'Where The Wild Things Are' Runs $32.4M 
Oscar Can't Always Get What He Wants 
NBC Bright Spot Of Lousy GE 3Q Earnings; 4Q … 
Oops! Vivendi May Delay 20% NBCU Sale? 
65 Nations Vie For Foreign Language Oscar 
Elle's Women In Hollywood Power List 
HOW BIG IS BIG? AEG Predicts Michael Jackson … 
Sane Debt-Reduction Move By Redstone; But … 
EXCLUSIVE: Comcast Wants NBCU Deal Done … 
Who cares if Warner Bros just signed a 3-year/first-look deal with Steve Carell? Because everyone in Hollywood knows that Jeff Robinov and Alan Horn have no sense of humor. So they'll waste him in unoriginal mainstream crap. (Don't expect anything similar to The 40 Year Old Virgin. Horn is such a PC dipstick that he won't allow the studio to make low cost/big box office Judd Apatow-type laughers rated R.) And Russell Crowe confirmed this during last night's appearance on Letterman. The actor explained that his soon-to-be-released film Body Of Lies contained "my favorite line I ever delivered in a movie. But it's not in the film. They took it out. I think that Warner Bros executives had an attack of taste."
It occurred during a scene in which Crowe had to ad-lib a conversation with Leonardo DiCaprio about seeing a pic on an airplane flight. But after one take, producer Donald DeLine "ran over and said, 'You can't say that movie you just mentioned. 
Because it's not a Warner Bros movie. And he gave me a list. And he said, 'While you're ad-libbing, ad-lib from this list of Warner Bros films.' "
So Crowe looked at the titles, and decided to mention a film to which he and DiCaprio had a career connection but also just happened to be one of Robinov's and Horn's biggest bombs of recent years. "I swear to God, I didn't know where this came from," Crowe told Letterman, "but I'm standing there, and Leonardo says, 'How was your flight?' and I said, 'I watched that Poseidon.' And he said 'How was it?' And I said, 'It was like watching a Greek girl get a bikini wax. I had no idea when it was going to end.' "
The un-PC line got a big laugh from The Late Show studio audience. But "that didn't make the taste level of Warner Bros movies," Crowe complained. To which Letterman responded, "I don't know, but that seems to say everything you need to know about watching the Poseidon, doesn't it?"
Loading ...
Frankly I can’t see any studio allowing such a line about one of their more recent films. Even if it was a terrible, terrible idea from the outset.
Warners have never had a good record producing comedies. It’ll be interesting to see how Warners handle Todd Phillips’ Hangover movie next summer. Whether they’ll embrace the Apatow-esque ‘hilarity’ or simply cough it out quietly.
But in saying that, they had an even worse record producing and selling female orientated movies and yet them seemed to have (sort of) turned a corner there. Albeit largely due to abosrbing New Line and Picturehouse.
But to say WB has no sense of humour is a little harsh. After all, Warners did allow HBO to use it’s Aquaman property in Entourage and that season even featured a two faced, sociopathic WB studio head called Alan?
I don’t see Brad Grey doing the same at Paramount somehow.
Nikki,
This was one of your best posts! Yes, Warner “bros” need to start making comedies, indeed.
I mean, now more than ever we need to laugh.
Btw, are those “bros” execs THAT self-involved that they even think anyone cares about Poseidon anymore? Shame, shame. Wake up! The world is bigger than your stupid archives!
Hard to believe that this is the same studio that made all those classic cartoons of the golden age. Cartoons that used to satirize WB movies and stars quite regularly. Or that it’s the same studio that used to push the limits on the production code fairly regularly as well.
Personally, I would have welcomed the joke about Poseidon, even if I had personally given the turkey the greenlight, just to keep me humble and my mind on my business.
It’s not really a matter of having a sense of humor. the fact is that we’ve been overwhelmed with a huge load of craptastic films (mostly remakes, sequels and adaptations).
I’m sick of it all!
wait a minute nikki. WB will release the most successful comedy this year in “four christmases”.
face!
Nobody outside this town even knows or CARES which studio made Poseidon. But that joke would have made Body of Lies even more enjoyable and memorable… possibly erasing from everyone’s minds what a bomb Poseidon was in the first place.
as for warner brothers doing comedy… you would think with all the flack they’ve been getting in the media they’d look around and learn and thing or two about letting the TALENT do what they do best— CREATE the comedy… and they would do what they do best— hide the profits.
These guys have been looking for a comedy/family exec for years and can’t lure anyone into their sandtrap. Making comedy requires apparatus not just desire. You have to have at least 2-3 execs who understand how it works and then a stable of filmmakers, not talent, but filmmakers — developers (the ones who actually work with the writers to put the scripts together) producers, comedians, directors, etc. and a marketing department that knows how to handle comedy releases. I don’t see the dour folks over at the WB figuring this out anytime soon. Since the mid-90s they’ve had a penchant for hiring MBA/JD types with little creative background.
I hate when ideology kills comedy. Like “SNL” yanking their own sketch about the mortgage bailout because it criticized Democrats.
Pathetic.
They have an executive on set with a LIST of MOVIES that are allowed to be referenced in dialogue? Wha? Guys, get more anal, and you will be starting to shit diamonds (which, considering the overall success of WB movies outside DARK KNIGHT and the HARRY POTTER flicks would probably a good thing…)
It’s a bad line. In bad taste. And an old reference. Stick to acting.
Observe & Report seems funny as hell
Why does Robinov always look like a tourist?
“Judd Apatow type laughers” That has to be the funniest thing I have ever heard!
Thank God this town keeps attracting characters and personalities – no matter what crazy corporate structures may arise in Hollywood, we’ll always find our way back to basics. Thank you, Russell Crowe.
Excuse me but Get Smart was this past summer’s biggest comedy — 130 million domestic, 100 million foreign. Warner Bros. should get SOME credit for that…
Nikki, great post. Definitely made reading down to the end a worthwhile task!
Considering just how hard Crowe’s one punchline made me laugh, since I consider myself a bit of a comedy-phobe, I’d imagine that the country needs more comedies right now. The more irreverent and shocking the better.
Sometimes people just need to laugh and I can’t think of a time more desperately in need of it than now. Hopefully the studio will realize it and cash in.
I got no love for WB or for any studio exec for that matter, and don’t doubt that this little story actually happened, but is it possible that the line was ultimately cut not because it slammed a WB flop but because the joke itself is racist, sexist, and might remind people that Russell Crowe is a potato-faced neanderthal with anger issues, bad taste, and no sense of humor? Just a thought…
Caution: over-analyzed response ahead.
Sometimes it’s the singer and not the song. A very funny sexist/ethnic joke like that would work in an avowed comedy but not necessarily in a dramatic film, and a brilliant but cold actor like Russell Crowe might not be able to get away with something that a lesser but more charming actor could pull off. But, hell, we all agree that the PC Police hardly had that in mind when they ate Crowe. Filmmakers are always at the mercy of producers and execs whose sense of humor would make Bazooka Joe seem funny. That’s why we have Leonard Stern’s wonderful collection of dumb script notes, “A Martian Wouldn’t Say That,” and why reading the Production Code out loud is such a hoot.
Note to “matty”,
Four Christmases isn’t tracking so well.
Imagine you must be involved with it some how or you wouldn’t have posted that ridiculous statement.
They probably didn’t want to pay for rights on a film they didn’t own, that’s what the list was for. It’s pretty common practice, but because Crowe isn’t a comedian he’s not familiar with it. That’s not a big deal, his ridiculously embarrassing ethnic joke is. What a sexist pig.
Robinov looks frighteningly like Jackie Earle Haley.
Warner’s certainly didn’t have a problem with somebody making fun of another studio’s flops back in the 90’s.
In the ‘Tiny Toons Adventures’ TV show, a warner’s TV show, one of the cartoons was titled ‘At The Video Store’. In it, the animated characters are counter attacking & one says: “Let’s throw some bombs at them”. Two of the videos thrown are ‘1941′ a Columbia- Universal co-production & ‘Ishtar’ a Col production. There were a couple of others, but I don’t remember them, but I hope ‘Heaven’s Gate’ was one of them!
So I guess that if Spielberg is the exec producer of the show or movie, he can get away with it, but no one else can!
Not long ago, a producer friend landed what he thought was a real break: producing a virtually guaranteed blockbuster (based on a best-selling novel) at Warners. He was handed a list of “acceptable” screenwriters. Every single one of them either passed or was unavailable. He then compiled a list of other screenwriters he thought would be fine. To his utter astonishment, Warners told him that they would not consider any writer not on their list. The project was cancelled. Jesus.
That was actually an episode of Animaniacs, and if I remember correctly, Heaven’s Gate was one of the “bombs” used (to ward off the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, in case anyone was interested). I am sure they used Waterworld.