I don’t make movies because I think audiences will want to go see them.

Taken at face value, Bruckheimer’s line rejects a purely market-tested, audience-pleasing rationale for filmmaking. It frames his work as driven first by personal conviction—taste, instinct, and a producer’s sense of what is exciting—rather than by trying to predict demand. The statement also hints at a paradox common in commercial cinema: the most broadly popular films are often made by people who claim they are not chasing popularity, but pursuing a clear internal standard of entertainment value. In that sense, the quote positions “audience appeal” as an outcome of committed creative decision-making, not the starting premise.