There has been a lot of chatter from Sundance Film Festival organizers that this year’s gathering features the next generation of independent filmmakers, such as director Jonathan Levine with “The Wackness.” But in watching the movies, one is struck that the voices may be new, but the stories are basically the same.

    At least two Hollywood veterans and A-list insiders, director Barry Levinson and producer Art Linson, both 65, had one of the hottest tickets at the festival this past weekend with comedy “What Just Happened?”.

    They told Reuters that industry watchers and reporters like to talk about trends, but the only one that really matters is what’s happening at box offices. In other words, if the movie’s a hit, who cares how old or young the filmmaker is.

    Levinson remembered that back in the mid-1970s, all of Hollywood told George Lucas they wouldn’t make “Star Wars” because science-fiction was a dead genre. Twentieth Century Fox finally took the gamble and famously ended up with one of the biggest billion-dollar box office franchises in Hollywood’s 100-year plus history.

    “The problem is that every one of these rules, when they are broken, seem to work” at box offices, Linson said.

    Josh Peck, who plays a high-school dope dealer in “The Wackness” and is one of that “next generation” did not disagree. He told Reuters in a separate interview that while “Wackness” may be made by a younger group of filmmakers with young actors and younger voices, the basic story was a coming-of-age tale that is as old as Hollywood itself. “In 30 years, someone will retell this story.”

    So what do post baby boomer artists and filmmakers have to say that is really any different than what has been said before.