Universal Is (Almost Singlehandedly) Keeping The Live-Action Comedy Alive

Fathom Events has announced that, in conjunction with Universal, they will be presenting theatrical showings of three old(er) rom-coms (or, as they are calling them, “com-roms”) on September 19, 20 and 21 in the lead-up to BROS. All three films, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Train Wreck and Knocked Up, will feature pre-show commentary from BROS director Nicholas Stoller and stars Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane. BROS is the first major studio same-sex rom-com. That is the kind of milestone we probably would have gotten 20 years ago after In and Out, My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Birdcage had Hollywood not been swept up by 15 years of post-9/11 global tentpole franchise fever, but I digress. Right now, BROS is noteworthy not just for its LGBTQIA-related benchmarks but for the mere fact that it’s a major theatrical live-action comedy.

It’s no secret that the theatrical comedy had struggled over the last several years, even before Covid sent them straight to streaming. Studios needed quick cash and wanted to hold onto their big-budget action franchise flicks. In the summer of 2013, We’re the Millers earned $263 million worldwide, and nobody batted an eye. By early 2018, it was almost miraculous that the acclaimed and buzzy Game Night crossed $100 million global. In 2015, Will Ferrell had two original star-vehicle smash hits (Get Hard and Daddy’s Home topped $100 million domestic). By 2020, Eurovision was debuting on Netflix. In 2015, Melissa McCarthy’s Spy passed $235 million worldwide. By 2018, The Happytime Murders was failing to crack $28 million. Kevin Hart was still a $20 million-plus opener in 2019. I have no idea if he still is.

Even in the mid-2010s, as IP and franchises took over, the live-action comedy was the last bastion of star-driven theatrical originality. This was because A) they were cheaper, and B) audiences would show up if they liked the comic star in question. Live-action comedies were relatively review-proof. If you laughed at Identity Thief or Ride Along it wouldn’t matter much if your local critics said that Tammy or The Wedding Ringer wasn’t very funny. However, the momentous changes in how audiences consume filmed content, namely only seeing the most significant must-see films in theatres, quickly came for the live-action comedy. Even in better times, the theatrical comedy was always viewed in terms of the divide between ‘plays just fine at home’ and ‘seeing it with a happy crowd enhances the experience.’

Not helping was Marvel, DC and The Fast Saga’s successes with genre appropriation so that (simplification alert) comedy fans could get their fill with Deadpool, Spider-Man: Homecoming or Hobbs & Shaw instead of the so-called genuine article like Zoolander, No. 2, The Edge of Seventeen or Stuber. By summer 2019, it was miraculous that an original, R-rated, star-free comedy like Good Boys could open with $20 million and leg out to $111 million global. So, it’s heartening to see that Universal and Focus haven’t entirely given up on the sub-genre. More than any other studio, by default, Comcast’s respective distributors are keeping the live-action comedy alive as a theatrically viable product. For that matter, DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru are doing likewise for animated comedies, but I digress.

Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson’s Marry Me grossed $49 million worldwide on a $23 million budget while existing concurrently on Peacock. Amblin’s Jo Koy-starring vehicle Easter Sunday debuted earlier this month and Focus’ Honk for Jesus Save Your Soul gets a duel theatrical/Peacock release on September 2. BROS opens in late September following festival debuts, and the George Clooney/Julia Roberts rom-com Ticket to Paradise opens October 21. Like Warner Bros.’ Crazy Rich Asians, BROS is a big deal both because of its demographic milestones and because it’s a once-par-for-the-course Hollywood product. I can only surmise whether BROS or Ticket to Paradise can justify (alongside Paramount’s The Lost City) the theatrical live-action comedy. At least Comcast, partially thanks to PVOD revenues that can compensate for lower grosses, isn’t letting the genre die without a fight.