Score one for true love! Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s romantic comedy “Anyone But You” hit a notable box office milestone with $200 million globally.
It stands as the highest-grossing romantic comedy in years, outperforming recent star-driven entries in the genre like Julia Roberts and George Clooney’s “Ticket to Paradise” ($168 million) and the Sandra Bullock-led “The Lost City” ($192 million). “Anyone But You” is the first rom-com in half a decade to cross $200 million, since 2018’s PG-13 “Crazy Rich Asians” ($239 million), and the first of the R-rated variety since 2016’s “Bridget Jones’s Baby” ($211 million).
“Anyone But You” debuted in December with a soft $6 million but managed to remain on box office charts into the New Year. In that time, ticket sales have climbed to 86.5 million at the domestic box office and $112.8 million internationally. The film cost $25, so it’s hugely profitable for Sony — and a reminder that rom-coms can be financially viable as a theatrical genre as long as budgets are kept in check.
Another December release, the off-beat Yorgos Lanthimos comedy “Poor Things,” also notched an impressive box office benchmark. The Oscar-nominated film, starring Emma Stone as a woman who commits suicide and is brought back to life with the brain of her unborn infant, is on the cusp of $100 million worldwide.
As it stands, “Poor Things” has grossed $99.6 million, including $32.9 million domestically and $66.7 million overseas. It’ll be only the second arthouse movie since COVID upended the indie market to surpass $100 million, following A24’s best picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” ($143 million). It also ranks as the highest-grossing film directed by Lanthimos, overtaking 2018’s Oscar-winning period piece “The Favourite” ($95 million).