Why a critically acclaimed teen comedy struggled to find its audience at the box office
In short: Olivia Wilde’s 2019 directorial debut, Booksmart, earned universal praise for its fresh, heartfelt take on the coming-of-age genre. Despite a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and being named the decade's top comedy by the site, the film faced a surprisingly difficult battle to survive in a crowded theatrical marketplace.
The film follows two high-achieving seniors, Amy and Molly, who realize on the eve of graduation that they spent their high school years too focused on academics while their peers balanced partying with success. Directed by Wilde and written by a team including Katie Silberman, the production aimed to subvert high school tropes. Wilde famously set a mantra that 'high school is war,' pushing her cast to ensure dialogue felt authentic by rewriting lines in their own voices. To build chemistry, leads Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever lived together for ten weeks in Los Angeles.
Despite the critical success, the film's commercial performance was underwhelming. Released over Memorial Day weekend in 2019, it debuted to $6.9 million, failing to meet projections of $12 million. Industry analysts suggested the film might have fared better with a limited release strategy, similar to the 2017 hit Lady Bird, rather than a wide release. Director J.J. Abrams noted that the film's underperformance highlighted a lopsided 'Darwinian fight to survive' for smaller, non-franchise films in modern cinemas.
The production was marked by creative ambition, including a hallucinogenic sequence where the characters transform into plastic dolls. Created by the animation studio ShadowMachine, the sequence required a team of thirty people over five months. While the film grossed $24.9 million worldwide against a $6 million budget, its legacy has been cemented by its cultural impact. In 2021, the Writers Guild of America ranked its screenplay 69th on its list of the 101 greatest screenplays of the 21st century, and it remains a touchstone for modern, inclusive teen comedy.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Booksmart
- Also: Wikidata — Booksmart · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Booksmart · CC0
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