The LA Times recently posted an intriguing interview with Universal Pictures chairmen Mark Shmuger and David Linde where the two candidly threw themselves under the bus for the studio’s recent unwise decisions and lackluster summer. In addition to not getting the heat they had hoped for with “Bruno” and “Public Enemies,” they lost quite a bit of money on “Land of the Lost” and their latest, “Funny People,” spent only two weeks in the box office top ten. This is coming after a pretty disastrous past year, and the promise of a decidedly unfulfilling future slate that has led to the postponement of two major films, “The Wolf Man” and “Green Zone.”
Shmuger: It has certainly been a humbling year. First, there’s a real need to be making movies for less money. Second, there’s a real premium on sharper, more marketable concepts. Audiences are clearly seeking escape from their lives.
Translation: Clearly, we overestimated you, audience.
Shmuger: We are refocusing our efforts on doing what we think we’ve always historically done best, which is modest-budgeted comedies. And we really need to get our franchises and tent poles moving again.
Translation: There’s gotta be a way to ripoff “Wanted” and “The Hangover” in the same movie.
Shmuger: This year one of the challenges we’ve had is that the cost base of the movies has been too high, and we need to address that.
Translation: We spent a combined $140 million merely producing “State of Play” and “Duplicity.” This is an open bar, right?
Shmuger: I don’t think looking back is meaningful in any of those cases. It’s looking forward and how do we make the best version of each of those movies [“Robin Hood,” “The Wolfman,” “Green Zone”] so they have the potential to be successful.
Translation: We’ll be fired by then.
Shmuger: We were encouraged by “The Hurt Locker” because it begins to show signs of an opening in the audience for a subject matter which hadn’t existed in the prior 12 months. It gives us the belief that with a little more time, that openness might even become greater, which is why we made the decision to [release Green Zone] in March 2010.
Translation: If another studio’s war movie doesn’t get a Peter North load of Oscar nominations, we’re fucked.
Shmuger: [“Land of the Lost”] That was the one real miss; I think we would call it a real failure. We spent too much to make the movie. The tone was just too weird, and in hindsight we got it wrong.
Translation: Brad Siberling is a prick.
Q: You found out the hard way with “Frost/Nixon,” “Duplicity” and “State of Play” that audiences aren’t flocking to adult dramas. Will you move away from making those types of films?
Shmuger: I think those movies absolutely [can be made] depending upon how much they cost and how you end up distributing them. You can have a good business out of that.
Translation: We will never make another adult drama for as long as we fucking live.
Shmuger: I’m focused on just moving forward and how we’re learning from any of the missteps and how we’re correcting the course. We’re getting support from that up and down the company. What you’re asking about is the thing that is not in our control. As I’ve grown older, it’s the one thing I’ve learned not to worry about.
Translation: My boathouse is for sale.