This summer, STX quietly fell backwards into an unbelievable smash hit with “Bad Moms.” When it opened in third place on its opening weekend opposite “Jason Bourne,” its prospects looked pretty grim, but it has since quietly tallied up $112 million domestic. That’s remarkable for the R-rated comedy starring Christina Applegate, Kristen Bell, and Mila Kunis, earning much more than other raunchy summer laughers like “The Nice Guys,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,” and “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.” Clearly, the movie — an original, female driven comedy — filled a niche that wasn’t being served. However, that point seems to have gone over the heads of STX completely.
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The studio has announced that next summer they’ll release a spinoff entitled “Bad Dads.” Finally, a comedy about men! It seems the studio has no idea what made “Bad Moms” so compelling for audiences, so rather than continue to bank on the talent of Applegate, Bell, and Kunis, they’re going to make “Daddy’s Home,” essentially, I guess. However, the studio says they are trying to avoid a followup in a climate where sequels aren’t doing as well as the originals.
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“Where other studios have automatically green lit traditional and significantly more expensive sequels, STX has determined those sequels on average are grossing 68% less than the originals. Instead, STX has chosen to focus on extending consumer passion for the ‘Bad Moms’ brand with a series of film spin-offs, a reality television show, short form digital content, and a robust consumer products program,” they said in a statement.
So, in short, you’ll be able to buy “Bad Moms” branded food items and watch the same version of the movie — but with dudes! — before you see Applegate, Bell and Kunis in a movie again. Clearly, STX are trusting data and numbers over what audiences actually told them by buying tickets to “Bad Moms” (which is currently still on screens around the country, in its twelfth week of release).
“Bad Dads” opens on July 14, 2017. [Deadline]