From Shane Conto

Whatever happened to the comedy genre? Over the course of the pandemic, the landscape of these types of films has completely changed. To be honest, this trend even started pre-2020. We are seeing less and less comedy films coming to theaters and more of them coming straight to streaming. But why is that an issue? They are still finding a place. Well…what makes comedy so special? The communal experience of laughter shared in a theater. We feel the energy in the space and the laughter just comes a lot easier with the shared experience. What is it like watching them alone? I know I won’t laugh a lot if I am by myself watching something at home. Sure, comedies are not the most expensive of films and it makes them easier additions to streaming but something just feels missing. But what can be done?

First off, let’s go back before the pandemic to a few key events. Adam Sandler. It might be strange to put him at the center of this but he set the tone with his enormous deal with Netflix. Sandler was cranking out profitable comedies (good or bad) for two decades. But now, every project comes to Netflix. This set the standard for other comedies to make deals with streamers instead of bringing their content to theaters. Companies like Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and such need to invest in those comedies and grab them. Kevin Hart (one of the more bankable comedians of today) finds himself on Netflix quite often as well. Not only do you miss out on the theater experience, the quality control is historically not great on these services (especially Netflix). How many great Netflix comedies can you name? There are not a lot. This genre needs to be wrestled away from streamers which have the control at the moment. 

What is so significant about films based on shared cinematic experiences? We need to get people back to the movies! Theaters have been empty for too long. COVID almost killed the film exhibition industry and there are few films bringing people back. Of course the Marvel projects and films like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water were able to find large audiences. They are spectacles that reach to the masses and need to be seen on the big screen. Even three-hour technical masterpieces like Oppenheimer are grabbing audiences due to the need for the right environment. But these films are so expensive and there can only be so many out there trying to fight for a profit. But what genres generally should be cheaper and easier to make a profit? Horror and comedies. Both of these genres are so much better with the audience there with you getting scared or laughing (respectively). 

But why do these genres make so much sense? Horror has stuck around in theaters post COVID and they are making money. They are not grossing billions but they are making easy profits. The film industry must wake up to the fact that the middle class of filmmaking must return to keep things going. These two genres fit so well. Horror is generally cheap because they are not usually huge in scale and they also call for less computer generated effects. You can make a slasher movie with someone in a mask and some fake blood. That is not going to break the bank. M3GAN, Talk to Me, Insidious: The Red Door, and others are carving out profit this year. Comedies can find that some place. You can certainly make comedies huge like some Marvel films that are non-stop jokes like Ant-Man that cost $150 million but that is not the future of comedy. Get a good cast and put them in a reasonable setting. That is not a big ask. If the film is funny, you will find an audience. 

But will throwing out a bunch of new studio comedies into theaters make that big change now? Unfortunately, it will be a bit of time until it really makes a turn though. Joy Ride was hilarious but made no money. People will wait for streaming. That behavior needs to change. It is a combination of wrestling comedy projects from the streamers. Studios, like stated before, need to get the best creators back. But what is the other piece? Fix the screening window. You cannot put out a comedy and then let it get to Paramount+ or Peacock in 17 days. That will not create any incentive to audiences anymore. Negotiate those theatrical windows and get the talent back. 

But WHY does this need to happen? How many truly great classics in the making have we got since this trend started happening? Not many. The quality is not needed to passively get eyes on a project on a service like Netflix. There goes the incentive to make truly great films. The studios are not investing their time in them. We will not have the collective fun at the theater anymore. That is really sad. Horror and comedies used to be the guaranteed wins for the studios to get some profits. Horror is still there but comedy is slowly fading. Genres have come and go over the years but this is sad to see. Hopefully, the effort will be made by the studios to reshape the comedy genre into the future. 

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