I agree. I love A24 for the independent movies. Movies that would’ve never gotten a chance anywhere else.
At the very least, it could tarnish the A24 brand and end up like Blumhouse, producing these “legacy sequels” to movies that didn’t really need a (another) sequel to begin with.
Of course, arthouse does not automatically equal good. They're good movies because they're good ideas from people with a vision, and A24 gave these people funding and a platform for their vision, (seemingly) without asking them to make compromises for the sake of profit. This new strategy could take that away.
People will always find ways to make their arthouse movies. The difference is A24 made them easy to find and arguably popular.
So it sounds like this is a profit-driven decision with auteur dramas in general just not being as profitable as action films or films that have some element of action.
Kind of a radical idea, but I always wondered if the movie industry would do better with different pricing models. When people go to the movies nowadays it seems like its just a better deal over all to see something big budget (even though it may not be an especially good storyline). So maybe just so we can get more variety out of it, they price accordingly and see how the market reacts?