The Out-Laws, a crime comedy from Netflix, is doing mad numbers on the streamer’s top 10 movies chart. But while The Out-Laws is no abnormality on Netflix, which is known to crank out lots of mid-budget comedies, this star thinks the Marvel Cinematic Universe is emblematic of why they’re rarer these days.
It does feel as if we have been seeing less of them — theatrical new movies like No Hard Feelings, Booksmart, and the upcoming Bottoms seem more special and sought after as a result. In general, mid-budget films in the traditional theatrical pipeline have suffered due to how heavily the market has been soaked up by big IP, but some in the comedy world feel their genre has been hit especially hard.
Most of the best comedy movies and best comedy series these days land straight on streaming, and there is perhaps less space for them to thrive as event movies when audiences are more likely to show up for tentpole franchise entries that out-scale a humble comedy flick.
Talking about how difficult it is to get comedies made now, Adam Devine said, “I think Marvel ruined it. I feel like superhero movies kind of ruined comedies. Because people go to the theatre and you expect to watch something that costs $200 million to make and comedy movies aren’t that.
He continued to speculate on what may be driving overall lower interest, “You’re like, ‘Well, why would I spend the same amount of money to go watch a little comedy in the theatre if I could spend the same amount of money and go see something that is worth $200 million?'”
“They still make those movies kinda funny,” he admitted. “I mean they’re not comedies but they’re like, ‘Oh my god is that raccoon talking? This is hilarious.’ Which it is, but it’s not like a real comedy.”
The Out-Laws is new on Netflix, so you can watch it right now. In the same vein, we have thoughts on why Elemental’s box office never stood a chance. Check out our lists for the best Netflix movies and best Netflix series, and our secret Netflix codes.