Freaks, sickos, and perverts the world over breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced in October 2022 that John Waters would be adapting his novel Liarmouth into a feature film. For one thing, the film would be his first since 2004's A Dirty Shame. Then, it was later revealed that Aubrey Plaza wanted to star in the film, and Waters wanted her to do it, too. It seemed almost too good to be true.
And it turns out, maybe it was. In an interview published today in IndieWire, Waters fielded a single question about Liarmouth, and the answer is, frankly, saddening. “Every time I comment on that, some article comes out that causes me hell, saying we’re making the movie,” Waters says. In short, Roadhouse Pictures optioned a script from him, and he wrote one. “Aubrey [Plaza] likes the script, wants to be in it, I want her to be in it, and every person said, ‘No, we don’t have a penny of the budget.’ That is where it is today. Hopefully that will change. But the answer as of today? That’s it. In short, there has been no actual movement.”
Disappointing, but not wholly surprising. For the financially minded, a John Waters flick is hardly a safe return on investment; in the same interview, he mentions how Cry-Baby, his 1990 Johnny Depp-led film and one of his more mainstream, has never turned a profit. Beyond that, even a director like Francis Ford Coppola, a man with five Oscars and the director of two films often considered among the greatest of all time, sold his winery to self-fund Megalopolis. Granted, some elements of that film sound downright Waters-esque, but if a director as established in the mainstream as Coppola is having these issues, it’s no surprise that Waters is, too.
If there is a piece of better news from the interview, though, it’s that Waters has ideas for the Serial Mom Cinematic Universe. “Not a sequel. But there’s been talk of it being a TV show,” Waters says, “which I think would work best, because if it built to a kill once a month… And with political correctness being what it is, it’s perfect! She’d just kill for political correctness!” He goes on to call Serial Mom his “best movie,” in part because of Kathleen Turner and a nice healthy budget. Hopefully, we get to see what happens with Aubrey Plaza and a nice healthy budget.