To say that Barbie was a summer hit would be an understatement. It accomplished a spectacular box office feat of $1.446 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie of 2023. The Greta Gerwig movie also got a ton of nominations during award season including a Best Picture nom. With all of the triumphs Barbie achieved, Judd Apatow points to the Mattel Inc. film for why the comedy genre has a bright box office future.
Judd Apatow directed and produced some of the best comedy movies of the 2000s, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Trainwreck, and The King of Staten Island, to name a few. Lately, though, the comedy genre has hit some snags. Apatow’s latest movie, The Bubble, premiered on Netflix and received negative critical reviews. Not to mention, the high-grossing comedy of last year’s next to Barbie was No Hard Feelings making only $50 million.
The director-producer said in a Vulture interview that he doesn’t believe the comedy genre is dead with last year’s 14th highest-grossing movie as proof.
“I would say that’s wrong because the highest-grossing comedy last year made over a billion dollars. Barbie was a comedy, you know?”
Barbie may have been a political satire towards patriarchal/matriarchal societies, but it’s still a comedy nonetheless. Judd Apatow continued to talk about what the future looks like for theatrically released comedy films.
“I assume it’ll swing back. The industry does follow the leader. That’s why in the monologue I had a joke about all the different toy movies that will come out next, like Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots by Lars von Trier. But for comedy, it just requires another hit or two,” said Apatow. “If a movie like The Hangover came out and it was a big hit, suddenly everyone would want five more of those.”
What are Judd Apatow’s Upcoming Projects?
Judd Apatow continues to contribute to the comedy genre with a couple of projects in development that he’ll produce. The first one is a collaboration with The Lucas Brothers who co-wrote and co-produced Judas and the Black Messiah. This semi-autobiographical comedy will be about their life as identical twins in Newark, New Jersey.
Another upcoming comedy Apatow will produce will be Time and Space. Starring comedian Tig Notaro, the plot follows the life of a lesbian couple changing after moving from Los Angeles to upstate New York.
As Judd Apatow said, the comedy genre is far from gone. Barbie proved that audiences are still looking to have a good laugh in a movie theater.
