The R-Rated Comedy Comeback Is Still MIA

Movies are back and, if not better than ever, at least they’re drawing a crowd at the cinema again. This summer generated more than $4 billion at the U.S. box office, the most since the pre-COVID-19 days of 2019.

But what about R-rated comedies, the films that made us howl but Hollywood deemed “problematic?” The last decade gave us: “Step Brothers,” “The Hangover,” “Bridesmaids,” “Old School,” “Wedding Crashers,”  and “Superbad.”

Well, we’re still waiting. As the Elon Musk-dubbed “woke mind virus” fades in Hollywood, roast comedies are back, and comedians aren’t being punished for telling the “wrong” jokes.

Even canceled comics like Shane Gillis and Louis C.K. are snagging sweet Netflix deals. Except we’re not seeing big-screen comedies take advantage of that pendulum swing.

The woke movement unofficially ended the industry’s hunger for R-rated humor. Movies like “Animal House” promoted toxic masculinity, or so said USA Today. “Get Hard,” a 2015 Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy, was deemed racist even though its popular co-star was, and is, black. It made an impressive $90 million stateside.

Progressive Amy Schumer got attacked for two back-to-back comedies – “Snatched” (2017) and “I Feel Pretty” (2018). Why? The former was allegedly racist for making people of color the villains and using racial stereotypes, while the latter purportedly promoted fat shaming.

Is it any wonder comedy stars decided to do something, anything, else rather than make big-screen comedies?

Even Todd Phillips (“The Hangover,” “Old School”) gave up on the genre:

Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture … There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore — I’ll tell you why, because all the f*cking funny guys are like, “F*ck this sh*t, because I don’t want to offend you.” It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, “I’m out.”

That was in 2019, right before woke peaked with the George Floyd riots.

Seven years later, the landscape seems open to a bawdy, big-hearted comedy that offends and delights. Good luck finding them.

The quasi-comeback began with 2023’s “No Hard Feelings.” Star Jennifer Lawrence played a desperate woman being paid to take a young man’s virginity. The laughs flowed for the first two acts, and Lawrence proved game for the task at hand with an extended, comical nude scene. The larger-than-necessary budget ($45 million) made the film’s $87 million global haul less exciting.

“Dumb and Dumber” co-director Peter Farrelly vowed to personally bring back R-rated comedies, and his first attempt, 2024’s “Ricky Stanicky,” hit closer to the mark. The film debuted on Prime Video, not theaters, and it didn’t crash the zeitgeist like previous Farrelly romps “Kingpin” and “There’s Something About Mary.”

The director’s more recent film, the Prime Video exclusive “Balls Up,” netted terrible scores from critics and audiences alike at Rotten Tomatoes (23/29 percent “rotten”).

David Spade brought his comedy gravitas to an indie project that also vowed to bring back retro comedy fun. His independent 2026 film “Busboys,” co-starring Theo Von, made an anemic $2.6 million earlier this year.

This month’s “Super Troopers 3” hoped to build on that cult franchise’s R-rated vibes, but the film won’t break the $10 million mark in U.S. theaters. The cast told this critic they hoped to revive R-rated comedies at the theatrical level.

No luck yet.

The only recent R-rated film to break out? The sixth installment of the “Scary Movie” franchise earned $231.4 million worldwide. The filmmakers vowed to offend everyone with the saga’s no-holds-barred approach, but the film itself proved mostly toothless.

Critics torched the film, but even steadfast fans of the franchise weren’t smitten – the film has a 64% “fresh” rating with general audiences at RottenTomatoes.com.

The year offers one more swing at the R-rated fences. Super hot stand-up comic Matt Rife is teaming with Owen Wilson (“Wedding Crashers”) for “Rolling Loud.” The Fall comedy finds Wilson losing his son at a hip-hop music festival, with Rife playing a local trying to reunite father and son.

The film’s first trailer flexes hip-hop-heavy cameos, but those looking for big laughs will have to bank on hope.

The culture at large may have changed, giving stand-ups and comedy podcasters more freedom moving forward, but the problem may persist behind the scenes.

Luke Wilson (“Old School”) hinted at that sorry state of affairs in a recent interview. The actor told podcaster John Feitelberg of the “Scene Stealers” podcast how one studio executive responded to an unnamed comedy script:

I got back a note about a joke in a script that said it was “imperialistic.” I was like, I don’t even know what the f*ck that means. Is imperial a compliment? Does that mean like empire building?

Wilson, an industry veteran not used to rocking the culture war boat, shared a more global comment about the dearth of R-rated comedies. “The people in charge are just not funny and too careful and worried about feelings,” he said, warming to the topic. Then, he shared a specific example to prove his case. “There are so many things that wouldn’t get made today that used to get made in the old days,” he added.

Here’s guessing “Old School 2” isn’t happening anytime soon.

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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. He’s also the host of The Hollywood in Toto Podcast. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.