SerpApi.Org
The director of Airplane! has said film studios are not making as many comedies because of cancel culture.
Jerry Zucker, 76, said he felt studios did not “value” comedy and that they “worry about receiving backlash” from audiences over edgy humour.
The producer and screenwriter, who is known for his comic hits such as Airplane! and The Naked Gun trilogy, spoke about Hollywood while working with Heritage Auctions to sell off many of his best-known film props.
They included an eight-foot inflatable autopilot doll, named Otto, from Airplane!, which sold for about £160,000.
Zucker, who wrote and directed Airplane! with his brother David Zucker and Jim Abrahams, said he believed studio heads did not consider comedy projects having huge box office potential.
Asked whether he thought Hollywood was restricting comedies because of concerns over cancel culture, he nodded, before adding he hoped studios would put comedy back on the table.
“That would be great,” he said.
“I am not sure whether we are getting out of the wokeness? A bit? That would go studio by studio.
“Studios that are run by people in their 50s and 60s, they still feel a little bit of that pressure.”
“The worst thing is, I don’t think they value comedy, and especially comedies don’t really work for streaming,” he added. “They need to be released in theatres and cinema, and I think studios don’t really have an appetite for that.
“Movies are expensive, and releasing one is expensive, and they are willing to put money into a movie that’s based on some big IP [intellectual property] or sequels or just a big action, because they think of it as a tent pole and they’ll make six of them.
“It’s just a whole different mindset.”
Zucker added he felt that comedy films “don’t really get promoted” and claimed “they’ve forgotten how to promote comedy”.
“When you’re putting out, you know, another Star Wars sequel or Marvel film, it costs so much that they feel an obligation to promote it,” he said.
“They can’t let a Star Wars sequel fail, because the franchise could be over then. It’s all numbers.”
Released in 1980, Airplane!, which chronicles a chaotic flight where a passenger has to land a commercial plane after the entire crew falls ill with food poisoning, was a box office hit, gaining $171m (£128 million) at the box office after a budget of just $3.5m (£2.6m). It led to a sequel, called Airplane II: The Sequel, which gained $27.2m (£20m) at the box office on a $15m (£11m) budget.
Zucker decided to auction off several film props after nearly losing his LA home in the Californian wildfires in 2025.
“A lot of stuff was just lying around in the basement,” he said.
