‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ actor Judd Apatow thinks the art of R-rated comedies still has legs.
Judd Apatow has insisted an R-rated comedy could still be a huge box office hit.
The 57-year-old actor – who has appeared in movies like ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’ and ‘Knocked Up’ as well as producing the likes of ‘Superbad’ and ‘Step Brothers’ and more over the years – has insisted “one person with a great idea” is all that’s needed to give the genre a revival by inspiring everyone to “do it again”.
He told Variety: “These things kind of swing back and forth.
“If someone made something as funny as ‘The Hangover’ right now, it would make a billion dollars, and everyone would be trying to do that.
“It ebbs and it flows, and hopefully it’ll flow soon.”
Apatow also dismissed the idea that political correctness makes comedy harder than it was in the past.
He said: “I don’t think there’s a content obstacle.”
Instead, the Hollywood star suggested that studios and financiers backing films are focused on broad and “very visual” projects.
He explained: “They tend to want to make things that will play well in Asia. Will people also like this in Bulgaria? Comedy is very local to America.
“The obstacle to getting things done is … everything that gets made [needs] to be the largest thing in the world.
“Comedy isn’t always meant to be like that. Comedy isn’t like an action movie.”
He pointed to the way streaming platforms can help bring back forgotten movies and give them a new lease of life.
He added: “Everything bubbles up on all these different streamers and networks.
“Things that you thought disappeared, like ‘Walk Hard,’ suddenly is insanely popular. ‘Freaks and Geeks’ seems to be perennially very popular… ‘The Cable Guy.’
“That’s the fun of making these things — they never really disappear.”
Despite hoping for a return of R-rated comedy, Apatow recently lamented the lack of “quieter, subtler” and more “human” stories in modern movies.
Appearing on Dana Carvey and David Spade’s ‘Superfly’ podcast, he said: “I have a new theory, which is, everything is like in the newspaper business: ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’
“Everything is doomscrolling because they don’t want you to shut anything off, so they’re obsessed with it being really intense. That’s why almost everything on the streamers is either about the biggest star in the world or a serial killer. Everything is a thriller, everything is intense…
“It’s all completion rate. ‘We must have them complete it. We cannot put on a film if anyone shuts it off!’
“There’s an intensity to everything, whether it’s sexy or exciting or terrifying. And I think it changes it so you don’t have quieter, subtler, whatever funny, human things because I think they’re afraid people are gonna shut it off or not go [to theatres]. You lose a lot of good stuff when everything is so wired.”
Judd Apatow hopes for an R-rated comedy revival at the box office
