William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director of The French Connection and The Exorcist, has dismissed the modern craze for superhero and sci-fi movies.

The acclaimed 79-year-old filmmaker, who is currently working for television channel HBO on a series about Mae West, told AFP reporter Sophie Laubie: "Films used to be rooted in gravity. They were about real people doing real things. Today cinema in America is all about Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Hunger Games: all kinds of stuff that I have no interest in seeing at all."

The Chicago-born director, who also wrote and directed To Live and Die in L.A, was speaking at the Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris. He believes that the chase by studios to appeal to the broadest audience possible is why his own films fell out of favour after the Seventies. "That is when my films went like that - out of the frame," added Friedkin.

He dates the change back to 1977 when he made what he considered his best movie - the largely ignored Sorcerer, starring Roy Scheider, about four men transporting a cargo of nitroglycerin in South America - only to see it eclipsed by Star Wars. "If I am remembered at all for anything, I hope it would be that," said Friedkin.

Now Friedkin says "the best work" for directors is on television with cable and streaming networks that make shows such as True Detective and House of Cards. "You develop character at a greater length and the story is more complex and deeper than cinema," the director said, "this is the new zeitgeist. Many of the fine filmmakers of today are going to long-form TV. It is the most welcoming place to work for a director today."

Friedkin is working on a script for HBO about Mae West, the American sex symbol and entertainer, and he has spoken to Bette Midler about playing the part.

He is also looking to turn To Live and Die in LA into a TV series. He has not interest in adapting The French Connection or The Exorcist, however.

"I am not interested in making movies just for the pay-cheque," Friedkin said. "I have to love the film, the story, the characters. There were four sequels to The Exorcist and I've seen none of them, nor do I want to or intend to."

Films used to be rooted in gravity. They were about real people doing real things. Today cinema in America is all about Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Hunger Games: all kinds of stuff that I have no interest in seeing at all.