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Tribune News Service

For Hollywood, the landscape for big-screen comedies has become so grim that you almost have to laugh.
Some genres have dominated the cineplex in recent years, including 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’s more-than-20-years-later sequel Freakier Friday, which reunited Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.
Both received solid reviews from critics – The Naked Gun notched an 87 per cent approval rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, while Freakier Friday got 74 per cent.
Next up is Searchlight Pictures’ The Roses, a remake of the 1989 film The War of the Roses, and Neon’s Splitsville, an original film about messy marriages starring Dakota Johnson.


It is an unusual cadence for a genre that fell out of favour with studios over the last decade or so, as on-screen laughs largely moved to streaming. But bringing audiences together for a funny movie is just as important as getting them to flinch during a jump scare collectively, filmmakers said.
“People realise 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 US$650 million worldwide, he said. In 2005, a high point for the genre, 50 wide-release films garnered more than US$4 billion in total worldwide box office revenue.
Hollywood comedies were a cash cow for years, but they have run up against many hurdles.
They got more expensive to produce, particularly as the stars from comedy’s boom years in the 2000s became more prominent. Humour has also changed, and jokes that may have been acceptable decades ago are no longer appropriate, experts said.
US-made comedies also do not always work internationally, which can dent their overall box office potential, despite cinemas’ 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, including the drunken escapades of The Hangover. 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 has trended steadily downwards, Gross said.
Part of that shift can also be attributed to the rise of streaming and the pandemic, which shut down cinemas 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, points to a hunger for laugh-out-loud content, industry insiders say.
Now, it is 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 theatre, it’s going to catch on.”

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 University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts who worked on M*A*S*H* and other shows, and is co-chair of the USC comedy programme.
Closer to home, he has noticed that young writers coming through USC’s programme 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.”


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American cinema

With films like The Naked Gun and Freakier Friday, can Hollywood comedies stage a comeback?

Jamie Lee Curtis (left) and Lindsay Lohan in a still from Freakier Friday. Photo: TNS

Liam Neeson in a still from The Naked Gun. Photo: TNS

(From left) Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Adria Arjona and Dakota Johnson in a still from the upcoming Splitsville. Photo: TNS

Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry in a still from Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. Photo: Netflix

Olivia Wilde and Seth Rogen in a still from The Studio on Apple TV+. Photo: TNS

Why Nobody 2’s Bob Odenkirk doesn’t want to be another Jason Statham or Liam Neeson

Bob Odenkirk in a still from Nobody 2. Photo: AP

Bob Odenkirk (front) in a still from Nobody 2. The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul star  says he wants to be a different sort of action man than Jason Statham and Liam Neeson, who are “utterly, 100 per cent sure that they’re gonna win this fight”. Photo: AP

Bob Odenkirk says he thinks he works well on screen “as a regular guy who has a certain amount of pressure”. Photo: TNS

(From left) Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd and Connie Nielsen in a still from Nobody 2. Photo: AP

Odenkirk attends the premiere of Nobody 2 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 11, 2025. Photo: AFP

The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie review – Marvel’s original superhero team returns

Pedro Pascal in a still from The Fantastic Four: First Steps (category IIA), directed by Matt Shakman. Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach co-star. Photo: 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios

Julia Garner in a still from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Photo: 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios

(From left) Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn in a still from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Photo: 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios

Why Hollywood is turning to Roblox and other gaming platforms to tempt Gen Z into cinemas

A still from Roblox’s How to Train Your Dragon video game. Hollywood studios are turning to online gaming platforms to engage with teenagers and young adults. Photo: Roblox

The How to Train Your Dragon Roblox game mimics the scene in the movie where Hiccup reaches out his hand to touch Toothless. Photo: Roblox

How to Train Your Dragon is one of many titles on Roblox, which has more than 97 million visitors daily. Photo: Roblox

Twilight is another movie franchise that is using Roblox to sell merchandise. 

1980s Hong Kong pop idol Danny Chan’s bittersweet success story: his talent, fame, the tabloid rumours, his retirement and early death

Singer Danny Chan Pak-keung puts one of his albums in a time capsule in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Danny Chan was one of Hong Hong’s “Three Kings and A Queen of Cantopop” in the 1980s, with fellow idols Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. Photo: SCMP

Yvonne Siu, project manager of TVB, presents a souvenir to Danny Chan in 1984. Photo: SCMP

Chan singing at his own birthday party in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chan (left) and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau at the Top Ten Pop Stars Election in 1987. Photo: SCMP

There were numerous rumours about a relationship between Pansy Ho and Chan. Photo: Weibo

Chan performing at a concert to promote Aids awareness in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Chan was taken to Queen Mary Hospital after collapsing at home on May 19, 1992. Photo: SCMP

Flanked by singer Anita Mui Yim-fong and actor Chow Yun-fat, Danny Chan’s older brother Chan Pak-ling carries his younger brother’s picture at the singer’s funeral in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Comedy films have fallen out of favour, but recent and coming releases, including The Roses and Splitsville, aim to bring the laughs back


Comedy films have fallen out of favour, but recent and coming releases, including The Roses and Splitsville, aim to bring the laughs back.


With films like The Naked Gun and Freakier Friday, can Hollywood comedies stage a comeback?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Comedy films have fallen out of favour, but recent and coming releases, including The Roses and Splitsville, aim to bring the laughs back

Comedy films have fallen out of favour, but recent and coming releases, including The Roses and Splitsville, aim to bring the laughs back