NO HARD FEELINGS (2023): A Modest Box-Office Hit, Jennifer Lawrence’s New Film Has Helped Bring Back the “R-Rated” Comedy

No Hard Feelings Comes On Strong at the Box-Office

Jennifer Lawrence‘s new film, No Hard Feelings, has brought the “R-rated” comedy back to life with modestly successful box-office results.

While it’s certainly not pulling in There’s Something About Mary box-office numbers, Sony’s latest Jennifer Lawrence sex comedy, No Hard Feelings, has pulled in $33 million in just 12 days at the domestic box-office. That’s good enough to make it the biggest “R-rated” comedy this decade. The pandemic certainly helped this Lawrence picture achieve the feat it has just accomplished. A somewhat adequate comedy from a critical standpoint, Lawrence’s new picture is sure to face stiff competition for box-office dollars this weekend with Joy Ride which could just pull in $33 million in the same amount of time as No Hard Feelings did. Still, No Hard Feelings could be a bigger hit, overall, when the final box-office numbers are tallied. It all depends on whether or not the Bridesmaids audience turns out for Joy Ride or not.

Films like 1999’s American Pie and 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin cleaned up at the box-office in a way that No Hard Feelings really stands no chance of doing. That’s because those days of sex comedies topping $100 million domestically seem to be long behind us or are they? Sex doesn’t seem to be selling like it once did in a raunchy comedy in terms of domestic box-office receipts. However, as time goes on, that could all change yet again. There is a cycle to how certain films do financially and sex comedies could have their day once again as evidenced by the small success that No Hard Feelings has managed to accomplish.

So, how does sex comedy hold up in terms of CinemaScore grades? Just about the same as it ever has. There’s Something About Mary received a “B+” CinemaScore mark back in 1998 and, 25 years later, No Hard Feelings got exactly the same grade. The 40-Year-Old Virgin and the original American Pie got “A-‘s” but they were rare exceptions to the fact that sex comedies are usually in the “B” range in terms of CinemaScores. Sex Tape with Cameron Diaz was a rare low in terms of sex comedy CinemaScores with a “C+” grade (and it only made $38 million in its entire run) while the Anna Faris box-office disappointment, What’s Your Number? received a mere “B.”

The future of the sex comedy is anybody’s guess but no matter what happens, there will be “no hard feelings.” That’s because audience’s needs change over time and, this summer, Jennifer Lawrence’s movie fit the bill as an alternative to action pictures that have recently flooded the market and Lawrence’s picture made a little bit of money as a result.

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