Do The Studios Know How to Make Movies?

Why is attendance down? Everyone points to new media and competition, etc. I would argue the studios do not know how to make good movies. They make trailers. Imagine releasing a Raiders of the Lost Ark or a Back to the Future. People would go see these movies, but the studios cannot make them. Instead, they rely on existing brands and sequels, etc and audiences are bored. This is why the numbers are down. When the choices are between tiny pretentious arty movies that and studio blockbusters that are mindless advertising for other brands (like Marvel), the audience will stay home. Even the half decent ones do well like Iron Man and X Men or a movie like the Wimpy Kid series. Not great movies, but audiences go and see them even if they are a little above average. Imagine if the studios got the balls to make ORIGINAL franchises and concentrated on making good movies rather than making movies by release date. Even Bridesmaids - not a great movie - but at least an original concept - will make good money. They used to think stars drove the business, now they think brands drive the business. They are wrong. Ideas and stories drive the business. But this is hard for the studios to understand because they have a corporate/consensus approach rather than the old fashioned studio boss who was a movie guy approach - someone who was able to judge a movie by their gut instinct. I was reading about how George Lucas chose Lawrence Kasdan to write Raiders and Empire. He read one script and got a "feeling about the guy." Kasdan was like - do you want to read my Raiders draft before hiring me to do Empire. Lucas was like - no - I got a good feeling about you. Name me one producer or studio who can make those kind of decisions today? Maybe Rudin. And guess what - he makes good movies. No one in power trusts their guts anymore. They just want to keep their jobs and live off dividends of past greats. Welcome to America 2011.