\n\tIn a wide-ranging conversation at the Toronto International Film Festival that spanned Christopher Nolan, premium theatrical formats, TikTok and the Fast & Furious franchise, Universal\u2019s Donna Langley talked about the state of her studio and the film industry.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re seeing with young people, the Letterboxd generation, that they are really engaged in film,\u201d said Langley onstage at Toronto\u2019s Canadian Broadcast Centre during a conversation with festival director Cameron Bailey. \u201cWe saw it in Oppenheimer, they were going to the theater more than once, coming back, having an opinion, wanting to share that opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLangley added that younger audiences are looking for a premium theatrical experience, like IMAX, citing the recent move by Universal to sell IMAX 70mm tickets to Nolan\u2019s next movie, The Odyssey, a full year before the film hits theaters. (The tickets quickly sold out.<\/a>)<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s value for money and value for time,\u201d she said of the interest. \u201cIt\u2019s all about share of wallet.\u201d Langley added that the downside of premium formats is that studios end up in a \u201crugby scrum\u201d of available IMAX screens.<\/p>\n \n\tShe also pointed to Nolan choosing to do a TikTok ahead of the Oppenheimer release (at the behest of his son, according to Langley), explaining how 70mm IMAX projection works, as a way younger audiences were brought to the theater: \u201cPeople were really engaging with it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhen asked how Universal generates conversation on platforms like Letterboxd, Langley said that it needs to happen organically. \u201cYou cannot manufacture that. It has to be authentic. Obviously, you can find the assets and get the information to the right people, who hopefully can evangelize on behalf of us to the audience, directly. We can\u2019t do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\tEarlier in the conversation, Langley was asked about some of the studio\u2019s landmark franchises, including the Vin Diesel-fronted Fast & Furious, which is made up of now nearly one dozen films. \u201cBetween four and five is when we made a conscious decision to pivot to a globe-trotting, heist-type scenario,\u201d said Langley of the evolution of the franchise, buoyed by global popularity. The films, which have a combined gross of over $7 billion, have since traveled the world and even off-planet. In the ninth installment, two of the film\u2019s characters got to space in a rocket car.<\/p>\n