From other threads here it seems clear that large format is now the realm of artists and hobbyists. It doesn't make sense any more for daily professional use, and hasn't for years now. Maybe it's time to rethink large format colour film to suit the existing market.

The current color film processes (C-41 and E-6) were made for high volume commercial lab use, which made sense at a time when there was high volume, and commercial labs were everywhere. Nowadays, most of those commercial labs are long gone, and the ones that are still around are using old equipment that nobody still makes.

When I first got into photography in the 70's black and white was already gone from the mainstream, and was a niche thing that color film is today. Black and white photography still flourished with artists and hobbyists since it could easily be processed at home with relatively inexpensive equipment.

I started doing color film processing in the late 70's using Agfachrome 50S film. Agfa made a chemical processing kit that could be used at room temperature. The times were longer due to the lower temperatures (compared to E-6) so it was less sensitive to small errors in processing time or temperature. Unfortunately, Agfa switched to an E-6 compatible film in the 80's and it was no longer home development friendly.

I think Kodak and Fuji would be wise to rethink color film for the current market. It seems like scanning rather than printing is the way things are going, so there's more ways to digitally correct for color balance issues than there was in the past. Maybe a less perfect color film with a more user friendly process is the better way to go now, especially for sheet film.