Jerry Seinfeld: ‘The movie business is over’

The comedian and veteran actor has made a bold claim about the future of Hollywood in a new interview.

Jerry Seinfeld. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Ahead of his feature directorial debut on Netflix, Jerry Seinfeld weighed in on the state of the film industry after his experience helming the Pop-Tarts comedy Unfrosted.

“It was totally new to me. I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work,” he recently told GQ.

“They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.”

He continued, “Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”

Seinfeld with Ellen DeGeneres in his series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Seinfeld then said that film had been replaced by “depression” and “malaise.”

“Disorientation replaced the movie business. Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, ‘What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?’” he said.

The Seinfeld star noted that he’s already cemented a unique position for himself in the industry, however. “I’ve done enough stuff that I have my own thing, which is more valuable than it’s ever been. Stand-up is like you’re a cabinet-maker, and everybody needs a guy who’s good with wood,” he said.

The comedian claimed that the movie business “is over”. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

The film industry may not be doing so well in Seinfeld’s eyes, but the longtime comedian has noted that stand-up comedy is experiencing a unique boom.

“Audiences are now flocking to stand-up because it’s something you can’t fake. It’s like platform diving. You could say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can see if you are or you aren’t. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can trust it. Everything else is fake,” he said.

Seinfeld’s star-studded feature Unfrosted is a comedy about the creation of Pop-Tarts.

Seinfeld directed and co-wrote the film, which has a stacked cast of comedy stars attached, including Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Cedric the Entertainer and Amy Schumer.

Unfrosted premieres on Netflix May 3.

This article originally appeared in Decider and was reproduced with permission.