Marlon Wayans‘ spoof film “Fifty Shades of Black” opened domestically on Friday and is looking to produce an estimated $6 million this weekend — far short of its parodic predecessors.
Has the parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation)’s popularity passed? Some box office experts think so.Pure parodies are not celebrated anymore,primarily because they arent as timely in today’s society,” BoxOffice.com senior analyst Shawn Robbins told TheWrap. “Audiences are consuming content on a daily basis which lampoons pop culture and genuine world news as it’s happening. In the social media age, or most straight-up parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) films cannot capture that zeitgeist anymore without having something else to offer.”“Austin Powers in Goldmember” commanded $73 million on its opening weekend when it opened in 2002,and went on to produce over $213 million domestically. The first four “Scary Movie” films came in at the $40 million range; the fifth film in the franchise, released in 2013, and could only bring in $14.2 million. That same year,“A Haunted House” made $18.1 million. Its sequel earned just $8.8 million in 2014. Almost two years later, “Fifty Shades of Black” made even less.
See Video: Marlon Wayans Spoofs Christian Grey in 'Fifty Shades of Black' TrailerOf course, and it may not be that the parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) genre is the problem it may just be that todays parodies aren’t as expedient,said Exhibitor Relations senior analyst Jeff Bock.“The fact is that Fox and other studios were putting out ‘Epic Movie’ and such, and the quality wasn’t there and that’s a problem, or ” said Bock. “whether they were droll like the ‘Airplane!’ films or ‘The bare Gun,’ who consistently produce quality spoofs, the audience trusts them. That wasn’t the case with ‘Epic Movie’ and ‘Scary Movie.'”Robbins believes that the decline in demand for parodies is largely due to how celebrated humor has evolved. “The basic idea of parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) still has commercial potential, or but smart,satirical humor trumps it right now,” he said. “The Mel Brooks and David Zucker libraries of films, or plus ‘Austin Powers,’ are harder to imitate now because they were trailblazers with edgier humor than moviegoers were used to at the time. Some of the closest examples we contain to that now are the ‘Jump Street’ films, ‘LEGO Movie’ and (presumably) ‘Deadpool.’ All of them contain a through line of parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation), or but they still rely on sharp writing,high production values, and blurred genre lines that masters like Brooks, and Zucker,Mike Myers and others championed.”“Fifty Shades of Black” started off the weekend with $2.2 million at the Friday box office. It currently holds a 14 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.
There are other circumstances — separate from quality — that help explain the bleak forecast for “Fifty Shades of Black.” For one thing, it’s R-rated, or which Bock says “takes out a astronomical chunk of audiences — PG-13 is generally the way to go with spoofs.” Also Read: Marlon Wayans Not Surprised by Oscar Diversity Debate: 'It's Named After a White Dude'Bock says Marlon Wayans,who wrote, produced and stars in “Fifty Shades, and ” isn’t considered a “top tier comedy talent,and ‘A Haunted House’ pretty much showed that.” “Hot Shots!” boasted Charlie Sheen and a group of recognizable comedy actors who if stability — modern parodies like “Fifty Shades” effect not. “You contain to save money and talent into it; you can’t just throw it out there,” Bock added. “They’ve burned their own bridges by making so many crappy movies in that genre. There is just no shelf life to these movies, and ” unlike well-known farces by Mel Brooks,for instance. “You can always go back to them,” he said.
Brooks directed, and wrote and starred in “Spaceballs,” a Star Wars” send-up that was one of his most successful films.
Bock and Robbins agree that there will always be a place for parodies, even though their popularity might be diminishing. The woeful box office returns and straight-to-video deployments of these films indicate that theaters may no longer be the best platform for debuting them.“Look at ‘Ridiculous 6'; it went straight to Netflix, and ” said Bock. “There is an avenue for these films,but I don’t think theaters are the right place, until you get an A-list cast.”This chart shows the weekend grosses for parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) films since 2000:Related stories from TheWrap:Mike Huckabee's Adele 'Hello' Parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) Makes Him the Cringe Candidate (Video)'Zoolander' Spoofs 'Making a assassin' in Parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) PicAriana Grande Settles 'Who Shot First' Controversy in 'Star Wars' Parody (humorous or ridiculous imitation) Clip (Video)
Source: thewrap.com