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'I Also Never Understood...': James Mangold Reflects On Walk Hard And Its Impact On The Musical Biopic Genre
James Mangold, director of the acclaimed Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, reflects on the lasting influence of the 2007 parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
James Mangold, the director and co-writer of the acclaimed 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, recently shared his thoughts on the 2007 parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
The satirical film, starring John C. Reilly, aimed at the musical biopic genre with exaggerated tropes and humor. Despite its mockery of films like his own, Mangold found it enjoyable.
“I found Walk Hard hilarious,” Mangold told Entertainment Weekly. “But I also never understood why satire would negate making the real thing anymore.”
He compared the situation to other genres, saying, “I wasn’t frightened off any more than Robert Eggers should be frightened of making a monster movie in the face of Young Frankenstein or if another filmmaker might be frightened of making a Western in the face of Blazing Saddles.”
While Walk Hard was created to poke fun at the genre, Mangold believes the parody didn’t halt the production of serious musical biopics. He shares that it’s unfair to say that if someone makes a satire of a genre, it somehow has put a tombstone in the genre for all time.
John C. Reilly, the lead actor in Walk Hard, had remarked that they “tried to kill the musical biopic” with their parody. However, Mangold thinks the lull in the genre was unrelated.
He stated that was just that they had run their course for that moment. He noted that filmmaking takes significant time and effort, so trends don’t shift as instantly as people might assume.
Mangold also reflected on the financial aspects of Walk Hard and Walk the Line. He stated the irony of the studio investing more in the parody than his biopic. He said he was more unnerved that the studio that made the movie paid twice as much for Walk Hard and refused to pay half as much for Walk the Line.
Despite the differences in budgets, Walk the Line had a far more successful run, with its $28 million budget yielding over $186 million globally. In contrast, Walk Hard, made with a $35 million budget, earned just over $20 million at the global box office.
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