Serious filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, director of The Master and There Will Be Blood, gave an interview to Moviehole this week in which he expressed an interest in directing a comedy someday:
Moviehole: You’re married to Bridesmaids star Maya Rudolph. Any chance we’ll see a PTA comedy in the near future?Anderson: You mean like full blown comedy? Soon hopefully. I have to write it. It sounds daunting. [Laughter]I’d like to make a film like Airplane. That never gets old. Or Ted. It was a big hit. Why? Because It’s great. Movies that are that big a hit are never fucking bad. I mean, there’s no such… You know, people aren’t that stupid, that movie’s a hit because it’s hilarious. I hope [Seth MacFarlane] makes another film.
Despite all of his films being dramas, Paul Thomas Anderson is no stranger to comedy. He directed two comedic shorts when making Punch-Drunk Love (embedded below) and a video short for SNL parodying the MTV series FANatic in 2000. Anderson was a big supporter of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s movie writing early in their careers and was originally supposed to produce Anchorman for them. Given his long-held interest in comedy and close ties to the comedy world (most notably, wife Maya Rudolph), it’s no surprise that Anderson is interested in working in this genre someday, but him loving Ted does come as a little bit of a surprise. I’m sure that if he does make a comedy, it’ll be way darker and fucked up than Ted or any other mainstream comedy being made today.
Short: “Couchâ€
Short: “Mattress Manâ€