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Title: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: claws on November 04, 2011, 12:34:48 AM Quote Universal chief Ron Meyer’s recent speech at the Savannah Film Festival took on a slightly more pained, confessional edge as he recounted the myriad high-profile flops the studio had endured over the past few years, suggesting even he can’t believe some of the stuff they put out. “We make a lot of s**tty movies,” Meyer said, “and every one of them breaks my heart.” While swearing that they always “set out to make good ones”—and reserving praise for films like United 93, A Beautiful Mind, and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (while also lamenting that they didn’t make enough money)—Meyer then engaged in some very public, very honest self-flagellation for what he felt were Universal’s s**ttiest s**tty movies. And as you might expect, it was pretty awesome. Like this: "One of the worst movies we ever made was Wolfman… It’s one of those movies, the moment I saw it I thought, ‘What have we all done here?’ That movie was crappy. We all went wrong. It was one of those things… Like I said, we make a lot of bad movies. That’s one we should have smelled out a long time ago. It was wrong. The script never got right… [The cast] was awful. The director was wrong. Benicio [del Toro] stunk. It all stunk… Wolfman and Babe 2 are two of the s**ttiest movies we put out. Land Of The Lost was just crap. I mean, there was no excuse for it. The best intentions all went wrong… Cowboys & Aliens wasn’t good enough. Forget all the smart people involved in it, it wasn’t good enough... All those little creatures bouncing around were crappy. I think it was a mediocre movie, and we all did a mediocre job with it… Cowboys & Aliens didn’t deserve better. Land of the Lost didn’t deserve better… Cowboys & Aliens was a big loss, and Land of the Lost was a huge loss. We misfired. We were wrong. We did it badly, and I think we’re all guilty of it. I have to take first responsibility because I’m part of it, but we all did a mediocre job and we paid the price for it. It happens. They’re talented people. Certainly you couldn’t have more talented people involved in Cowboys & Aliens, but it took, you know, ten smart and talented people to come up with a mediocre movie. It just happens." Source: IMDb.com (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni17615536/) He is honest at least :teddyr: Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Jack on November 04, 2011, 06:53:17 AM Quite a while ago I remember one of the bigshots at 20th Century Fox saying something similar. They know the movies they make are bad, but they count on people going to the theater - just because that's something people do on a night out - and seeing them.
What an industry. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: InformationGeek on November 04, 2011, 09:15:02 AM Quote We make a lot of s**tty movies Well that's the first step to recovery. Admitting you have a problem. Remember Ron Meyer, the powers in you. Quote Wolfman and Babe 2 are two of the s**ttiest movies we put out. Now, now. Babe 2 was pretty fun. Don't sell yourself short there. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: dean on November 04, 2011, 10:18:07 AM Wolfman I can understand, as it was largely forgettable, but Babe 2 was a nice surreal picture which I actually enjoyed so what do I know?
Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Rev. Powell on November 04, 2011, 11:28:58 AM Quite a while ago I remember one of the bigshots at 20th Century Fox saying something similar. They know the movies they make are bad, but they count on people going to the theater - just because that's something people do on a night out - and seeing them. What an industry. To be fair, Jack, I don't take that as what the Universal guy is saying. I hear him saying that they started those "bad" projects with the best intentions of creating something good, but for whatever reason they didn't work out. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Rev. Powell on November 04, 2011, 11:30:11 AM Wolfman I can understand, as it was largely forgettable, but Babe 2 was a nice surreal picture which I actually enjoyed so what do I know? I thought BABE 2 was a strange example to pick as well. It actually did fairly well with critics and has a small cult following. Maybe he just personally didn't like it? Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: claws on November 04, 2011, 11:59:47 AM Yeah, The Wolfman was such a bad, bad movie. That's why Universal is currently shooting a direct-to-DVD sequel. :lookingup:
Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Chainsawmidget on November 04, 2011, 12:03:52 PM I liked the Wolfman. I don't understand why it didn't do better at the box office.
Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: claws on November 04, 2011, 12:19:27 PM I liked the Wolfman. Same. I was being sarcastic with my other post. The movie did pretty well once it was released to DVD and Blu-ray. Apparently enough to make a sequel. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: AndyC on November 04, 2011, 12:37:20 PM Quite a while ago I remember one of the bigshots at 20th Century Fox saying something similar. They know the movies they make are bad, but they count on people going to the theater - just because that's something people do on a night out - and seeing them. What an industry. To be fair, Jack, I don't take that as what the Universal guy is saying. I hear him saying that they started those "bad" projects with the best intentions of creating something good, but for whatever reason they didn't work out. I kind of think it works like "The Producers" in reverse. Hollywood starts out with something good, but don't trust that it's good enough, so they try to improve it, and at some point all of the things they do to make the movie better add up to a piece of crap. Nice to see an industry bigwig recognizing and acknowledging that something is wrong. And no sugar coating. I love it. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: indianasmith on November 04, 2011, 11:29:54 PM I can forgive him for every film he mentioned - except LAND OF THE LOST. For that brutal rape of a fond childhood memory of mine, he should be flayed alive and fed to eels (already fattened with the corpse of Will Ferrell). :hatred: :hatred: :hatred:
Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Robocop on November 05, 2011, 12:29:40 AM Quote Same. I was being sarcastic with my other post. So obviously a sequel to the actual remake? I heard rumors that they were going to reboot The Wolf Man again under an alternative tittle because Universal were appropriately disappointed with the way the 2010 film performed. I really liked it myself, it works as a faithful retelling of the classic story with new plot points and twists that made for some mystery. The movie did pretty well once it was released to DVD and Blu-ray. Apparently enough to make a sequel. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: FatFreddysCat on November 05, 2011, 08:36:42 AM It's refreshing to see that kind of honesty in a studio exec.
Although I have to wonder if he thinks those "bad movies" are "bad" simply because they didn't make his company any money. I mean, if "Land of the Lost" had made a gazillion dollars, he'd probably be praising it to the high heavens and green lighting at least two sequels already. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: SynapticBoomstick on November 09, 2011, 07:52:56 PM But I liked Cowboys & Aliens! :bluesad:
Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: InformationGeek on November 10, 2011, 05:24:25 PM But I liked Cowboys & Aliens! :bluesad: I didn't see it, but I want to. I'm sure it's not that bad. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: Criswell on November 10, 2011, 10:33:12 PM But I liked Cowboys & Aliens! :bluesad: I didn't see it, but I want to. I'm sure it's not that bad. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: El Misfit on November 12, 2011, 02:04:48 PM But I liked Cowboys & Aliens! :bluesad: I didn't see it, but I want to. I'm sure it's not that bad. It was alright to see Han Solo teaming up with James Bond, though I really didn't like 13's background, trust me, a scene was just s**tted out, you'll know soon enough. Title: Re: President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies" Post by: BoyScoutKevin on November 21, 2011, 06:37:47 PM I think the best part of the article is his honesty. Though, whether his honesty will win any plaudits in Hollywood, especially from the talent associated with the films he mentioned is doubtful.
I'd also like to know why he thinks the films he named are the s****y ones. I can think of alot of films made by Universal Studios that are far more s****y (IMHO) than the ones he named. As for "Babe 2," which I admit I have never seen, I don't think at the time it was released, it was regarded so much as being s****y. but as a film not living up to its potential at the boxoffice. And I think there were two reasons for that. It was regarded as being a much darker film that the original "Babe," which people were not expecting. And (2) it was a product of bad timing. It was apparently released at the same time as a Disney Studio animated extravaganza, which is a no-no, when it comes to releasing a film for the family audience you want to attract to the film. And I think Walt Disney, who was of course dead by then, did have something to say about it, when he talked about his sequels to the "3 Little Pigs." "You cannot top pigs with pigs." And while "Babe" was both unique and original, by the time its sequel came out, the concept was much less unique and original. |