Have you watched Train Dreams on Netflix yet? I read a review of the film last week and I thought “nah, that sounds really depressing.” But the film is already appearing on several “best of 2025” must-watch lists, so I will give it a shot. Train Dreams stars Joel Edgerton, who is lowkey one of my favorite actors, quite honestly. I just wish he had a different career – it always feels like he could have been and should have been a much bigger actor and a genuine movie star. I strongly suspect that Edgerton has chosen his path carefully because he likes independent film and moving behind the camera. Anyway, given the hype for Train Dreams, it’s possible that Netflix puts some money into the film’s Oscar campaign, and maybe into an Oscar campaign for Edgerton. You know who will hate that? James Cameron, who recently blasted Netflix for their films’ Oscar-eligibility. Variety asked Edgerton about Cameron’s comments on Monday night, and he was extremely thoughtful about it.
While attending the 2025 Gotham Awards on Monday (December 1), where he presented the Best Director award to Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident alongside Felicity Jones, Joel Edgerton shared his thoughts on what James Cameron said.
“Yes, I do,” he told Variety when asked if streaming films should qualify. “I think that… Look… none of us should be really squabbling with each other over what has a right to be seen or awarded or part of a conversation, I don’t think. There are some people who only get their chance because of streamers.”
“The world changed, I think, during COVID. Streamers became stronger. The tectonic plates have, the screening world shifted,” Joel continued. “I don’t necessarily think something should be seen as lesser than. I think the point that James is making is there should be a more robust fight for the survival for cinema, but I don’t think at the cost of saying that people whose only chance is to get their movie made on a streamer should not have a chance to also be seen and heard, or recognized.”
“People are diving for scraps and some people have had a long history where it makes it a bit easier for them, and they’re willing to fight harder and I really respect that,” he added. “James is one of the greats and he’s making movies on a big canvas. He’s a pioneer. He’s always been a pioneer. But independent filmmakers are kind of little birds in a nest fighting to be fed by their mother.”
“I’ve died on the hill of cinema a few times over a few issues as a producer and as a director and as an actor,” he said. “Every time I fought for it, a friend of mine once said to me, ‘How many of your favorite films did you actually watch at the cinema?’ And most of my favorite movies were made in the 70s and I was either a toddler, or 5, 6, 7, 8 years old. I didn’t get a chance to watch them until I was watching them on a VHS cassette on a sh-tty TV, and they’re still my favorite films. As long as people watch them, whether they’re at the cinema or not, is a massive, good conversation to have. And look, I would still semi-die on a hill for cinema. But I’m also a pragmatist.”
This is the correct opinion: you can celebrate cinema, theatrical runs and getting people to go back to the movies while at the same time, you can celebrate the streamers for providing tons of opportunities for independent filmmakers and lesser-known actors and artists. Edgerton even correctly gives Cameron his flowers for being a pioneer filmmaker (which is true). But Edgerton’s larger point is correct, that it’s not the end of the world that the streamers can have Oscar-eligible films now. It’s actually great for so many filmmakers.
#TrainDreams star Joel Edgerton on James Cameron saying Netflix films that don’t play in theaters shouldn’t qualify for the Oscars:
“None of us should be really squabbling with each other over what has a right to be seen or awarded,” Edgerton said on Monday night at the… pic.twitter.com/PUtvlp0DnC
— Variety (@Variety) December 2, 2025
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
