Hollywood gave up on big-screen comedies. Will the movies learn to laugh again?

Los Angeles Times

11 hours ago

For Hollywood, the state of big-screen comedies has been so grim you almost have to laugh.
There are genres that have dominated the cineplex in recent years — special effects-heavy blockbusters, family films and scream-in-your-seat horror movies.
But comedies? Not so much after the COVID-19 pandemic.
A recent spate of theatrical funnies is trying to change that. This month, studios have released one comedy after another, starting with Paramount Pictures' reboot of 'The Naked Gun,' starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, and Walt Disney Co.'s more-than-20-years-later sequel 'Freakier Friday,' which reunited Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.
So far, 'The Naked Gun' has grossed $73 million worldwide, while 'Freakier Friday' brought in $86 million. Both received solid reviews from critics — 'The Naked Gun' notched a 87% approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, while 'Freakier Friday' got a 74%.
Next up is Searchlight Pictures' 'The Roses,' a remake of 'The War of the Roses,' and Neon's 'Splitsville,' an original film about messy marriages starring Dakota Johnson.
It's an unusual cadence for a genre that fell out of favor with studios over the last decade or so as onscreen laughs largely moved to streaming. But bringing audiences together for a funny movie is just as important as getting them to collectively flinch during a jump scare, filmmakers said.
'People realize the need for a communal experience when they see a horror movie, but I think everyone kind of forgot the need for a communal experience to laugh together,' said Nisha Ganatra, director of 'Freakier Friday.' 'Why do we have to just trigger fight-or-flight in people as a communal experience? Why can't we just trigger joy and connection?'
Today, comedies reap a fraction of the box office revenue they once did, according to David A. Gross, who writes the FranchiseRe industry newsletter. This year, for example, will have at least 18 wide-release comedies that are expected to gross a total of $650 million worldwide, he said. In 2005, a high point for the genre, 50 wide-release films garnered more than $4 billion in total worldwide box office revenue.
Hollywood comedies were a cash cow for years, but they've run up against a number of hurdles.
They got more expensive to produce, particularly as the stars from comedy's boom years in the 2000s became more prominent. Humor has also changed, and jokes that may have been passable decades ago are no longer appropriate, experts said. And U.S.-made comedies don't always work internationally, which can dent their overall box office potential, despite theaters' desire for films of all genres.
'Comedies went the way of the western,' said Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst at research firm Exhibitor Relations. 'We have seen a resurgence, but to keep that genre strong and in the minds of people, there really has to be a commitment from the major studios.'
Hollywood's history is entwined with comedy. During the silent film era, audiences flocked to see the physical antics of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Decades later, the comedic chops of stars such as Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase and Mike Myers drew viewers to the big screen.
More recently, the 2000s marked a surge for theatrical comedies. From the TV broadcaster fights of 'Anchorman' to the gross-out satire 'Borat' and the drunken escapades of 'The Hangover,' comedies were a mainstay at the box office. Comedy directors such as Judd Apatow, Adam McKay and Todd Phillips achieved explosive results.
But since then, the number of wide-release films and global theatrical revenue have trended steadily downward, Gross said.
'This is just the evolution of the theatrical business,' Gross said. 'More and more, it has to be either some kind of visual spectacle or a family movie. To really jolt and move the needle theatrically, it has to be something extraordinary.'
Part of that shift can also be attributed to the rise of streaming and the pandemic, which shut down theaters and caused studios to rethink what movies were suitable for the big screen. Comedic films increasingly migrated to streamers, such as this year's Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon-led romantic comedy 'You're Cordially Invited' on Prime Video, or 2021's star-studded satire 'Don't Look Up' on Netflix.
Streamers have become lucrative business partners for comedians, including Adam Sandler, who first signed a four-film deal with Netflix in 2014. His latest film, 'Happy Gilmore 2,' was released on Netflix last month, earning huge viewership numbers.
Comedy has also blossomed in series form, with shows like Netflix's 'Nobody Wants This,' Apple TV+'s 'The Studio' and Hulu's 'Only Murders in the Building.' The success of these shows, as well as a glut of stand-up comics' streaming specials, point to a hunger for laugh-out-loud content, industry insiders say.
Now, it's just a matter of porting that interest over to the big screen — or reacquainting audiences with that theatrical comedy experience, filmmakers hope.
'The idea of comedy in the marketplace has been working in television and in streaming in a big way,' said Erica Huggins, president of Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions and a producer of 'The Naked Gun.' 'The more we change people's habits to appreciate and get excited about wanting to go and see it in the theater, it's going to catch on.'
One key factor is making comedies on modest budgets.
Given the lower box office returns for comedies these days, and the fact that they usually don't work as well internationally, the ideal price point is typically around $30 million to $40 million, said Bock of Exhibitor Relations.
That about lines up with the budgets reported for 'Freakier Friday' and 'The Naked Gun' ($42 million). A larger budget for a comedy could feel like too much of a gamble for risk-averse studios, which would then need to rely on a bigger theatrical response and grosses from countries where comedic sensibilities are different.
'Any comedy feels like it's a big swing,' said Kyle Marvin, who produced, co-wrote and stars in 'Splitsville,' said of the landscape for these films. 'It could knock it out of the park. It could also miss.'
Comedy is also now integrated in other genres, such as action, kids' movies and CGI-heavy franchises like 'A Minecraft Movie.'
'There's a built-in audience,' said Michael Angelo Covino, who directed, co-wrote, produced and starred in 'Splitsville.' 'It can be big, it can be explosive, and it can have a comedic element to it, as opposed to a purely original comedy, which 20 years ago, we had a robust theatrical market for.'
(Though he did not disclose the budget for the film, Covino said it was made 'lean and mean' but still allowed for big stunt sequences.)
There's some indication that studios are warming again to big-screen comedies.
In a recent presentation to reporters, new Paramount Pictures co-chair Josh Greenstein said the studio saw a 'huge opportunity' for R-rated comedies, among other film genres. A sequel to the Keke Palmer and SZA-led buddy comedy 'One of Them Days,' released earlier this year, is in early development at Sony Pictures Entertainment's TriStar Pictures. The film, which was set in Los Angeles, made more than $51 million on a reported budget of $14 million.
Huggins said 'The Naked Gun' was always a theatrical play for Paramount, as well as Fuzzy Door. And studio insiders said the recent box office performances of that film and 'Freakier Friday' have suggested that comedies can still be theatrical draws.
Relying on known intellectual property is a way for studios to hedge their bets on comedies, said David Isaacs, a professor of screen and television writing at the USC School of Cinematic Arts who worked on 'MASH' and other shows, and is co-chair of the USC Comedy program. Closer to home, he's noticed that young writers coming through USC's program want more comedy, despite the dearth of original theatrical efforts in the genre.
'You would think this would be a time when we're at an ebb in instruction,' Isaacs said. 'We get complaints that we're not teaching enough comedy.'
And in such difficult political and global times, the opportunity to laugh together may be more important than ever, filmmakers said.
'The world is different, and it's a serious time in the world,' Huggins said. 'Comedy is something that we all feel like we need these days.'