The comic alignment probably owes more to the film industry’s internal dynamics as pictures in the same genre just happened to fall into place — and as executives, noting the success of “Wild Hogs” last March and “Superbad” last August, edged more comedies into the big-money months — than to any pulse moving through the nation at large. Whatever the source, it will test the audience appetite for a whole lot of what is usually a good thing.
Apparently the Times doesn't want us to read into this, or to start seeing patterns where there is only chaos. But that's no fun. Commencing with speculation! And hey, here's a good place to start: thanks to the writers' strikes in both years, comparisons between 1988 and 2008 are inevitable. And even though most of this summer's films were already steaming along by November of last year, let's jump wholeheartedly on that bandwagon.
The summer after the 1988 writers' strike gave us only four comedies that topped $100 million: "Coming to America," "Big," "Crocodile Dundee II" and the unparalleled "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" That summer also saw two R-rated comedies--"A Fish Called Wanda" and "Bull Durham"--that gave parents something to look forward to after, say, three trips with the kids to "Short Circuit 2" (at five years old, I was too young to care about seeing movies in the theater...you're welcome, Mom and Dad). And, despite dismal box office failures, let's not leave out: "Big-Top Pee-wee," "Caddyshack II," and "Arthur 2 On the Rocks," which, by the way, wins for best title for a sequel ever. And while they weren't comedies, it's worth noting "Poltergeist III," "Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master", "Rambo III," also came out, inspiring the 1988 New York Times (bless their online archive) to opine that "[t]he fate of most of the summer's sequels implies that sequels may no longer be an automatic way for movie studios to earn money." Har! Last year, the third "Pirates" installment made more than $300 million, which I believe was considered in the industry to be a slight let-down compared to take from the summer 2006 "Pirates," which brought in $135 million in its first three days. Just because a film flops at the box office it doesn't mean it wasn't good for the production companies. As long as they make a comfortable net profit, they're satisfied. That's why the sequel, no matter how inferior an exercise it is in filmmaking, isn't going anywhere any time soon - they are generally guaranteed to make money, just not as much as the original. It's original movies that are financially riskier. The NY Times makes this point:
The poor results [of "Walk Hard" and the opening of "Semi-Pro"] sent a shiver through an industry that likes comedies because they are generally less expensive than animated films like “Ratatouille” or effects-driven spectacles like “Transformers.” But though more cost-effective, comedies still need a healthy turnout by American moviegoers because most do not play well abroad.
Much of the world doesn't think we're funny. Or, maybe they don't care even if we are. Like Mark Twain pointed out, different cultures have different ideas of what constitutes comedy. "Ratatouille" broke all box office records in France for an animated film ($16 million in American dollars in the first week), and Le Monde declared it "one of the greatest gastronomic films in the history of cinema." It wasn't because Patton Oswalt has replaced Jerry Lewis in the hearts of the French - it was because "Ratatouille" was so painstaking in its ex-patriotism and delivery that both American and French sensibilities could be satisfied. I doubt the same could be said for the upcoming John C. Reilly/Will Ferrell vehicle "Step Brothers." Which isn't to say it won't be hilarious, of course. Here's hoping that the denizens of the American university Greek systems have steady jobs this summer--Hollywood is depending on them.
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