What Happened to the Comedy Movie Genre?

[Murdock2420]

(04-27-2021, 09:02 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Before anyone chimes in that I'm old, or have gotten older I realize that.  But there's much more to do this than me outgrowing or aging out of humor in 2021.  

The movie industry has entirely changed.  From what I understand studios mainly produce blockbusters or lower budget films.  Where comedies used to fall in budget (ex: 40 mil) are now much less in demand.  Obviously indie films are as popular as ever, and streaming services are producing their own content as well.

Just take a look at these names and go check their IMDB pages for the last comedy they made that you personally would consider good...

Will Ferrell
Vince Vaughn
Owen Wilson
Ben Stiller
Mike Meyers
Jonah Hill
Seth Rogan
James Franco
Steve Carrell
Jack Black
Ed Helms
Jason Segal
Paul Rudd

These are just some names off the top of my head.  You'll find they all either left the genre completely behind, or they've done nothing of great note in the genre for probably at least 5 years.  Even the ones that still do comedic roles either have transitioned into more serious work in between, and/or their comedy output is a shell of it's former self.

Now some might say that these guys aged out of the genre.  Ok, I suppose that's fair.  But I do think it's strange how many of them all seemed to age out if it at the same time.

These are the guys I would consider to be the bankable stars to headline a comedy movie in the last 20 years.  So my question is, who has replaced them?  Who are some of the newer heavyweights in comedy films?  Are there any?

I'll stop rambling here shortly.  I think I've already answered my own question (studios won't pay to produce comedies any more, and there are no new "heavyweights" in comedy films) but I just think this is such a bummer.

I'm sure like many of you I grew up with great movies in this genre.  Renting and/or watching comedy movies was a routine occurence in my life for a long, long time.  From Animal House, to Caddy Shack, to Vacation, to Revenge of the Nerds, to Waynes World, Tommy Boy, Happy Gilmore, Old, School, Step Brothers....  Hell, I even gobbled up movies like The Goods and She's Out of Your League.

I love comedy movies.  I miss them.  Bring them back please.

So I have a couple thoughts on why this trend is happening.

I may be totally wrong but it is just a guess.

1) Covid in the past two years has made everything suck, so it is hard to judge the most recent years but prior to that....

2) The comedy genre is getting hammered down due to the politically correct movement. Not trying to get political but literally a ton of my favorite movies like Animal House, Revenge of the Nerds, Blazing Saddles, etc... you just couldn't make in today's world. It would get shut down in a split second for being insensitive, not inclusive enough, etc.

3) The diversity of platforms. Netflix, Hulu, Prime Movies, Disney, etc. There are some hidden gems out there amongst these streaming platforms, but they aren't getting the mainstream push like you would see when everything was in the theater years ago. An example is movie 43 on Netflix, it is like a modern day Kentucky Fried Movie.

Finally, is that the landscape shifted. The superhero movies are king right now, and that is where the money is at. Take Deadpool for example, it is a superhero movie but at the same time I would call it a comedy as it makes me laugh still when I watch it.

Anyways, those would be my sort of thoughts on what has happened to the comedy world.