Vince Vaughn Explains Why Hollywood Doesn't Make R-Rated Comedies Anymore

Hollywood doesn’t make as many R-rated comedy films as it used to, and during an appearance on Hot Ones, Vince Vaughn shares his thoughts on why he thinks that’s the case.

As you know, it’s those raunchy R-rated comedies that helped launch Vaughn’s career with films like Swingers, Old School, and Wedding Crashers.

Vaughn examined what he thinks is going on, saying: “They just overthink it, and it’s like, it’s crazy, you get these rules, like, if you did geometry, and you said 87 degrees was a right angle, then all your answers are messed up, instead of 90 degrees. So there became some idea or concept, like, they would say something like, ‘You have to have an IP.’”

Vaughn went on to use the board game Battleship as an example of Hollywood turning an IP into a “vehicle for storytelling” simply because it has a recognizable name.

He added: “The people in charge don’t want to get fired more so than they’re looking to do something great, so they want to kind of follow a set of rules that somehow get set in stone, that don’t really translate.

“But as long as they follow them, they’re not going to lose their job because they can say, ’Well, look, I made a movie off the board game Payday so even though the movie didn’t work, you can’t let me go, right?’”

Vaughn does hope that R-rated comedies similar to the ones we saw in ’90s and early 2000s will return to the big screen.

The actor concluded: “People want to laugh, people want to look at stuff that feels a little bit like it’s, you know, dangerous or pushing the envelope. I think you’re going to see more of it in the film space sooner than later, would be my guess.”

Vuagn will next appear in the murder mystery comedy series Bad Monkey and is set to star in the comedy Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. 

What do you think about Vaughn’s thoughts on R-rated comedies? Do you think Hollywood will eventually start making more of them?