Superbad is a quintessential high school hang-out movie, but co-writer Seth Rogen opines it would never get made today as it was back in 2007.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, The Studio co-creator was asked if the entertainment industry has become averse to risk.
“Yeah, 100 percent. Superbad is a good example. When we made that movie, they bought our script, they said it would have a $20 million budget and it would start shooting that year and would come out in August of the following year. That’s it,” he explained.
“We cast the movie, we found a director for the movie, we made it according to their schedule and we released it on the date they chose,” the four-time Emmy winner continued. “That would never happen today in a hundred million years. No studio would just buy a script, give it a release date, cast it and then make it.”
Rogen lamented that Hollywood now places greater value on name recognition and the popularity of those involved with a given project.
“Now everything has to be in place before they’ll decide whether or not they’re making it: Who’s the director? Who are the actors? Are they famous enough? Do they have big enough names? If not, then we’ve got to get different ones, or else we won’t make it. And I know we want it to start shooting in April and release it next summer, but if we don’t have the right actors, we’re not going to do that, because we think these actors will get us more money than these actors, even though they might not be the funniest actors for the role,” he said.
“Not to say you won’t ultimately get to the funniest people for the role, but you’ll have to go through an incredible process that is all due to risk aversion. [The former head of Sony] Amy Pascal was willing to say: ‘Make this movie. You’ll put the funniest people in it. That will make the best version of the movie, and the best version of this movie is what will make us the most money.’ That is not said anymore in Hollywood,” he concluded.
When asked about the recent box office triumphs of horror pics Obsession and Backrooms (both from young, YouTube-hailing writer-helmers), the Pineapple Express co-writer noted it “totally fits in line with advice that I’ve been giving people for years,” revealing he met with the latter’s director, 20-year-old Kane Parsons, four years ago.
“I think by definition it is a volatile industry. The one defining feature of Hollywood from my experience is that every few years there’s a tectonic shift. Thank god it’s not really my job to be overly invested in these trends. I’m able to keep my head down, and we’re aware of them, and we’ll ride the waves if it fits in with our own creative ambitions,” Rogen added later.
