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ny^Pictures/Photofest^ (Stomp^ theYard);^ Screen^ Gems^ Inc./Photofest(Obsessed);^ Jaimie^ Trueblood/Universal^ Pictures(StraightOuttaCompton);^ MicheleK.^Short/Universal^ Pictures(GirlsTrip);EliJoshua^ Ade/Universal^ Pictures(Little)NEXT
N Creative ConversationVariety Pack
HERE’S HOW WILL PACKER APPROACHED
FIVE OF HIS HIGH-PROFILE FILMS.Stomp the Yard
It was tough to get this film green-
lighted. Studios didn’t understand
what stepping was or know about
black fraternities and sororities.
I went to Sony, which made Yo u
Got Served, and I sold it through
the lens of a dance movie.
ESTIMATED BOX OFFICE $61.3 million*Obsessed
Beyoncé passed on [playing
one of the lead roles] at first. We
came back and said, “What do
you need to do it?” And then we
removed every single reason
for her to say “no.”
ESTIMATED BOX OFFICE $68.3 millionStraight Outta
Compton
I learned to never give up on
a project if you believe in it. The
team behind this project stuck
with it for over 10 years, but ulti-
mately it got made [and received]
worldwide critical acclaim.
ESTIMATED BOX OFFICE $161.2 millionGirls Trip
Tiffany [Haddish] would hang out
at craft service, snacking for free.
I would be like, “You know it’s going
to be here tomorrow?” She’d say,
“I don’t know that. I don’t know
when my next movie is going to
be. I’m going to live it up and enjoy
every moment.” There’s somebody
who would trade positions with
you in a second. I try to approach
my projects like that.
ESTIMATED BOX OFFICE $115.7 millionLittle | OUT APRIL 12
It was my first time working with
the combination of a black female
director, black female stars, and
a black female writer. It was true
black girl magic, and it was awe-
some. I was like, Let me just sup-
port this, give them the tools that
they need, and get out of the way.very often. The [2012] movie Think Like a Man, which I pro-
duced and which was very successful, is based on Steve
Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. I reached
out to Steve [about the book] before it was a New York
Times best seller. I was dropping my girlfriend off at the
hair salon when I noticed somebody with the book—it had
been passed along to her, and there were two other people
waiting to read it. I saw a demand [for the book] in a way
that’s not quantifiable, at least not in the ways that Hol-
lywood usually thinks about intellectual property. Ulti-
mately, the book caught fire and multiple studios reached
out to Steve. But to his credit, he said, “Will Packer was the
first to talk to me about turning it into a movie.”
How important are reviews to you? Last year’s
Breaking In, starring Gabrielle Union, took in more
than $50 million at the box office on a $6 million
budget, but has a 27% rotten score on Rotten To-
matoes. Ideally, you want that perfect nexus of critical
acclaim and commercial success. But I am unashamedly
thinking about my audience first. I’m thinking about
what they’re going to enjoy. I’m not thinking about the
critics. And with all the options out there, audiences vote
with their dollars. And so looking at the profitability of
a movie like Breaking In means we got something right.
How has your role as a producer evolved since you
founded your upstart production company, Rain-
forest Films—which you began while you were in
college—to your current company, Will Packer Pro-
ductions? I am what I like to call a “real” Hollywood pro-
ducer. I’ve actually done every role on-set. I’ve held the
boom. I’ve wrangled the cables. I understand physical
production. So I’m not just an idea guy—I’m also some-
body who understands the full 360-degree process of the
execution of an idea. Although I’m a macro person, I pay
attention to the minutiae.
You were a vocal supporter of Stacey Abrams’s
and Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial campaigns last
year in Georgia and Florida, respectively. Would
you ever consider doing a film about politics? I have
done more of what I would consider escapist fare, [but]
my content is not without messaging. We have such a
dearth of content that showcases a variety of black [ex-
periences] on the screen. I combat this every time I cre-
ate something that flies in the face of all the old nega-
tive stereotypes that Hollywood used to put out around
black people. My first No. 1 movie was [2007’s] Stomp the
Yard. I wanted to make a movie that showed the impact
and benefit of historically black colleges and universi-
ties. I still have [fans] today who tell me, “My kid wants
to go to college, or wants to go to a black college, because
they watched Stomp the Yard.” That, to me, is the ulti-
mate impact.
2019200720082009201020112012201520142013201620172018NOT YET SCORED88%
on Rotten Tomatoes19%
on Rotten Tomatoes25%
on Rotten Tomatoes90%
on Rotten Tomatoes