Seth Rogen on surprising depth of R-rated Sausage Party

Sausage Party, an R-rated animated comedy from Seth Rogen about food discovering what happens when it leaves the grocery store, might seem to be just out for laughs, but Rogen believes there is also some real depth to the project.

The actor and filmmaker stopped by the EW lounge at San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the balancing act that he and his co-writers made while blending wild food comedy with real-life issues.

“That was really a balance we tried to hit, like a more thoughtful kind of slightly deeper movie, coupled with the kind of almost exactly what you’d expect from an R-rated food movie,” said Rogen. “Kind of very quickly we realized it behooved us to really kind of focus on how people view each other’s differences and really kind of indulge in that, but at the same time hopefully kind of comment on it and not just play into it basically, but we play into it to a certain degree.”

The animated film, in which Rogen also voices a sausage named Frank, has been a passion project for him and his producing partner Evan Goldberg, as he says they've been working on it for over eight years. “It took us years and years to convince other people that it was a good idea,” shared Rogen. “I actually think if we were making it as a kid’s movie, we would have made it much easier. I think the fact that it was R-rated is what scared the crap out of studio people.”

Sausage Party, which also features Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, and James Franco, opens in theaters on Aug. 12.

Watch the video above, and check out a new red-band trailer below that was released Thursday.

Entertainment Weekly is on the scene at San Diego Comic-Con. Go inside with all our coverage, available here.