Via Marginal Revolution, check out this list of the 10 most influential movies of the last ten years. I could quibble with some entries on this list--Coraline, for example, came out just a few months ago, so it seems more than a bit premature to talk about its influence. But overall, this list does seem to get at the origins of some of the imagery, narrative structures, and plot devices that we see over and over in recent films.
While the list has some big blockbusters like The Matrix, and some critical successes like Traffic, it has at least one movie that I recall being generally panned upon release (Polar Express), and even one that was not an outright bomb--2004's Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow. It only grossed $57 million worldwide, with a $70 million budget. But its influence has been undeniable, and has led to major commercial success--for other people. The idea of making a movie with the actors being the only "real" component, and computer-generating the rest, was first seen in Sky Captain, but (arguably) perfected in Sin City and Zack Snyder's 300, the latter of which grossed almost $500 million.
So what does this have to do with entrepreneurship?
The commercial failure of Sky Captain makes me think about just how much new ideas might have to fail before they can succeed. The parallels with startup businesses become clear when you look at how entrepreneurial Sky Captain's director, Kerry Conran, is. Not only did he write and direct the movie himself (his first movie), but he created the technology used in the film all by himself. It took four years for him to produce a short trailer that was used to get financing for the full-length feature. Even though his innovations have been so influential, what has happened to Conran? Well, unfortunately he has not made a movie since Sky Captain, five years ago.
You can patent specific technology, but you generally can't patent an innovative way of telling a story. That obviously goes well beyond filmmaking--more and more often, copyright is becoming meaningless. Entrepreneurs are being asked by society to follow their vision and risk failure, only to pave the way for someone else to make millions. Is the threat of that scenario stifling innovation? Can (and even, should) anything be done about it? These are questions that I think will become more important, and there are not good answers to them yet.
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