Adam Devine, the star of the hit television series Workaholics and new Netflix movie The Out-Laws, recently gave some insight as to why comedies are hardly ever made by movie studios anymore.
Devine appeared on the most recent episode of comedian Theo Von’s podcast, This Past Weekend, where the pair discussed the downfall of comedy in movies. Devine, who also appeared in the Pitch Perfect series, surmised that high-budget superhero movies made comedies and other low-budget films less attractive to viewers spending money on theater tickets.
He and Von also pointed out how movie executives try to force political and moral messages into their content — and that there is no longer “funny for funny’s sake.”
“There’s no hidden message,” Devine said of his new movie. “I feel like nowadays you get to the end of what you think is a comedy and you’re like, ‘Was that about global warming? Is there some deep hidden message that I’m supposed to recycle more?’”
Von joked that he is planning on making a movie about “trans-portation”, which will feature “a “riveting scene where a short bus admits that he’s a skateboard.”
“The crazy thing is I feel like you could walk into a place and pitch that—” Von began.
“—and they wouldn’t laugh you out of the room.” Devine concluded.
“I’ll pitch movies and every executive is like, ‘Yeah but why should we make this movie now?’… Cause it’s funny, bitch! What do you mean?” Devine continued. “Whatever happened to we just want to make people laugh?”
Von agreed, “[A movie] doesn’t need to attach itself to some hook in the world right now.”
