John Landis

“It's strange how extras have become such a big part of the business. I don't know what I think of it. I mean, some of them are great, most of them are filler.”

“For some reason, people think of me as someone who can do anything I want. And I'm not. You know, I need someone to put up the money.”

“Material comes all kinds of ways, and it's never a question of a lack of material or a lack of projects - I have tons of projects. The issue is to convince someone to give you the money. And it's a very different business than it was just 8 years ago.”

“I would very much like to make Westerns. I love Westerns. I've worked on many Westerns in my youth, in Spain and here, and I love working on them.”

“I grew up in Los Angeles, and I've made movies all over the world... I've been in New York, Norway, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, London - I've been in all these cities, shooting away in the winter, thinking, 'People who choose to live here are insane.'”

“In my career, my movies tend to polarize critics.”

“The idea of doing a children's film is different, but quite honestly I like doing anything - any genre. I've only made one Western, which was 'Three Amigos,' but I would love to make a serious Western. I'm just wide open.”

“I'm following a real event and real people.”

“Well, the bottom line is that I'm extremely pleased with 'The Stupids.' I'm pleased that it's coming out, and it should look good. It's nice looking, with the colors and stuff. I made it for kids, and I really would like them to see it.”

“There have been 14 versions that I can find of Burke & Hare movies. They have all been horror films and all the movies have taken place in Victorian times, which doesn't make any sense.”

“After 'The Blues Brothers,' I wanted to do a good musical number with real dancers and shoot it correctly.”

“I grew up thinking of snow as a luxury you visit.”

“But what's interesting is now - and not only in horror, but across the board - the studios basically only make B pictures with A budgets. That's the biggest difference.”

“Directors, like actors, get typecast. And because I've had great success with comedy and horror and TV shows, that's basically what I'm kind of offered.”

“The guy that I worked on 'Thriller ' was a genius and he was 20 years old, but it was like working with a gifted 10-year-old. The guy who I worked on with 'Black Or White' was crazy. Michael had gone mad.”