Strays Gets Abandoned At The Box Office With $8.5 Million Opening Weekend
It's a dog's life for R-rated comedies at the box office these days, and "Strays" is the latest unlucky puppy to learn that lesson. Directed by Josh Greenbaum and featuring the voices of Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, the raunchy talking-animal adventure is heading for an estimated opening weekend of $8.5 million (via The Hollywood Reporter), which will leave it scrapping for fourth place against "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," now in its third weekend.
"Strays" was already starting off on the back foot, since R-rated comedies have become one of the toughest genres to succeed with at the box office. Even with the star power of Jennifer Lawrence onboard, Sony's "No Hard Feelings" wrapped its theatrical run with just $86 million worldwide, which might have turned a profit were it not for the movie's $45 million production budget. Adele Lim's "Joy Ride" was made for a more conservative budget of around $20 million, but struggled amid the crowded summer box office and left domestic theaters with a total of just $12.9 million.
Not helping this movie about animals with celebrity voices is the fact that the celebrities themselves are currently cut off from promoting "Strays." The ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike means that actors cannot attend premieres or do press tours, and even if they could, late night talk shows have been shut down since the WGA strike began in May. As seen in the photo above, Ferrell did at least do some promotion for the movie on the stage at CinemaCon back in April with help from Sophie, the border terrier who plays his on-screen counterpart.
Between the VFX requirements and the pay rates for stars like Ferrell and Foxx, "Strays" reportedly had a $45 million budget — meaning it cost about the same as "No Hard Feelings," but is now headed for a considerably smaller box office debut.
Is there still a recipe for R-rated comedy success?
One of the reasons that studios haven't given up on R-rated raunchy comedies entirely is the allure of finding that elusive slam-dunk, like "American Pie" ($11 million budget, $235 million worldwide) or "The Hangover" ($35 million budget, $469 million worldwide). Those hits have become even more elusive in the streaming age, where a lot of people don't feel much urgency to see a comedy in theaters rather than simply waiting for the home release. But in the years leading up to the pandemic there were some breakouts, including "Game Night" ($37 million budget, $117 million worldwide), "Blockers" ($21 million budget, $91 million worldwide), and "Good Boys" ($20 million budget, $111 million worldwide).
Looking at those examples, they all had one thing on their side that "Strays" doesn't: great reviews. "Game Night" in particular was not only darkly hilarious but also very visually dynamic, blending in elements of action movies and heist capers. Though /Film's own reviewer found "Strays" to be "a delightful surprise," the general consensus was more lukewarm; the movie currently holds a score of just 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's not just a skill issue, though. Timing is also important. There's not much benefit to releasing R-rated, adult-targeted comedies during or close to the school summer vacation, when all the blockbusters are vying for four-quadrant attention. "Game Night" was released in February, which was traditionally considered a "dump month," but has proven to be the perfect place to give low-to-mid-budget films a shot at dominating the box office.
Speaking of budgets, one of the reasons that horror movies so consistently manage to be financially successful is their spending restraints, and studios should apply that lesson to comedies as well. Last year's "Jackass Forever" grossed a modest $80 million worldwide, but that was more than enough for a movie that only cost $10 million to make. Spending $45 million on an R-rated comedy these days is a risk that's unlikely to pay off, no matter how many celebrity voices are in it.