It’s no laughing matter
Big screen ditches comedy, which finds a new home
Comedy is dying on the big screen as stars flee to Netflix and other streaming services, and studios pour their resources into superhero movies.
U.S. cinema box office figures show only eight per cent of revenue last year came from comedy films, down from 25 per cent a decade ago.
Major comedic successes at the box office are now few and far between, with studio chiefs struggling to attract big names to film projects.
In 2009, comedies earned $2.5 billion at the U.S. box office, while six individual films each made more than $100 million. Last year, that was down to $1 billion and only one film, Crazy Rich Asians, exceeded the $100-million milestone. (Figures in U.S. dollars.)
Adam Sandler, who has churned out numerous hit comedies for Hollywood, is now signed to a multifilm deal with Netflix. And Jennifer Aniston, a staple of Hollywood romantic comedies, signed up for Sandler’s latest, Murder Mystery, now streaming on Netflix.
The film broke records to have Netflix’s biggest opening weekend when it was released earlier this month, despite many critics panning it as formulaic and unfunny.
As major Hollywood studios, including Disney, have increasingly focused on mega-budget superhero projects, it has also become more difficult, even for established stars, to get comedies made. Will Ferrell told the Armchair Expert podcast: “I’ve recently come across things where I thought ‘Boy, what a great idea.’ I went around town and everyone just went ‘Nope.’” But Ferrell is now writing a comedy film about Eurovision — for Netflix.
Since the start of the summer, no comedy movie has brought in more than $35 million at the cinema, and there have been a series of flops. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, said: “If you’re not delivering the goods, the audience has many other options these days. Names like Sandler and Aniston, they’re just going where the resources are. There’s no stigma now in stars going to the small screen ...
“I think people still do want to go to the movie theatre and laugh with other people,” he said. “There’s that communal electricity that comedy creates. But the code has to be cracked again on what comedy can be in the movie theatre. We have seen a steady decline in recent years, but I wouldn’t completely close the door on comedy coming back.”