Most people hear "fantasy movies" and think about Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia, or maybe they imagine galloping unicorns and dragons arcing through the sky. Tales brimming with whimsy and magical children populate the majority of the fantasy film genre at the moment. Those looking for something darker or weirder will likely struggle to find it on the big screen. There's plenty of dark fantasy shows available on television between Game of Thrones, The Sandman, The Witcher, Penny Dreadful, Interview with the Vampire, etc., but significantly less at the movie theater.
A majority of the big fantasy movies coming out these days tend to be geared toward younger audiences. They're family-friendly. What is the reason for that? Probably because of money. Fantasy movies tend to be a lot more expensive to make than other genres due to the sheer spectacle, meaning studios want to make them as accessible to as many people as possible to ensure they get the desired box office return. It's why films like Pan's Labyrinth, The Northman, The Green Knight, and The Shape of Water are so few and far between. The Shape of Water even won Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards, and even that hasn't seemed to incentivize studios to take more risks on adult fantasy films.
I believe the demand for adult fantasy is there, we see it in the popularity of dark fantasy television shows, books, and video games. Now we just need Hollywood to stop handling the genre nearly exclusively with kid gloves. Fantasy can be just as complex and emotionally challenging as any drama film.
Where we go from here
Fantasy is similar to the horror genre in many ways, in that it grants escapism for the viewer while also giving them a potential outlet to explore real emotions and trauma via metaphors. The Lord of the Rings is considered one of the best fantasy films and book series of all time, and while it isn't just for adults, it is an example of the type of movies we should be seeing more of all the time.
Yes, the main draw of seeing a fantasy film in theaters is to enjoy the visuals, whether that mean decadent production design, epic battles, or magic spectacle, but there's much more to it than that. These films allow for space to process complex feelings like grief in a vast imaginative space. Currently, the bulk of movies we're seeing produced in this genre remain stuck in a loop of commonplace tropes like "the chosen one," and they lack realistic grit. I don't think that Hollywood has ever really evolved from the place where it was seemingly adapting every fantasy or dystopian YA novel under the sun.
That's not to say that those stories don't have their place, The Hunger Games remains a masterclass in storytelling with its brutal themes of oppression, sacrifice, and survival, but many of these tales revolve around teenage protagonists. It's rare that we get to see adults in central roles in fantasy films unless it's that of a mentor or a villain. There is so much untapped cinematic potential just waiting to be explored.
It would also be nice just to get more one-off original stories like Pan's Labyrinth and The Northman, vs. creating yet another mega franchise, sequel, or reboot. Guillermo del Toro, in particular, really proved just how exciting and transgressive the scope of fantasy storytelling can be in Pan's Labyrinth when not required to sanitize his work so as to make sure as many people as possible could enjoy it. It's okay to take big risks!
There are countless adult fantasy books ripe for adaptation
Fantasy is a genre ripe for experimentation, and not every film needs to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce. Studios would do well to try and appeal to fans of The Witcher or The Sandman on a cinematic scale. Bring back mid-budget films and cast unknowns to bring down the cost if need be.
And while it would be nice to see more original fantasy scripts, I wouldn't be opposed to Hollywood just dabbling in adapting more adult fantasy books, especially as there are so many out there. I recently read The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon and happen to think it would make for an excellent film saga. There's also John Gwynne's Bloodsworn Saga, Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, or even Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series. At this point, Hollywood is leaving money on the table.
Sometimes I think there is resistance to including complicated situations or even unhappy endings in fantasy stories. Romance and fantasy tend to go together well, hence why the book genre dubbed "romantasy" is extremely popular right now. When people hear "fantasy," they sometimes think of fairy tales and assume that fantasy stories should keep things light, so there is some resistance to creating something much darker out of fear it won't find an audience.
By now, however, I think audiences have proven time and time again they will show up for complicated storylines that aren't afraid to push boundaries and get weird.
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