While media consolidation is nothing new (just look at the events of the last week in the entertainment industry), it typically occurs in waves. Before the merger frenzy of Warner Bros., Paramount, and Netflix, there was Hollywood's "conglomerate era," from 1989 to 2004.
In his new book, "Power Rush: The Hollywood Conglomerate and the Studio System's Final Triumph," Thomas Schatz explores the period when six global media giants took control of the American film and television industry. Schatz's book traces the activities of major studios like Warner Brothers and Disney, as well as influential indie players like Miramax and Searchlight. Schatz previously authored the acclaimed "The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Age." Schatz is a professor emeritus in the Department of Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin.
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According to the book's official synopsis, the action takes place during a period when "all the old studios either merged with other media giants or were acquired by even larger, diversified giants, bringing a flood of cash and accelerating the digital revolution. Yet, even as computer graphics and vast sums of money fueled a new generation of blockbusters—Batman and Titanic, Toy Story and The Lord of the Rings—an independent spirit prevailed in the industry. And at the intersection of commercialism and aesthetic vision, directors like Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola and Ang Lee became household names.".
Below, IndieWire publishes an exclusive excerpt from Schatz's book, which examines the making and impact of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later on the indie film industry. The book will be published by University of California Press Publishing on Tuesday, July 7.
The indie film industry reached its peak in the early 2000s, reaching critical mass with nearly a dozen independent studios owned by conglomerates. Fox Searchlight and Focus Features dominated the sector, and their success was due to several factors. One was the rise of Miramax and New Line to mini-majors, leaving a void at the top of the independent film scene. Another factor was the support of their parent conglomerates, which allowed them to finance many of their releases. Both companies were led by talented executives—Peter Rice at Searchlight and the team of James Schamus and David Linde at Focus—who assumed control in the early 2000s and functioned comfortably within the corporate ecosystem.
Searchlight, founded in 1994, was not a big success until Rice took over in early 2000. The 33-year-old Briton, a seasoned production executive at Fox, set out to double Searchlight's output to twelve films a year, financing up to half of them. Working from within the Fox studio, Rice inherited a staff of 30 employees and assembled his own management team, immediately turning things around, releasing 18 consecutive profitable films.[1] The biggest of these was 28 Days Later, a British film that was a success in the UK in 2002 and then became a much bigger hit in the US in 2003, thanks in large part to Searchlight's shrewd management.
28 Days Later also marked the return of British director Danny Boyle, who began his career in British television before directing two offbeat low-budget hits, Shallow Grave (1994) and Trainspotting (1996). These films led to more ambitious projects—notably The Beach (2000), a disappointing sequel to Leonardo DiCaprio's Titanic for Fox, which discouraged Boyle from starring in studio films. He soon returned to the BBC, directing television films and developing a partnership with British cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, a master of digital video (DV).
Development of 28 Days Later began when Boyle's producing partner Andrew Macdonald and screenwriter Alex Garland (author of The Beach) pitched him the idea of a post-apocalyptic zombie film that explored contemporary fears of AIDS, Ebola, and other viral diseases. Boyle liked the idea of an epidemic but insisted on making the story more "emotionally gripping.".
Garland's script ultimately focused on bike messenger Jim, who awakens from a coma in a hospital alone 28 days after London has been ravaged by an epidemic, leaving only a handful of human survivors and hordes of raging, hyper-infectious, flesh-eating zombies infected with a viral "rage." Jim wanders the city and teams up with tough survivalist Selena, a deadly widower named Frank, and his daughter, Hannah. They flee London and, after Frank becomes infected and dies, find themselves at a makeshift military outpost on a country estate where, in a terrifying twist, they battle a squad of crazed soldiers as well as the invading "infected."[2]
Boyle and Macdonald budgeted 28 Days Later at $8 million, with Dod Mantle's digital approach a crucial component. They planned to shoot on consumer video cameras (Canon XL1s), which cost under $2,500 and allowed Boyle to quickly operate multiple cameras. This was vital for the early London scenes, which would have been expensive and complex to shoot on film with a full crew. Boyle also appreciated the XL1's "special way of capturing fast motion," which created a "jerky effect" that portrayed the infected "in a somewhat unsettling way"—and eliminated the need for complex CGI work.[3]
In May 2001, having secured half the UK funding, Macdonald pitched the project to Peter Rice, who had overseen The Beach and quickly agreed to co-finance and distribute 28 Days Later. The budget didn't allow for stars, so Boyle cast little-known actors Cillian Murphy as Jim and Naomie Harris as Selena. The only other known actor was Brendan Gleeson as Frank, who was in danger of being shot down due to his character's untimely death. In July, Boyle and Mantle filmed some early-morning footage in London with Murphy while authorities briefly shut down traffic at a few select locations. Principal photography began on September 1, just days before 9/11, adding another dimension to the grim story of human rage and civic collapse.[4]
Boyle and Dod Mantle took full advantage of the digital videography, employing an improvisational, dynamic approach. The film unfolded in several stages: a nightmarish prologue in the pitch-black animal lab that sets off the epidemic; the gritty realism of the London scenes, filtered to create a yellowish tint; a lush green mid-film sequence as the makeshift family flees to the countryside; and what Boyle called a "gothic" finale set in a crumbling, vast mansion. In the film's violent climax, Jim is wounded but escapes with Selena and Hannah, and the story ends (28 days later) with a return to the countryside as a plane flies overhead, foreshadowing their rescue. After heated debate over an upbeat epilogue, Boyle filmed two other endings—one in which Jim dies and one in which his fate is left uncertain.[5]
28 Days Later was completed for the summer of 2002, but its U.S. release was delayed by the events of September 11th. Fox handled European distribution that fall, and Searchlight premiered it at Sundance in January 2003, with a wide release planned for June. 28 Days Later was met with a lukewarm critical reception in the UK, but was a hit with audiences, instantly becoming a cult classic—helped by a UK DVD release before the American release, which included alternate endings.[6]
Released in the United States that summer, 28 Days Later grossed over $30 million in four weeks. Critics praised Boyles's witty take on the genre—a timely social critique that revived the zombie genre—though some found the ending too optimistic. Roger Ebert, for example, confessed that after the plane flew over, "I wish it would show up, turn around, and start shooting."[7] By then, alternate endings had become a hot topic, and Rice pulled off an incredible stunt. In late July, 28 days after its U.S. release, Searchlight added the alternate ending with Jim's death (after the "What if..." intertitle) to the 1,400 copies still in circulation. Box office receipts jumped to $45 million, making the film the most successful independent release of the year.[8].
[1] Dave McNary, "Spotlight: Low, Steady Beam.". Variety (1-14 July 2002).
[2] "The Plot." Notes on the film «28 days later »", Fox Searchlight. Boyle is quoted in John Horne's article "High-Intellectual Horror Show.". LAT (June 25, 2003).
[3] Douglas Bankston, All the Rage. American cinematographer (July 2003).
[4] Tim Swanson, "A Spotlight Illuminates a Pair of Photographs.". Variety (June 15, 2002).
[5] A. O. Scott, "28 Days Softens the Ending.". NYT (July 21, 2003).
[6] Don Groves, "Boyle's zombie film gets off to a good start in Britain.". Variety (November 11-17, 2002). "International Box Office.". Variety (December 9-15, 2002).
[7] Review by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (June 27, 2003)
[8] John Horn, "28 Days' DVD-Like Ending in Theaters.". LAT (July 16, 2003). A. O. Scott, «28 Days…« (ibid.).
Excerpted from "Power Surge: The Hollywood Conglomerate and the Studio System's Final Triumph" by Thomas Schatz, courtesy of the University of California Press. Copyright © 2026.