‘King Of Staten Island’ Trailer: Judd Apatow And Pete Davidson’s Comedy Debuts On PVOD On June 12

Universal
UVV
released the first (and presumably only) trailer for Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island last night, just 11 days after announcing that the film would debut on June 12 not in theaters but on PVOD. While most of the big theatrical films that have skipped theaters this year as a result of coronavirus-related theater closures (Universal’s Trolls: World Tour, Warner Bros.’ Scoob and Walt Disney’s Artemis Fowl) have been kid-targeted fantasies, Apatow’s arrested development dramedy, a semi-autobiographical Pete Davidson vehicle, was intended to be R-rated counter-programming amid the conventional summer franchise films. As such, its success or failure as a PVOD title will be more closely scrutinized compared even to Focus Features’ The High Note (May 29).

It’s one thing for kid-targeted toons to flourish at home during a time when A) theaters are closed, B) families are stuck at home. Star-driven comedies like The King of Staten Island have become an increasingly challenging commercial sell even with more proven “butts in the seats” movie stars like Melissa McCarthy and Will Ferrell. Davidson may be well-known and/or famous, but the Saturday Night Live comedian. We’re just shy of the six-year-anniversary of Neighbors, the Seth Rogen/Zac Efron/Rose Byrne comedy that opened with $49 million on its way to a $150 million domestic/$274 million global cume. Four years after that, it was considered a huge win when the acclaimed and buzzy Game Night crossed $100 million on a $35 million budget.

To be fair, Universal has had comparative success in the realm of R-rated, character-centric comedies, such as Blockers ($94 million on a $20 million budget) in 2018 and both Yesterday ($164 million, including $80 million overseas on a $27 million budget) and Good Boys ($111 million/$20 million) in 2019. Nonetheless, a notion of a star-driven, R-rated comedy vehicle pulling in numbers comparable to We’re the Millers ($269 million/$37 million in 2013) or even Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck ($140 million/$40 million) is, if not implausible, certainly more challenging than it once was. Will Ferrell and Melissa McCarthy haven’t had unmitigated hits since Daddy’s Home and Spy in 2015, and Tiffany Haddish’s Girls Trip popularity didn’t translate to riches for Like A Boss or Nobody’s Fool.

Kevin Hart can still pull a crowd. His two-hander with Haddish, Night School, opened with $27 million in late 2018 while his against-type dramedy The Upside with Bryan Cranston opened with $20 million in early 2019 and legged out past $100 million. The star-driven comic vehicle, even one with a reasonable budget, is now otherwise as commercially risky as any other theatrical genre outside of DC/Marvel superhero movies, franchise-specific toons, high concept horror and live-action musicals. That’s not to say King Of Staten Island was doomed, but it’s just so hard to get folks to get off their couch for a live-action comedy, even compared to five years ago. The generational shift to VOD and streaming as hurt comedies as much as anything else.

The King of Staten Island will be available at home at the “$20 for 48 hours” rental price point. The movie looks quite good, offering a loose variation on Davidson’s real life story (his father was a firefighter who died in 9/11), and the appearance of Steve Buscemi (a former New York firefighter who temporarily returned to the job to help out after the 9/11 attacks) adds a level of authenticity. The supporting cast (Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, Maude Apatow) is aces and it just looks like a good movie. Will it be a little long, with some of its melodrama a bit too self-congratulatory? Maybe, but that’s Apatow, and that’s (mostly) okay. The King of Staten Island debuts on PVOD on June 12.