Comedy in Crisis: A Laughing Matter or Just Laughable?
Make ’em laugh! But while you’re at it, make sure you’re putting some cash in your pocket, because who wants to be broke and giggling?
For the last decade, theatrical comedy seems to have taken a wrong turn. It’s as if it mistook a left at Albuquerque and ended up in the Twilight Zone. But wait! With films like “One of Them Days” breaking box office news, and everyone buzzing about remakes like “The Naked Gun,” the summer might just be the comedy renaissance we didn’t know we needed – or the punchline to the world’s biggest joke.
The 2000s and 2010s delivered a steady stream of box-office gold: “Wedding Crashers,” “The Hangover,” “21 Jump Street,” and “Bridesmaids.” But here we are, in the post-pandemic age, and theatrical comedy is flopping harder than a fish out of water. It’s almost impressive how it’s managed to struggle this much.
Enter summer 2023 – the raunchy comedy revival was expected to spring back like a rubber band, featuring R-rated contenders such as “Joy Ride,” “No Hard Feelings,” and “Strays.” Spoiler: it didn’t pan out that way. “Joy Ride” and “Strays” didn’t just flop; they belly-flopped. Meanwhile, “No Hard Feelings,” starring the ever-adorable Jennifer Lawrence, dabbled in box office obscurity, losing its comedy cred until it found refuge on Netflix four months later. Have audiences decided that giggling at home is the new norm?
“Gone are the days when summer could handle five comedies opening simultaneously without at least two of them becoming instant classics—now it’s like choice fatigue for chuckles,” says Shawn Robbins, Director of Analytics at Fandango. A somber realization, indeed.
But moviegoers aren’t suddenly devoid of humor! No, they’ve merely traded pure comedy for a mix of genres that pretend to be funny without delivering the belly laughs. “Successful comedies lately stem from elevated genres,” Robbins reveals, citing superhero sagas and fantasy flicks as the new arena where wittiness thrives. You know things are bad when “Deadpool” counts as a comedy breakthrough.
And speaking of superhero films, Paramount’s Mike Ireland acknowledges this shift in appetite for films that blend genres into a delightful cocktail of comedy. “Can we even call a funny superhero movie a ‘real’ comedy?” he muses, probably over a glass of existential dread. He echoes the cyclical nature of film trends: it feels like we might reunite with low-cost comedic gems of yesteryears, but only time will tell if we’ve filed our comedic urge under “will return when it feels like it.”
Enter “One of Them Days,” Sony’s beacon of hope for original comedy in 2025! Starring SZA and Keke Palmer, this flick managed to gross over $50 million and outshine the horror-thriller “Wolf Man” at the box office. If that isn’t a twist, I don’t know what is!
Ireland is betting on “The Naked Gun,” set to drop this August, to lead the charge towards a laughter-laden comeback. “We noticed all things horror are losing their edge; what’s next? Comedy, obviously!” he claims, perhaps eagerly jotting down more puns for the billboard.
The reboot, helmed by Akiva Schaffer and starring Liam Neeson, will serve as a litmus test for whether audiences are ready to chuckle again. Robbins notes that this comedy style might appeal to an older demographic—essentially saying, “If the kids don’t laugh, call the grandparents.”
With future projects in the pipeline, including an untitled film by “South Park” creators with Kendrick Lamar slated for 2026, it seems Paramount is taking the plunge into comedy with more than just caution. “We want to tell the best stories, period,” Ireland insists. For comedy, however, the road is rocky and riddled with unpredictable punchlines.
Will audiences return for laughter? Only time—and the carefully chosen blend of story and humor—will tell. “The audience is out there; they just need good reasons to come back,” claims Ireland. In a world where attention is currency, let’s hope we’re able to pay up with humor worth saving.
