Could it be Universal Studios' Gerald Ratner moment? At a "masterclass" at the Savannah film festival on 2 November, Universal's president and chief operating officer Ron Meyer told his audience: "We make a lot of shitty movies. Every one of them breaks my heart."

The movie that had aroused Meyer's ire was The Wolfman, the 2009 horror film starring Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt. "The moment I saw it I thought, 'What have we all done here?' That movie was crappy … The director was wrong. Benicio [del Toro] stunk. It all stunk."

Meyer also cited Babe: Pig in the City – the 1998 sequel to the hit talking-pig film – as another of the company's "shittiest movies". He also had little good to say about Universal's big movie of last summer, Cowboys and Aliens: "It was a mediocre movie, and we all did a mediocre job with it."

But Meyer wasn't entirely negative about his company's output. He said he was proud of the 2006 9/11 movie United 93 – "It's a film I believe every American should see" – and that Scott Pilgrim Vs the World was "actually kind of a good movie" despite disappointing box office returns.

Universal is currently fifth out of the six major Hollywood studios in terms of US box-office takings, having taken a total of $960.8m (£600m) for an 11.4% share. Its most successful film so far in 2011 is Fast Five, with a worldwide take of $626m.