Universal Pictures President Ron Meyer Talks Candidly about the Studio’s Recent Flops, 3D, Prestige Movies, and More

Like any studio, Universal has had a tough time with movies they expected to be hits.  The Fast and Furious series is one of their killer franchises and they landed a sleeper hit with Bridesmaids, but the studio had to suck up bombs like Land of the Lost, The Wolfman, Robin Hood, Cowboys & Aliens, and even the geek-beloved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  Ron Meyer, Universal's President and COO for the past sixteen years, spoke about the studio's flops at the Savannah Film Festival.  He also talked about 3D, avoiding prestige pictures, and their controversial move to try and rush Tower Heist onto VOD. Hit the jump for When Studio Execs Speak Honestly. Big credit to Movieline for this great story.  Let's get to the best part first: Meyer talking about the major flops: Cowboys & Aliens: "Cowboys & Aliens wasn’t good enough. Forget all the smart people involved in it, it wasn’t good enough," Meyer said, without pause. "All those little creatures bouncing around were crappy. I think it was a mediocre movie, and we all did a mediocre job with it." Yes, I suppose if you do forget all the "smart people" involved with it, it wasn't good enough.  I love how Meyer is basically saying, "Give a pass to all the talent we want to work with again.  Blame all of the unnamed people at the studio who work their asses off behind the scenes." Land of the Lost: "Land of the Lost was just crap," he continued. "I mean, there ...