Ryan Gosling Blames The Angry Birds Movie for Killing The Nice Guys 2, But Box Office Data Says Otherwise
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Ryan Gosling blames The Angry Birds Movie for the lack of a Nice Guys sequel, but box office data shows that Neighbors 2 was the real reason the comedy struggled at launch.
Ten years after Shane Black released his buddy cop comedy The Nice Guys, fans are still wondering why a sequel never happened. Ryan Gosling has a simple theory, claiming in recent interviews that The Angry Birds Movie destroyed their opening weekend and tanked their chances at a franchise. While it makes for a funny villain in his origin story, box office analysts point out a few flaws in the logic, starting with the fact that the feathered mobile game adaptation was far from the only competition on May 20, 2016.
According to Shawn Robbins, Director of Movie Analytics at Fandango, family animation rarely steals ticket sales from an R rated adult comedy. Instead, the real culprit behind the soft box office numbers was likely Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, which opened the exact same weekend and siphoned off the exact demographic that would have gone to see Gosling and Russell Crowe. The Nice Guys pulled in a modest eleven million dollars against Angry Birds and its thirty eight million dollar haul, but it was actually Neighbors 2 claiming the third spot that really crowded the theater space.
Despite a disappointing theatrical run that left Warner Bros. with a narrow margin, The Nice Guys has grown into a massive cult hit over the last decade through streaming and word of mouth. With both lead actors maintaining strong box office pull and studios increasingly eager to greenlight nostalgic revivals, industry experts suggest a sequel is not completely out of the question. For now, Gosling might want to direct his retroactive frustration toward Seth Rogen instead of digital birds.
Original reporting by Brian VanHooker at Polygon
Tags: Film, Box Office, Culture, Streaming, Nostalgia
Original article: Polygon