Posted on 12/31/2025 3:49:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
Even though Rob Reiner directed some of Hollywood's most beloved movies before his gruesome murder, he had only helmed two films since 2017, and pal Bill Maher shared the devastating reason why, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"The discussions we had in recent years were a lot about him not being able to get funding," Maher, 69, shared on his Club Random podcast about how Reiner couldn't get studios to cough up the money for new projects.
Maher gushed over Reiner's 'charisma' and 'presence' on his podcast.
Reiner's impressive directing resume included such beloved hits as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, and The American President.
However, those smashes were released in the 1980s and 1990s, and Maher said the Hollywood icon was one of several in his age group who struggled getting financing for new projects.
"He's not the only director of a certain age who's told me that," the Real Time host told guest John Stamos when discussing Reiner, who was 78 when he and wife Michele were murdered allegedly by their troubled son Nick.
"And I just was saying this town is very ageist and not very nice to people who have done amazing... I mean he's got a pretty iconic resume of movies, but I remember him saying, 'You know if it's not spandex, and, you know, it's very hard for even somebody of his stature to get that funding."
Reiner appeared on Maher's podcast in September to promote his new 'Spinal Tap' film.
While Rob didn't appear to have tried to give his other children, son Jake and daughter Romy, a leg up in Hollywood with their acting careers, he went out of his way for disturbed nepo baby Nick, 32.
The Bronx native directed a screenplay Nick cowrote about his struggles with drug addiction, which included 18 trips to rehab as well as periods of homelessness. Their critically panned film, Being Charlie, was released in 2015.
After that, Rob directed Woody Harrelson in 2016's LBJ and teamed up with him again for the 2017 journalism thriller Shock and Awe.
The All in the Family star's directing resume greatly dried up after that. He directed a documentary about his comedian-actor pal Albert Brooks, which HBO released in 2023. Rob's final directing project was a sequel to his 1984 cult classic mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was released in September.
When he wasn't directing, Reiner turned back to acting work for creativity.
When Rob wasn't getting behind the camera, he was returning to his acting roots. He played Albert Schnurr in four episodes of FX's The Bear Season 4 earlier this year.
Rob also appeared in several episodes of the CBS All Access legal drama The Good Fight in the late 2010s.
A woman’s career ends at 25 in HollyWierd.
I would say the majority of top actresses now are older than that, and significantly older. Heck, Sydney Sweeney is 28. Meryl Streep is still i many movies. Julianne Moore, Jessica Lange, Faye Dunaway, etc. etc.
I doubt this was ageism - shock and awe and lbj were major flops. Why spend money on a guy who makes flops?
How many woke flops do they keep making?
exceptions to the rule.
Looks like good business decisions to me.
They’ve got an amusement park to feed the beast! But yeah, I don’t understand their business decision making at all exception say it’s CCP propaganda propping it all up.
You nailed it.
A Few Good Men was good. Not great...but good. That’s my only exposure to him as a director.
Harsh but true...
Most likely.
Don’t forget unnecessary remakes of classics.
Are we STILL talking about out him?
Meh.
Speaking of Reiner, has anyone seen the Spinal Tap sequel? Is it any good? How does it compare to the original?
We live in a society where it is always someone else’s fault, never ours.
As a mega fan of spinal tap I was kind of sad to see the sequel didn’t do well. Then his deranged son stabs him to death. Rest in Peace Rob, your pos son can’t hurt you any more.
It wasn't just the last few. Reiner produced and directed 'North' in 1994 which not only bombed, grossing $12m against a budget of $40m, it made several lists of the worst movies ever made.
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