How did Anyone But You become a surprising success at the box office as it embraced being sexy?

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Wonka has been dominating the box office this winter, raking in £56.1m since it premiered in mid-December. However, the film that has been causing the most buzz in the industry lately is Anyone But You, a light-hearted romantic comedy that harkens back to the genre’s golden era in the 2000s. Despite its release last month, the movie starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell only managed to earn $6m (£4.7m) during its opening weekend in the US and a mediocre £1.2m in the UK.

The movie has maintained a strong presence since its release, with positive word of mouth and limited competition for female audiences during the winter. In the UK, it has consistently earned around the same amount as its initial £1.2m debut, which is uncommon in the box office. In the US, it has performed even better, earning close to $10m in its third weekend and surpassing its $6m debut in every following weekend.

According to Daniel Loria, the SVP of The Boxoffice Company, it is becoming increasingly rare to see a shopping mall multiplex film perform strongly week after week. He mentions the indie hit Everything Everywhere All At Once from 2022 as a recent example. Loria explains that since the rise of streaming, studios have been hesitant to keep underperforming films in theaters for a longer period of time. He also notes that this type of consistent performance used to occur more frequently before streaming became a major investment for many studios. Unlike other studios, Sony does not have its own streaming platform and still follows the traditional playbook that has been successful for over a century.

The recent success of Anyone But You has sparked a resurgence for the once-humble romantic comedy genre, which has mainly been confined to streaming services for the past decade. According to Scott Meslow, author of From Hollywood With Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy, the decline of romcoms on the big screen can be attributed to major studios focusing on expensive “tentpole” films like The Avengers and Avatar. Meslow explains that this shift was not due to a lack of interest from audiences, but rather the studios’ pursuit of high-budget blockbusters or low-budget award contenders. In the past, there were many mid-budget romcoms that could bring in significant profits, but they are now considered a rarity.

The change towards expensive action films had a greater impact on movies targeted towards female viewers. However, this did not mean that these audiences were any less interested in films. According to Meslow, Netflix recognized that the romantic comedies they were acquiring were performing exceptionally well and started creating their own. Screenwriters who had romcoms that were previously ignored for years suddenly had the opportunity for their work to be considered by Netflix, with a potential deal being offered within a matter of days.

Major film studios, inspired by the popularity of Netflix’s 2018 movie Set It Up, which also featured Powell, have started investing more in romantic comedies. This has led to a surge of new romcom releases since the pandemic, including The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, and Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, both slated for release in 2022. Another romcom from last year, No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence, was overshadowed at the US box office by Anyone But You, despite featuring bigger names and having a more extensive marketing campaign. According to Loria, the success of Anyone But You can be attributed in part to its release during the winter season, when there was less competition for screens and viewers. Unlike blockbuster films like Avatar or Spider-Man, which usually dominate the holiday season, Anyone But You had more opportunities for additional showtimes and screenings, allowing it to gain momentum through word-of-mouth and attract audiences over multiple weekends.

Hannah Strong, the digital editor for Little White Lies magazine, believes that Anyone But You perfectly captures the desires of audiences – a light-hearted, humorous and effortless film. She credits the popularity of Anyone But You, in part, to its release in the summer of 2023, coinciding with the release of Barbie. According to Strong, this timing allowed people who may have stopped going to the movies during the pandemic, or those who don’t typically go often, to feel more included. She also notes that Anyone But You caters to a female audience, who may often feel overlooked in mainstream cinema.

The film Anyone But You also showcases nudity and sexual content, which is a common aspect in mainstream cinema that has been highly praised, similar to romantic comedies. According to Strong, the film caters to an adult audience and challenges the notion that romcoms must be chaste and watered down. This is a topic that has been discussed by many filmmakers in recent years, as studios seem to shy away from making films for adults. It seems that there is a fear of offending anyone, leading to films lacking in personality and substance.

The movie also features the added advantage of uniting Powell and Sweeney, both of whom have gained popularity since their roles in Top Gun: Maverick and the HBO show Euphoria. Although there were rumors of a romance between them while filming, Strong believes that this did not significantly contribute to the film’s box office success, as evidenced by its underwhelming first-week numbers in the US.

According to Meslow, the success of Anyone But You can be attributed to a traditional Hollywood approach: finding popular stars who are interested in this type of film, investing in effective marketing, and creating a quality movie will attract audiences.

Source: theguardian.com