When 2023’s Anyone But You became a sleeper hit, it felt as though the theatrical romantic comedy was back. Since then, the most popular on-screen romances haven’t received the silver screen treatment. Instead, hopeless romantics are finding their love stories in new places by heading to their local bookstore or subscribing to a streaming service.

Romantic comedies, which used to be guaranteed box office gold, have left theaters throughout the 2010s. The general sentiment in the industry states that audiences want more out of their $16 movie tickets and almost $10 popcorn. Premium prices require spectacle or a premium format that is best suited to blockbusters rather than witty banter and swoon-worthy smooches. More often than not, seducing an audience member to a theater requires huge marketing budgets that can often be the same as a film’s production budget. For a single title, this can nearly double a studio’s overall spend, making mid-budget films like romances and comedies too big a risk. 

With every major media conglomerate now owning at least one SVOD service, releasing a romance, comedy, or other non-guaranteed box office hit on streaming is becoming the status quo. For example, the newest installment in the Bridget Jones series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2025), was marked for a Peacock release to avoid having to double the film’s production cost on marketing the title for a theatrical rollout. Talent like Renée Zellweger and the recognizable Bridget Jones franchise become an enticing offering for a service like Peacock that is looking to grow its subscriber base. 

Streaming is additionally an obvious choice for nostalgic franchises like Bridget Jones, where audiences can binge prior installments as well as a new release all on the same service. This makes the entire series a marketing tool for the service itself, which is a bigger win for NBCUniversal than an even moderately successful theatrical release might be.

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell in the Box Office Surprise, ‘Anyone But You’ via Sony Pictures Releasing

Swooning on Streaming

With romance moving to an at-home release schedule, the transition from a traditional movie rom-com into a television series became commonplace for the genre. Bridgerton’s debut season in 2020 broke Netflix records and became a must-watch binge for audiences globally. It reaffirmed that Hollywood’s tradition of adapting books to screen was still a viable strategy for success while also proving that romance was a suitable genre for television series. 

Additionally, streamers found that a series might offer more financial viability for a similar price as a traditional romantic comedy film. For example, Bridgerton reportedly spends $7 million per episode, or approximately $56 million per season. While this is more than double the budget of Anyone But You, it’s also quadruple the runtime, which can be spread into multiple parts, keeping subscribers onboard throughout multiple pay cycles. Bridgerton‘s appeal to an overwhelmingly female audience also has a financial benefit, as the series has spawned numerous partnerships that have proven more successful than merchandise campaigns geared toward men. 

Combining the streaming model with serialized adapted content has now become a recipe for not only financial success but also virality. This summer, the internet is desperate for each new episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty. The show, based on the book series of the same name and written by Jenny Han, has produced a fan base so passionate that the creative team is urging fans not to take the shipping of the characters too far. Han has become one of many authors who are defining the current romance genre onscreen through the adaptations of their novels. Like Han, Emily Henry, one of the most beloved authors in the genre, has had each of her seven novels optioned off to huge streamers.

Additionally, these authors, including Han, are finding roles behind the camera as showrunners and even directors. In the most recent season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Han made her directorial debut for the episode “Last Dance,” which closely adapted fan-favorite scenes from her novel We’ll Always Have Summer. 

Season 3 of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ was released in two multi-episode parts, extending subscriptions

Adapting Known Love Stories 

Because these adaptations are based on IP that already has a fan base, they are able to tap into this future audience before a movie or series is in production. The Love Hypothesis, a wildly successful BookTok novel from author Ali Hazelwood, was just announced to be in production. The novel itself has an extensive backstory, as it was confirmed by the author to be adapted from a fanfiction she previously wrote about Star Wars characters Kylo Ren and Rey Skywalker, played by Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley, respectively. 

While neither actor will appear in The Love Hypothesis movie, Ridley’s real-life husband, Tom Bateman, will be playing the Kylo Ren-inspired character, Dr. Adam Carlsen. The casting news has fans buzzing online over the serendipitous connection between adaptation, fanfiction, and source material in a way that could never be manufactured with even the most adept marketing and social teams. While it’s yet to be decided whether The Love Hypothesis will make its release in theaters or on streaming, engaging with the novel’s fanbase can serve as a litmus test for the financial advantages either release strategy might provide.

The romantic comedy may never again hold the same theatrical status it did in the 90s and early 2000s, but it certainly isn’t disappearing. All of the efforts by streamers to tap into existing fan bases and serialize viewers’ experiences have updated and expanded the genre. Straight-to-SVOD rom-coms are allowing the majority of female fanbases greater access to these titles without the high costs of visiting the movie theater. Adapting more female-written novels to screen is bringing more women into the film and television industries, which is further redefining what modern-day romance looks like onscreen. 

Whether the love story they’re watching is released weekly, based on a book, or entirely original, hopeless romantics are only going to have more romance to enjoy as the genre continues to evolve.

Article Courtesy of Sasha Raquel

Feature Image from ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ Credit to Prime via Variety