“They [execs] just overthink it,” Vaughn told host Sean Evans “And it’s like, it’s crazy, you get these rules, 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 Couples Retreat star proceeded to use the board game Battleship (which inspired the 2012 film of the same name) as a meaningless IP example, saying it became a “vehicle for storytelling” just because it had a recognizable name. However, he noted that the “IP” when he got his start in Hollywood was the shared life experiences people have, such as the plot of his 2003 movie Old School, which saw friends (Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson) returning to college when they’re older.
“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,” Vaughn continued. “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?’”
But the Bad Monkey actor still has hope for the future and predicted that audiences would see more films similar to his R-rated comedies again.
“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 explained. “I think you’re going to see more of it in the film space sooner than later, would be my guess.”
Off the top: I’d say Palm Springs, Free Guy, Deadpool movies, Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and the Weird Al movie all were movies that came out recently, were funny(IMO), and primarily marketed to an adult audience. In the child friendly vein you’ve got stuff like Barbie, the Chip n Dale movie, Encanto(or any recent Disney movie) and so on. Just because it’s made for kids doesn’t make it any less funny.
Comedy is out there, but studios don’t seem to be going in for the old raunchy comedy formulas any more. This is not a bad thing in my estimation. Lots of old comedies like that(revenge of the nerds, superbad, Austin powers) don’t age that well because some if not all make light of subjects that today are seen to be no laughing matter.
Deadpool is not a good comedy. Haven’t seen the others, but Deadpool is what a 14 years old guy thinks how cool people act. I’d put that on a level with this Mall Cop thingy.
Fourteen-year-olds don’t think cool people make Fire Phone references.