The leggy Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney-starring rom-com should remind the industry that movie stars were built on more than just action fantasy franchises
Honestly, if there's any studio out there that might be able to make more of these kinds of theatrical star vehicles, it's Sony. Of course, every studio should be trying to make more of them alongside the franchises/IP, but since Sony doesn't have their own streaming service and doesn't have a vast collection of IP like Disney or Warner Bros., it kind of forces them to make other types of movies beyond just Spider-Man flicks.
We're also talking about the studio that turned films like Where the Crawdads Sing, A Man Called Otto, and Anyone But You into surprise theatrical hits. I'd even throw Bullet Train onto that list as well. None of them were part of a big franchise and relied on traditional star power amongst faith from the studio to become decent-sized hits. Sony does have some misses with these kinds of films (Dumb Money, 65, etc.), but with their ability to make people show up for comedies like Anyone But You and to a lesser extent No Hard Feelings, they should be making/producing a lot more of these kinds of smaller-scale and mid-budget films.
Not to mention that these films can get a second life on Netflix. Sony's current deal with the streamer allows these films to viewed by millions across the globe and if tons of people watch something like Anyone But You on Netflix, it can hopefully get people to enjoy the onscreen personas of actors like Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney and maybe get them excited to see whenever they would pop up next in a movie.
Honestly, if there's any studio out there that might be able to make more of these kinds of theatrical star vehicles, it's Sony. Of course, every studio should be trying to make more of them alongside the franchises/IP, but since Sony doesn't have their own streaming service and doesn't have a vast collection of IP like Disney or Warner Bros., it kind of forces them to make other types of movies beyond just Spider-Man flicks.
We're also talking about the studio that turned films like Where the Crawdads Sing, A Man Called Otto, and Anyone But You into surprise theatrical hits. I'd even throw Bullet Train onto that list as well. None of them were part of a big franchise and relied on traditional star power amongst faith from the studio to become decent-sized hits. Sony does have some misses with these kinds of films (Dumb Money, 65, etc.), but with their ability to make people show up for comedies like Anyone But You and to a lesser extent No Hard Feelings, they should be making/producing a lot more of these kinds of smaller-scale and mid-budget films.
Not to mention that these films can get a second life on Netflix. Sony's current deal with the streamer allows these films to viewed by millions across the globe and if tons of people watch something like Anyone But You on Netflix, it can hopefully get people to enjoy the onscreen personas of actors like Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney and maybe get them excited to see whenever they would pop up next in a movie.