How 'Crazy Rich Asians' compares to the highest-grossing studio romantic comedies since 1997
- "Crazy Rich Asians" has proven that people want to see diverse stories on the big screen, and that people still want to watch romantic comedies, which have been ignored by studios for years.
- Business Insider put together a graphic showing the highest-grossing rom-com every year since 1997 to show the box-office numbers at their peak and at their worst - and to show how "Crazy Rich Asians" compares.
- "Crazy Rich Asians," which opened August 15 and is still in theaters, has already made more money at the box office than multiple movies on the list.
Romantic comedies were once a cinema staple and a reliable money maker for studios. But they saw a major slump in the 2010s. A once-fun genre that - at its best- provided a culturally relevant twist on a predictable story became dated in its inability to adjust over time.
Because of their lack of originality, rom-coms started to bomb at the box office. And studios stopped making an effort with rom-coms, so much so that there were no rom-coms released by any major studio in 2017.
But "Crazy Rich Asians" has changed this attitude. It exceeded box-office predictions, and is the first romantic comedy since 2015's "Trainwreck" to top $20 million its opening week. And three weeks later, "Crazy Rich Asians" has already made more money than "Trainwreck" did throughout its entire theatrical run.
"Crazy Rich Asians" continues to break box-office records. In its second weekend, the box-office numbers only dropped a rare 6%. For context, "The Incredibles 2," the biggest movie of the summer, saw a 56% drop in box-office turnout its second weekend. "Crazy Rich Asians " had the biggest Labor Day weekend box office in 11 years.
Business Insider made a graphic to show how much money the highest-grossing studio rom-com made each year since 1997. In it, you can see the decline of interest in the traditional rom-com in the 2010s. It also shows how well "Crazy Rich Asians" is doing in comparison to the highest-grossing rom-coms since 1997.
Three weeks into its theatrical run, "Crazy Rich Asians" has already made more money than seven movies listed: "America's Sweethearts" (2001), "Valentine's Day" (2010), "Just Go with It" (2011), "The Big Wedding" (2013), "The Other Woman" (2014), "Trainwreck" (2015), and "How to Be Single" (2016). And it will no doubt pass more as its run continues.
Note: There is no movie listed for 2017, when there were no rom-coms released by major studios.
