Does this mean the return of action-comedies?

Interesting NYT article:

Comedy Central has a lot riding on, well, comedy. And now research it commissioned about how young men view humor has provided the cable channel with some encouraging conclusions about the preferences of its most important demographic group.

More than music, more than sports, more than “personal style,” comedy has become essential to how young men view themselves and others, the research showed.

Stuck in an elevator? Sixty-three percent of young men surveyed said they would choose to be there with Jon Stewart (or some other favorite comic), and only 15 percent said they would prefer that time with Eli Manning (or some other idolized athlete).

Eighty-eight percent of respondents said their sense of humor was crucial to their self-definition, 74 percent said “funny people are more popular,” and 58 percent said they sent out funny videos to make what might be called a special impression on someone else.

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“We called them Comedy Natives,” said Tanya Giles, the executive vice president for research at Comedy Central’s parent, MTV Networks. “Comedy is so central to who they are, the way they connect with other people, the way they get ahead in the world. One big takeaway is that unlike previous generations, humor, and not music, is their №1 form of self-expression.”

“Humor… is their №1 form of self-expression.” Hanging around college students as much as I do, I would agree on an anecdotal basis. They do like to share the latest funny videos, they enjoy making each other laugh, if someone is considered to have a good sense of humor, that is a big plus. In fact, there are several improvisational comedy troupes on campus and locally, and several of my students are involved with them.

So Hollywood would seem to be aware of this dynamic. However as we have noted many times on GITS before, the major studios are producing fewer comedies because of another dynamic: The growing importance of the international market. And conventional wisdom, born out by the numbers by and large, is that comedy doesn’t translate as well overseas. Compared to action, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, genres that rely more on visuals for their storytelling, comedies tend to depend more on dialogue which can be culturally specific.

And yet Hollywood is obsessed with young adult males, especially since a significant part of last year’s dip in movie ticket sales was due to that demo group just now showing up as much as it used to.

So put on your producer’s hat and look at those competing dynamics: Young adult males like comedy and Hollywood wants to make movies that lure young adult males back to theaters. And yet comedy does not do as well in foreign markets which studios are increasingly targeting in terms of what scripts they buy, develop and produce.

How would you solve that problem?

Prediction: We’re going to see the return of action-comedy, not remakes of movies like 48 Hrs. and Bad Boys, but a post-modern version of them. This Means War may have had the right idea, but apparently the wrong execution. The Expendables, but with more humor.

Actually if you want the poster child for what I’m talking about, it’s Red, the 2010 action-comedy that cost $58M to produce, grossed $90M domestic and $109M foreign. A balance between explosions and laughs, lots of action, lots of comedy.

What do you think? Are action-comedies the next big thing? Or am I misreading the tea leaves? See you in comments for your thoughts.

For more of the NYT article, go here.

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