Two Very Different Comedy Movies Flopped At The Box Office
The box office has been experiencing a boom as of late. Summer 2026 is outpacing 2025 by a significant margin, with huge hits like "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" ruling the box office. Unfortunately, though, they can't all be winners. Over the weekend, two very different comedies hit theaters in the hopes of serving as welcome counter-programming in and amongst the blockbuster fare. They both flopped.
Universal Pictures fared slightly better, as the rom-com "One Night Only" opened to $5.5 million at the domestic box office, landing at a distant number three on the charts. Coming in behind it at the number four spot was "Super Troopers 3" ($4 million), the R-rated trilogy capper from Searchlight Pictures. Both of these wildly divergent comedies fell well short of expectations, however, and now have mixed prospects as investments for their respective studios, when looking at the bigger picture.
Directed by Will Gluck, who was coming off the $200 million box office hit "Anyone But You," "One Night Only" centers on Allie (Monica Barbaro) and Owen (Callum Turner), two love-starved strangers who crash into each other in an alternate version of New York City on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex. Owen, who was recently dumped, and hopeful romantic Allie might be the only two singles in NYC in search of more than just a one-night-stand.
Meanwhile, once again hailing from the Broken Lizard gang, "Super Troopers 3" picks up as Farva (Kevin Heffernan) and his wildly over-the-top engagement to Thorny's (Jay Chandrasekhar) sister spirals into chaos. As such, the Super Troopers must navigate Thorny's schemes to break up their relationship, all while trying to crack a pernicious new drug ring.
Super Troopers 3 is the kind of sequel that doesn't work anymore
Starting with "Super Troopers 3," this firmly falls into the swing-and-a-miss category for Disney's Searchlight Pictures (theatrically, anyway). It fell well short of "Super Troopers 2," which raised over $2 million on Indiegogo and was released in 2018, opening to $15 million en route to $32 million worldwide. It was a modest hit but clearly one that had some staying power beyond theaters (or else Disney wouldn't have green lit a third installment).
The first "Super Troopers," released in 2002 and became something of a cult hit at the box office on its way to enjoying a healthy life on home media and becoming a cable TV mainstay. The Broken Lizard guys have been talking about "Super Troopers 3" since 2018, and they do have a loyal following. It was a low-risk proposition for Disney and, without a doubt, it didn't pan out as the studio had hoped. It was met with mixed reviews, though these movies have never been critical darlings.
This sequel really fell victim to the marketplace as it currently exists. Theatrical comedies have been dying at the box office ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Unless it's another genre with comedic elements, comedy for comedy's sake has largely been relegated to streaming. That having been said, this movie will almost certainly perform well on VOD and streaming, particularly Hulu. If this film can even recoup a portion of its modest marketing budget, it can probably make up the difference down the line. It was cheap to produce, and Broken Lizard's loyal following, along with the ability to sell "Super Troopers" trilogy collections from here to eternity, may make this a worthwhile investment in the long run. It's just not going to be a hit.
One Night Only was a shot worth taking for Universal Pictures
When it comes to Universal's latest, it's a little more surprising that the movie couldn't find at least a little more of an audience. Yes, its "'The Purge' but for sex" premise was a bit extreme, but it also gave this rom-com a unique hook. Reviews were also mixed, though /Film's Nina Starner called "One Night Only" a "wild, weird, totally unexpected rom-com pleasure" in her review.
What's particularly surprising is that rom-coms have been the one exception in many cases to comedy's recent struggles theatrically. "Anyone But You" was the first box office surprise of 2024, taking in $220 million worldwide on a very modest budget. Same director, similar stars on the verge of true breakout status. This seemed like a gamble worth taking.
Even outside of Will Gluck's filmography, we had "No Hard Feelings" giving theatrical comedy hope in 2023, taking in $87.2 million worldwide, along with "The Lost City" ($192.9 million worldwide) and "Ticket to Paradise" ($168.5 million worldwide) in 2022. Universal will likewise be okay in the long run, as this movie only has a $25 million budget. It will almost certainly find its audience on VOD and streaming, costing just as much as, if not less than, a direct-to-streaming movie would have anyway.
In both of these cases, the respective studios aren't going to lose a lot — if any — money when all's said and done. Hopefully, then, studios continue to try different sorts of comedies in theaters. For now, it's just unfortunate that it still seems to be a genre without a home, even as the box office is doing rather well, all things considered.
"Super Troopers 3" and "One Night Only" are both currently in theaters.