10 Awesome 2023 Movies That Didn't Deserve To Flop

Comedy is another genre that's struggled theatrically in recent years, and that goes double when they're R-rated.

Case in point, Adele Lim's Joy Ride released to strongly positive reviews, yet ended up grossing just $15.2 million - not even half its $32 million budget.

Despite its refreshingly raunchy tone and killer ensemble cast, Lim's film underperformed in its opening weekend and never recovered.

First and foremost, you can point to the difficulty of making audiences turn up for comedies on the big-screen these days, but also the lack of major stars involved, and perhaps also some of the movie's more visually graphic moments turning some audiences away.

It absolutely didn't deserve this fate, yet with R-rated comedies almost entirely eliminated from the theatrical landscape, it also wasn't hugely surprising.

That Jennifer Lawrence's No Hard Feelings released mere weeks earlier and managed to gross $87.1 million is a testament to the role star power plays in marketing multiplex comedies today. And alas, Joy Ride just didn't have that.