Are typical ROM COMS kind of dead?

[snarkmachine]

32 minutes ago, filmlover said:

It is.

 

Hmm, that will be interesting to track although both George and Julia have been out of the spotlight so long, idk who is really checking for them anymore. Neither have had a hit for years (decades?).

 

I think romcoms are the kind of movies that need hundred wattage casting juice behind them to succeed. a Leo and Kate romcom? Would smash at the box office. Tom and Zendaya? Would print money. Anyone else? Eh. Maybe Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively if they really played up the IRL romance. Sandra and Keanu, although The Lake House was only a modest hit. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams might be lightning in a bottle again. 

[grim22]

This is just stupid  

 

 

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

14 minutes ago, grim22 said:

This is just stupid  

 

 

 

Lists like that exist to make people mad about them on social media. Also, it's The Ringer, Sean Fennessy is like the only person there who acknowledges that pre-1970s movies are worthwhile.

 

Anyway, I think the rom-coms will need another angle to lure people into theaters; an action element, a superhero angle, being based on a book, or maybe keep it cheap and just throw in a cute dog or two?

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

Bros will be a big hit. BOT is underestimating this movie

[AniNate]

It's Julia Roberts' fault

 

Julia Roberts Turned Down Rom-Coms for 20 Years Because a Good Script ‘Didn’t Exist’

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/julia-roberts-turned-down-rom-coms-20-years-bad-scripts-1235234615/

[filmlover]

9 hours ago, snarkmachine said:

 

Hmm, that will be interesting to track although both George and Julia have been out of the spotlight so long, idk who is really checking for them anymore. Neither have had a hit for years (decades?).

The target audience for it is almost certainly going to be 50+. I already know for a fact whenever my mom first sees the trailer (whenever it's released) she's gonna be all over wanting to see it.

[grim22]

I think this Valentine's Day weekend kind of makes it clear they are dead theatrically at the very least. Theatrically the big release is Magic Mike 3 which was going streaming, and we have to stretch the rom-com definition to include it.

 

Meanwhile on streaming we have Shotgun Wedding, Sam & Kate, You People, Your Place or Mine, Somebody I Used to Know. 

 

Most romcoms don't even star 20-somethings anymore. The 2 big romcoms of 2022 were The Lost City and Ticket to Paradise both of which star older actors, same with most of the movies already listed. The younger up and comers who would anchor the rom-com genre don't want anything to do with the genre. I guess the last hope is that Sydney Sweeney-Glen Powell movie which is in production.

[Jonwo]

Honestly get Emma Stone to star in a Richard Curtis movie with some British up and comer and watch the money roll in. 

[Godzilla]

Honestly, I could see a remake of As Good as it Gets with Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Lawrence making $500M+. 

[Kalo]

On 4/18/2022 at 1:56 PM, BestPicturePlutoNash said:

Bros will be a big hit. BOT is underestimating this movie

 

I wish that were true. was really thinking it was going to do $60m+ but yeah that didn't end up being the case.

 

I think the problem with this genre is that their success, at least financially was based on star power something that doesn't really exist anymore. not with gen Z anyways 

 

There were two pretty successful rom-coms released last year. Lost City and Ticket to Paradise. but they both starred the biggest rom-com draws of the 1990s and early 2000s (Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts) who are aging and had a very large portion of their audience being older couples in the 40+ range.

 

But I do think the genre is due for a come-back in some form last year made me hopeful.

[BestPicturePlutoNash]

damn i flopped

[filmlover]

On 2/10/2023 at 2:27 PM, Jonwo said:

Honestly get Emma Stone to star in a Richard Curtis movie with some British up and comer and watch the money roll in. 

Richard Curtis seems to have surrendered to streaming too since that Melissa McCarthy Christmas movie he's written the script for is headed for Peacock.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

23 hours ago, Kalo said:

I think the problem with this genre is that their success, at least financially was based on star power something that doesn't really exist anymore. not with gen Z anyways 

 

There were two pretty successful rom-coms released last year. Lost City and Ticket to Paradise. but they both starred the biggest rom-com draws of the 1990s and early 2000s (Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts) who are aging and had a very large portion of their audience being older couples in the 40+ range.

 

But I do think the genre is due for a come-back in some form last year made me hopeful.

Domestically, The Lost City made $105m to Ticket to Paradise's $68m. I think the difference is that with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, you're appealing to more generations. Even Daniel Radcliffe as a villain pulls in a few Potterheads, an even younger group than Tatum or Bullock fans. It had an adventure angle. Brad Pitt didn't help Babylon (at least in the US) but he seems to still do all right as an action guy.

 

Ticket to Paradise just had George and Julia as draws, which worked out really well internationally. What would have been really strategic is casting someone with their own fanbase as the daughter, maybe a twentysomething singer looking to act, or a person from Euphoria or Stranger Things. Even if the, say, Sydney Sweeney/Natalia Dyer/Maude Apatow fans didn't show up to theaters, their fans would have tweeted about it excessively and given it free publicity that way.

 

I think romcoms can still succeed theatrically but studios have to be strategic about it. Either get a cast that appeals to different/under-served demos, or add in elements of other genres to broaden the audience. See if you can adapt the genre to the Blumhouse model.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by BoxOfficeFangrl