemistry on set and dealing with people who are jerks. He pulled out a philosophical idea that he's always finding the meaning of life -- or in this case, shining a light on making the best project possible. And no matter what happens on set or whether the chemistry is there or not, your goal is to achieve something bigger, which is making a lasting piece of filmmaking art and making a great movie. When the future of cinema came up, both Pete and Bill said the business has changed, not just over Bill's career, but Pete's as well. They talk about COVID, streaming, the strikes, and how they all affected movies not going to theaters. Bill stresses we need great movies in theaters because of the communal experience. We need people to see going out and doing this together as cool and singular. We have to get people out of their shells and bring film watching back to something that was supported by the culture. That's inherently not something streaming can achieve, unless they relent and put movies in theaters. "Background Movies"During this conversation at around the 36-minute mark, Pete brings up "background movies." It's a term no one there had heard, but one that will never leave you once you do know what they are. The basic concept is that streamers are making movies and shows that are so simple, you can be on your phone any time during them and still understand what's happening. It's why you have characters saying their motivations out loud a lot and explaining why they're in certain scenes. As Pete puts it, "Let's just make a movie we can play while people are on TikTok."While this fact horrified everyone in the room, it's one they know they have to deal with inside Hollywood now. I've heard them referred to as "second screen" and it's bummed me out. We're at a watershed moment for all filmmakers, and we need the culture to change in order to for things to get better. So, grab your coolest friend and head to the movies. We need you. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Apr 26, 2025 - 03:13

Pete Davidson & Bill Murray On The Future of Cinema and "Background Movies"

I think the recent trend of sending out a young star and an older star to do press together is awesome. You always get a multigenerational view, and I think really thoughtful answers from both sides.

Recently, Pete Davidson & Bill Murray sat down for the Club 30 with Henrik Lundqvist Podcast.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

On their episode, they chatted about their incredible careers and the generational differences that shaped their comedic paths. They also unpacked their new movie, Riff Raff, of which we interviewed the director recently.

What Makes a Great Movie (According to Bill Murray)

Bill shares his perspective on what makes a movie truly great, which involves chemistry on set and dealing with people who are jerks. He pulled out a philosophical idea that he's always finding the meaning of life -- or in this case, shining a light on making the best project possible. And no matter what happens on set or whether the chemistry is there or not, your goal is to achieve something bigger, which is making a lasting piece of filmmaking art and making a great movie.

When the future of cinema came up, both Pete and Bill said the business has changed, not just over Bill's career, but Pete's as well. They talk about COVID, streaming, the strikes, and how they all affected movies not going to theaters.

Bill stresses we need great movies in theaters because of the communal experience. We need people to see going out and doing this together as cool and singular. We have to get people out of their shells and bring film watching back to something that was supported by the culture.

That's inherently not something streaming can achieve, unless they relent and put movies in theaters.

"Background Movies"

During this conversation at around the 36-minute mark, Pete brings up "background movies." It's a term no one there had heard, but one that will never leave you once you do know what they are.

The basic concept is that streamers are making movies and shows that are so simple, you can be on your phone any time during them and still understand what's happening.

It's why you have characters saying their motivations out loud a lot and explaining why they're in certain scenes.

As Pete puts it, "Let's just make a movie we can play while people are on TikTok."

While this fact horrified everyone in the room, it's one they know they have to deal with inside Hollywood now. I've heard them referred to as "second screen" and it's bummed me out.

We're at a watershed moment for all filmmakers, and we need the culture to change in order to for things to get better.

So, grab your coolest friend and head to the movies. We need you.

Let me know what you think in the comments.