George Lucas of all people has some great examples of the difference between Hollywood 30 years ago and today. He ended up exemplifying both sides in his career, but it was still something to hear.
Lucas said that Hollywood used to be the filmmaker fighting with, but also being bet on, by the studio. The studio would take a $20M investment on a project and say, go make me $100M. Nowadays, with more data, hard numbers and analytics at our finger tips, companies like Disney have cut filmmakers out of the equation. They fulfill their brand recognition quota by using an existing IP, because original stories are harder to market, and they've perfected their new game. There's still the odd bust, like Fantastic Four, but on the whole they can grab a A or A- list actor, pair him up with a director who has done two episodes of the Mindy Project and 90% of the time they'll make half a billion dollars. It's insane.