Vince Vaughn gave the inside scoop on why Hollywood no longer produces raunchy comedy movies, similar to the ones that catapulted him to fame.
The Swingers star told Sean Evans, host of the popular show YouTube show Hot Ones, that the nostalgic and edgy comedies he was known for back in the 90’s and 2000s have essentially ceased to exist.
The reason? The Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers star said he believes that studios are overly focused on specific ‘rules’ or guidelines for making successful films, rather than taking chances on original ideas and trusting the creative process.
In other words, the Hollywood heavyweight said that movie execs think that R-rated comedies, a genre that once dominated, are too risky in today’s environment and the studio’s would rather settle on tried-and-true storylines that guarantee box office success.
‘They just overthink it, and it’s crazy,’ said Vaughn.
Vince Vaughn gave the inside scoop on why Hollywood no longer produces raunchy comedy movies, similar to the ones that catapulted him to fame
In a recent appearance on the YouTube show “Hot Ones,” Vaughn attributed the shift to a risk-averse studio system prioritizing safety over creativity
He compares this to changing the rules of geometry, which would fundamentally alter the outcomes.
‘You get these rules,’ he added, ‘like, if you did geometry and you said 87 degrees was a right angle, then all your answers are messed up, instead of 90 degrees. So there became some idea or concept, like, they would say something like, ‘You have to have an IP.’
The concept of ‘IP’ (intellectual property) is a particular point of frustration for the Vaughn. He argues that movies should be driven by strong storytelling, not simply by using a well-known brand or property as a foundation.
He uses the example of ‘Battleship,’ a film based on a board game, to illustrate this point, suggesting that it was merely a vehicle to deliver a story, rather than a story organically built around the IP.
Vaughn argued that the pressure on executives to avoid being fired has led to a culture of playing it safe, even if it means sacrificing quality. By focusing on established IPs, studios can protect themselves from failure, regardless of the film’s actual performance.
‘The people in charge don’t want to get fired more so than they’re looking to do something great, so they want to kind of follow a set of rules that somehow get set in stone, that don’t really translate,’ he told Evans.
‘But as long as they follow them, they’re not going to lose their job because they can say, ‘Well, look, I made a movie off the board game Payday, so even though the movie didn’t work, you can’t let me go, right?’
Despite this, Vaughn remains optimistic about the future of comedy, suggesting that audiences are still hungry for fresh, edgy humor. He hopes to see a return to more daring and original comedies in the near future.
‘People want to laugh, people want to look at stuff that feels a little bit like it’s, you know, dangerous or pushing the envelope,’ Vaughn mused. ‘I think you’re going to see more of it in the film space sooner than later, would be my guess.’
