Earlier this week, comedy writer/director Judd Apatow ended his 30-year relationship with his agency UTA, Deadline describing it as a “magical run” (lol). Trades run lip service-y pieces like this all the time: actors, filmmakers, and talent-changing agencies as a way to generate press for these companies and as tacit understanding for staying in good favor with agents who are the ones often feeding them leaks, exclusives, and scoops.
So, other than Apatow leaving an agency he loyally stuck with for 30 years, there’s no real story there. Or so it seemed. According to Puck News and an extensive new article titled, “Judd Apatow Is Not Laughing,” there’s a reason behind the comedy director leaving/firing his agency, and that’s because he apparently hasn’t been able to get anything greenlit, and it’s not for lack of trying.
While the filmmaker’s been working on documentaries in the interim—Apatow revealed to The Playlist earlier this year that he’s co-directing a doc on comedian Maria Bamford— one feature that the writer/director had been hoping to make as his next film, reportedly, was an R-rated script that Apatow planned to direct, starring Zach Galifianakis as a comic actor who is “quasi-canceled.”
According to Puck, Universal’s Donna Langley passed on the script, much as she did on Apatow’s pandemic comedy “The Bubble,” which Netflix eventually made and was released in 2022 near the tail-end of the COVID-19 emergency era.
Puck reports, “According to one buyer who subsequently heard the pitch, a comedy with elements of anti-wokeness felt a bit tone-deaf from a filmmaker who has made untold millions of dollars in the comedy business. When those initial pitches met with a lukewarm response, Galifianakis bailed, and the project went back into Apatow’s drawer.”
Two more projects were either rejected or not instantly immediately picked up. The long-in-the-works Apatow/Lucas Brothers project was apparently something that almost got off the ground too: an R-rated comedy that Apatow acolyte Nicholas Stoller (“Five Year Engagement”) was attached to direct and Kat Williams was going to star in. Universal passed on that one, too. Presumably, some of his frustrations were taken out on his UTA agents, and he assumes he’ll have better luck at CAA, WME, or some other talent powerhouse talent agency.
Lastly, Apatow tried to get an untitled series made with Ben Stiller attached to star, Mike Judge (“Office Space”) directing, and Brent Forrester (“The Office”) writing. “Apatow is said to have expected a series commitment, if not two seasons guaranteed, which would have been reasonable in the Peak TV era with that level of talent attached,” Puck wrote. Apple has reportedly expressed interest, but the streamer “wants to develop the script or to make a pilot before greenlighting the series,” which is not usually what A-listers like Apatow are used to. It’s arguably an ego blow, too.
Puck tends to be slightly sensationalist, but they’re not wrong. It’s a terrible climate right now, especially for big, expensive comedies, which Apatow’s films tend to be given his improvisational process and high-end quotes.
They lay out some solid and convincing arguments, too. One was the aforementioned “The Bubble,” a comedy that cost $50 million for Netflix and everyone seemed to hate. Another being the Apatow-produced comedy “Bros,” starring Billy Eichner, which grossed all of $14 million worldwide off a $22 million budget (which was also directed by Nicholas Stoller), and final misfire, the comedy “Please Don’t Destroy,” that Apatow produced and was supposed to be released in theaters until Universal saw it and dumped it on Peacock instead (it was pretty bad).
The media outlet also notes Apatow’s seemingly impeccable run from 2005 to 2015, where basically anything he directed or produced was a big hit, everything from “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” to “This Is 40” and the Amy Schumer-starring “Trainwreck.” However, the pandemic and streaming era have obviously changed the game for comedies, and it seems like there hasn’t been a theatrical comedy hit in years other than last year’s outlier “Anyone But You,” which made substantial money for Sony.
Puck’s contention basically is the Apatow comedy reign is over, but it seems more complicated than that, given the industry’s contraction and streaming woes ever since that bubble broke. Still, the reality is that Apatow will be looking at other agencies—Stiller also left UTA recently and went to WME—and seeing who there can be bullish enough to get him what he wants. Is that era over? It might be, but it’s also probably too early to tell.