Has Hollywood cooled off on comedies?

The Movie Plane

Last summer saw the theatrical release of movies like The Naked Gun, Good Fortune, Anaconda, Freakier Friday and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. These were all big studio comedies, but nearly all of them are tied to a recognizable IP. With Good Fortune, writer/director/star Aziz Ansari had said that one of his goals with that movie was to get audiences to go to theaters for comedies again. Unfortunately, audiences didn’t flock to his film despite it being a charmingly amusing movie with a welcome sweet performance by Keanu Reeves. That film would fail to make its money back. However, The Naked Gun reboot became a moderate success.

Big Studio Comedies

So, what happened to where big Hollywood studios have given up on straight-up comedies? I’m talking relatively hefty budget screwball comedies where you can turn your brain off and just laugh at absurdity. Recent theatrical comedies have largely been released by smaller studios for the most part. A24 seems to be dominating that part of the market with films like Bugonia, Friendship and Eternity. However, there are some dramedies that have still gotten a major push from studios. Titles like Roofman and Caught Stealing are very humorous romps, but the comedy in those films are also infused with the dramatic material.

Ansari aimed to get Good Fortune theatrical crowds because nowadays, when you see pure comedies, they are mostly relegated to streaming services. Adam Sandler’s deal with Netflix is going strong and the former SNL superstar would make the sequel Happy Gilmore 2 for the company as an exclusive original. Meanwhile, fellow SNL alum Will Ferrell would star in You’re Cordially Invited, which was a new comedy from the past year with Reese Witherspoon that premiered on Prime Video.

There are obviously big stars of the genre like Sandler and Ferrell who might occupy a lot of budget, but studios are still consistently banking on mid-budget horror films throughout the year since they don’t reach the price tag of something like a Marvel film, but they still have the potential to make a good profit. So, why not bank the same on comedies? For the most part, they are just human stories that wouldn’t require much special effects or stunt work. Even the recent Naked Gun was seen by some as looking too sharp for the kind of crudeness that the series is known for. The Jennifer Lawrence raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings was an example of a film that had a lot of gags, but didn’t rely on a big budget or complicated production. While it didn’t break the bank, the film still walked away as a moderate success.

Coming Up

So, we do have Scary Movie 6 to look forward to. As well as Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro returning for Focker-In-Law. The Breadwinner is more of a family film, but it does seem to be getting a theatrical release from Sony. Then, we have Over Your Dead Body from The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone, with Jason Segel and Samara Weaving hitting big screens. Coyote vs. Acme has also finally picked up a distributor and will be seeing a small theatrical run. Obviously, theatrical comedies aren’t dead, but it seems like in the post-Apatow age, we don’t have a group of stars that can bank on their prowess as much as before.

Perhaps the cinema experience changing is also to blame. But I feel that if you get a good comedy, it can win over everyone’s attention and there’s just no feeling like being in a roaringly funny movie that people experience together in a laughter-filled theater.

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