Sam Mendes claims the recession has made Hollywood dramas and period movies are “almost impossible” to make.

The director says that while his recent movie, Away We Go, had been done “very cheaply,” other films are struggling in the current economic climate.

“The recession has hit the industry in a very odd way as big movies are more popular than ever,” Mendes said to BBC Radio 4’s The Film Programme. “But the movies in the middle are almost getting squeezed out, which is the big dramas, the movies that do cost a bit of money with well-known actors in them.”

Earlier this year, Sam enjoyed box office success and critical acclaim with Revolutionary Road - which starred his wife Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio - but says he would “probably not” be able to make the film now because of changes to the studios involved in the project.

“Dreamworks has basically folded and rebuilt itself in another form and Paramount Vantage doesn’t exist any more,” he explained.