Tilda Swinton is a force to be reckoned with, whether she makes a physical transformation in movies like Trainwreck or brings her own magic as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange. Even though this British actress has won an Oscar for her performance in Michael Clayton, she has other things to focus on besides nailing her next award-winning role. The 61-year-old actress has plans to open up a multiplex chain, but would need the help of a billionaire multiplex owner to help.
The Chronicles of Narnia actress has had a busy few months going to Cannes for the premiere of George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, and then to Toronto for the The Eternal Daughter’s premiere. Additionally, Swinton has a plan for how to support movies in her own way, telling Indiewire:
I’ve often wanted the owner of a multiplex chain to give me and my friends the authority to program their chain, randomly, in a flash-mob sort of way in one weekend all over the country. That’s what I’d love to do, completely unexpectedly. Everybody would know that the next week they could go see the latest blockbuster, but for these next two days they might be able to see something they’d never otherwise see. Let’s see if someone writes who says, ‘I’m a billionaire, and I own a multiplex.’
Wanting to experiment with movie theater exhibitions has been an aspiring venture for the London native actress for a while. In 2009, she traveled in a truck to the Scottish Highlands to bring classic films to small villages. The time is even more dire now to save movie theaters, as the early days of the pandemic shut down a lot of theaters and the fear of COVID-19 lowered attendance. These days though, more people have been going to see movies on the big screen. However, considering movie theaters and streaming services aren’t in competition with each other, Tilda Swinton believes there’s no reason why streaming giants cannot fund movie theaters by having more of their projects have big screen debuts.
Swinton is also doing more to enhance the cinematic medium by being picky about the roles she takes on. She prefers director-driven projects like the upcoming movie The Eternal Daughter, where the Oscar winner reunites with director Joanna Hogg for the dual role of a middle-aged filmmaker and her mother who both stay at a remote gothic hotel. Hogg would write outlines for scenes and ask Swinton to improvise, which is challenging to do when you’re talking to yourself for two roles! But the talented actress has said she actually doesn’t believe in acting, but in being your most natural self for the roles you play.
Another director the We Need to Talk About Kevin actress enjoyed working with was Apichatpong Weerasethakul in Memoria, which was released last year about a woman enduring sleepless nights because of a mysterious sound. Tilda Swinton plans on developing another movie with the Thai director. Swinton may not have any idea when this project will happen, but she’s confident it will.
It’s a remarkable idea of Tilda Swinton to want to save movie theaters with her own multiplex. Maybe she can find help with the directors she works with or collaborate on an ad campaign like AMC Theatres is doing with Nicole Kidman. While Swinton’s film festival movies have not made theatrical releases yet, you can watch her performance in Doctor Strange with your Disney+ subscription.