Ben Stiller doubts ‘Tropic Thunder’ would get made today: “Edgier comedy is just harder to do”

nme.com:

Ben Stiller has revealed his thoughts about the legacy of Tropic Thunder, believing the film would have little chance of getting made today.In an interview with Collider, Stiller was asked about the 2007 film, which he directed and starred alongside Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.

as a trio of actors whose war film production in the middle of an Asian jungle goes awry.Downey Jr. played Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who goes to extremes for his role – namely, undergoing “pigmentation alteration” surgery to closely resemble the African-American staff sergeant he intends to portray.When asked if the film could be made today, Stiller replied: “I doubt it.”“Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do.

Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.”He added that, even at the time, the circumstances that got it made – such as the approval of studio DreamWorks and its founder, Steven Spielberg – he now considers “fortunate”.“It’s a very inside movie when you think about it.

But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey,” Stiller elaborated.“Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.