Universal Studios exec causes stink over 'mediocre' films

Could it be Universal Studios' Gerald Ratner moment ? At a "masterclass" at the Savannah film festival on 2 November, Universal's president and chief operating officer Ron Meyer told his audience : "We make a lot of shitty movies. Every one of them breaks my heart." The movie that had aroused Meyer's ire was The Wolfman , the 2009 horror film starring Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt. "The moment I saw it I thought, 'What have we all done here?' That movie was crappy … The director was wrong. Benicio [del Toro] stunk. It all stunk." Meyer also cited Babe: Pig in the City – the 1998 sequel to the hit talking-pig film – as another of the company's "shittiest movies". He also had little good to say about Universal's big movie of last summer, Cowboys and Aliens : "It was a mediocre movie, and we all did a mediocre job with it." But Meyer wasn't entirely negative about his company's output. He said he was proud of the 2006 9/11 movie United 93 – "It's a film I believe every American should see" – and that Scott Pilgrim Vs the World was "actually kind of a good movie" despite disappointing box office returns. Universal is currently fifth out of the six major Hollywood studios in terms of US box-office takings, having taken a total of $960.8m (£600m) for an 11.4% share. Its most successful film so far in 2011 is Fast Five , with a worldwide take of $626m.