President of Universal has a meltdown, tells crowd "we make a lot of bad movies"

[claws]

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

He is honest at least 

[Jack]

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. 

[InformationGeek]

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.

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.

[dean]

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?

[Rev. Powell]

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. 

[Rev. Powell]

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?

[claws]

Yeah, The Wolfman was such a bad, bad movie. That's why Universal is currently shooting a direct-to-DVD sequel. 

[Chainsawmidget]

I liked the Wolfman.  I don't understand why it didn't do better at the box office. 

[claws]

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.

[AndyC]

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.

[indianasmith]

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).

[Robocop]

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.

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.

[FatFreddysCat]

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.

[SynapticBoomstick]

But I liked Cowboys & Aliens!

[InformationGeek]

But I liked Cowboys & Aliens!

I didn't see it, but I want to.  I'm sure it's not that bad.