'Horrible Bosses' Box Office Success Latest for R-Rated Comedy Genre

Horrible Bosses didn't get horrible reviews, and will not do horribly at the box office either. In fact, the movie is expected to exceed box office expectations, with a projected opening weekend of around $25 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Horrible Bosses would still be a distant second to Transformers: Dark of the Moon this weekend, though it is predicted to beat out the new family comedy Zookeeper. But this is nothing new for R-rated comedies this summer.

After the success of Bridesmaids and The Hangover Part II, and the solid opening for Bad Teacher two weeks ago, the first numbers for Horrible Bosses have furthered the new theory that this is the summer of raunchy comedies. Of course, it isn't exactly a rare thing for such movies to make it big these days.

Judd Apatow has gotten at least a half-dozen hits from this formula by himself, and did it again by producing Bridesmaids. Yet that was a different case, since it starred women and proved that comediennes could make big summer box office after all. Bad Teacher is trying to prove that as well with Cameron Diaz, while Horrible Bosses has gotten a lot of mileage from Jennifer Aniston's raunchy change of pace.

However, The Hangover Part II dwarfed them all with its massive Memorial Day opening, but that wasn't due to any R-rated comedy trend. It was mainly due to the massive success of the original hit, and its place as a holiday headliner. But unlike other recent comedies, this one didn't have positive word of mouth to go along with its big bucks.

Other than that, perhaps the simplest explanation for all these funny R-rated hits is because they actually are funny. Bridesmaids is one of the best reviewed films of the summer so far, while Horrible Bosses got solid scores on Rotten Tomatoes, despite some reservations from critics. Bad Teacher received mixed marks, although Diaz's return to lowbrow comedy has helped it gain some staying power.

But perhaps the standards have gotten a bit lower lately, since the state of comedy in movies isn't as strong as it used to be. There have been hits, but few recent funny movies have made it big at the box office and gotten rave reviews at the same time. And among this summer's comedies, only Bridesmaids may remain truly memorable to moviegoers in the long run.

Still, studios are mainly interested in how movies perform in the short term, not the long term. And since Horrible Bosses has joined this year's list of R-rated comedies to start well at the box office, it gives them more proof that there's a trend developing.

However, that could take a hit if Friends With Benefits doesn't keep the trend going when it opens in two weeks, as it has Harry Potter and Captain America to clash with.

Sources

Hollywood Reporter- "Box Office Report: Seth Gordon's Horrible Bosses Is Latest R-Rated Comedy to Do Solid Business"