Brian Cox is weighing in on the future of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) after executive changes at the cable network made Hollywood worry Warner Bros. Discovery was ready to pull the plug.
After filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson set up a meeting with CEO David Zaslav to express why TCM was so important, they were assured the network was not going anywhere. A restructuring at the network would give the trio of filmmakers an active role at TCM alongside Michael de Luca and Pam Abdy.
Cox recently opened up about his thoughts on TCM saying he was “horrified” at the thought the network could be shutting down.
“I’ve just written a thing for Facebook because I’m horrified,” Cox told Above the Line. “The head of Warner Brothers, once they get rid of TCM/Turner Classic Movies, which I think is one of the most vital resources — and certainly Robert Osborne set that up, and the five gals who run it now. I mean, who’s an expert on film? I just love that sense of who we are, where we’ve come from, and our history. It’s vital to me that we see that and live it.”
The Succession alum said that TCM is a history lesson on cinema and a great resource to see how far movie-making has come and how much it still needs to get done.
“For me, the history of cinema, the watching of it, and the way that TCM presents it are incredible resources because they really make me understand how far we’ve traveled,” he added. “But also how far we haven’t traveled. You know, we’ve traveled technically, but in terms of the truth of acting, there are no more true players than Spencer Tracy or Katherine Hepburn. And you see them together in what they create, so the cinema has always been vital to me. Absolutely vital.”