Before Seth Rogen was a bankable name who could play potheads and superheroes, he was one of many, many actors taken along for a ride with Fanboys. The indie movie about Star Wars fans on a mission has been tossed around the release calendar so many times by the Weinstein Company, you'd think it wasn't filled with names like Seth Rogen, Kristen Bell, Jay Baruchel and Dan Fogler, all of whom have gone on to bigger roles since the movie was made.
Rogen's doing press for Zack and Miri Make a Porno right now, but Collider managed to ask him about a ton of his other projects, including the often-delayed Fanboys. And, contrary to popular wisdom, Rogen is actually blaming the online fans for the movie's delay. For real!
"I think it’s a good lesson in not listening to people on the Internet. I think [the producers] got scared by Internet buzz and I’m of the thought that Internet buzz is literally influenced by 500 people with laptops. And I think they let Internet buzz change it and then change it back and then make some other weird version of it."
OK, so Rogen isn't exactly blaming the fans for the movie's demise. But is he arguing that studio producers just ignore online fan reaction entirely? He goes on to say, "Let the filmmakers make their movies and don’t worry about [what] early reactions are." On one hand, sure-- you should make the movie you originally intended to make. On the other hand, a movie called Fanboys probably ought to care just a little bit what the actual fanboys have to say.
Rogen isn't even all that certain the movie will be released-- "I bet you a million dollars it won’t [come out]" he said in the interview-- so maybe all this worrying is for nothing. But is he right? Did all the online buzz ruin the movie that so many online communities were looking forward to?
On another note, you can read a lot more about Rogen's upcoming projects, including any potential for Ghosbusters 3, in Collider's interview.
