--- description: "These cycles have a finite time in popular culture" title: Steven Spielberg Expects Superhero Movies to Go 'the Way of the Western' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a26dd3aef7fcff9/69886208ab6d77a1b56a6004/steven-spielberg.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Steven Spielberg Expects Superhero Movies to Go 'the Way of the Western' by [Jeff Labrecque / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jeff Labrecque / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2015 5:25 PM CUT  Steven Spielberg at the 67th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards in Century City, Calif. on Feb. 7, 2015. Steven Spielberg at the 67th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards in Century City, Calif. on Feb. 7, 2015.JB Lacroix—WireImage/Getty Images by [Jeff Labrecque / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Jeff Labrecque / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 2, 2015 5:25 PM CUT Two years ago, after fighting harder than he was used to to get _Lincoln_ into theaters, Steven Spielberg warned that Hollywood was flirting with a [“big meltdown”](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-predicts-implosion-film-567604 "undefined") should a few of the ginormous-budgeted tentpoles crash at the box office. Since then, he helped bring _Jurassic World_ to theaters, executive producing the summer blockbuster that grossed more than $1.6 billion around the world. But he’s still concerned about the industry’s future and the current Hollywood business model that worships comic-book movies. “There will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western,” Spielberg told the [Associated Press](http://news.yahoo.com/fall-movie-preview-spielberg-plunges-cold-war-131839190.html "undefined"), while promoting his fall movie, [_Bridge of Spies_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/08/bridge-of-spies-tom-hanks-cold-war-trailer "undefined"). “Right now the superhero movie is alive and thriving. I’m only saying that these cycles have a finite time in popular culture. There will come a day when the mythological stories are supplanted by some other genre that possibly some young filmmaker is just thinking about discovering for all of us.” Spielberg’s Cold War movie, which reunites him with Tom Hanks for the first time since _The Terminal_, arrives in theaters on Oct. 16\. The director is currently in post-production on _The BFG_, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book. _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/02/steven-spielberg-superhero-movies "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/"},"headline":"Steven Spielberg Expects Superhero Movies to Go 'the Way of the Western'","datePublished":"2015-09-02T17:25:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:38:55.315Z","description":"\"These cycles have a finite time in popular culture\"","url":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/","keywords":["movies","steven spielberg","Superheroes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a26dd3aef7fcff9/69886208ab6d77a1b56a6004/steven-spielberg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeff Labrecque / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8a26dd3aef7fcff9/69886208ab6d77a1b56a6004/steven-spielberg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Steven Spielberg at the 67th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards in Century City, Calif. on Feb. 7, 2015.","caption":"Steven Spielberg at the 67th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards in Century City, Calif. on Feb. 7, 2015.","creditText":"JB Lacroix—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/","name":"Steven Spielberg Expects Superhero Movies to Go 'the Way of the Western'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"World’s Richest Superheroes, Ranked","description":"Ever wonder just how much of a burden it is maintaining a Batcave? Well for the super-hero nerds out there here’s everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the World’s Richest Superheroes.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yg6IgsEW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-09T22:31:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yg6IgsEW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/","duration":"PT2M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4020340/superhero-movies-steven-spielberg/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```