As long as there has been a film industry there have been various genres to describe films as. You have the science-fiction genre, the horror genre, the action genre, the superhero genre, and fantasy genre all filling a need for a specific audience. However, what happens when a genre is perceived as being "dead" by the film industry.
Certain genres have been classified as being "dead" for some time now. To this day, you will hear film experts talk about the western genre, the detective genre, or the pirate genre being "dead" for several decades now. There is even talk about the possibility of certain genres (the superhero genre) "dying" in the future. However, these genres that people keep saying are "dead", aren't really "dead".
People often use the western as a prime example of a genre that went from being the popular money maker of its time to being "dead". However, "dead" would be the wrong word to use for the genre. A more correct terminology would be "decreased in popularity". It may seem like westerns are "dead", but I still see westerns getting made these days, such as "True Grit" and "Hostiles".
Sure, only one high profile western (if that) comes out every year, but that's far from what I would consider dead. The problem is that most westerns appeal to the senses and tastes of an elderly audience who loved the genre back when it was popular. That creates a very niche market and, therefor, fewer westerns are made to meet demand.
Another genre that often gets classified as "dead" is the pirate genre. While this genre was never as popular as the western genre, it still saw a great level of popularity in the 1950s and early 60s. While the idea of this genre being "dead" holds a bit truer (other than the obvious ones, there are no other pirate films I can think of that were released over the last 20 years), there is still one franchise in this genre that has yet to die.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" films are the only pirate films, that I know of, that are still being released to this day. However, these films make massive amounts of money at the box office. I'm surprised that more film studios didn't try to follow Disney's lead and make more pirate films to capitalize on it's success. I guess it's because the genre is very expensive and still a very risky venture, even with Disney's success. However, the existence of these films proves that the pirate genre still has a pulse.
Recently, there have been talks about the future of the superhero genre and how it may "die" in the future the same way the western genre did. I, however, don't see the worry that many others are. The genre is still making lots of money and is only growing in popularity with the foreign market. The genre might decrease in popularity due to a rival genre growing in popularity.
Like the western, however, I don't think that superhero films will completely go away. They would just decrease in numbers in order to meet the demands of a smaller fanbase. Film genres are never really "dead". You can make a great film from any genre and have it become a success (the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films are living proof of this).
