I'm not the only one scratching their heads about Hangover 2's success last weekend.
What causes the extremely rare, rated-R smash?
Industry Analysis
Why are their so few R-rated smashes?
Posted: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 11:03 pm | Updated: 12:11 am, Thu Jun 2, 2011.
TONY POTTER tony@natetonymovies.com

How in the world did "The Hangover 2" beat out "Kung Fu Panda 2" in the weekend box office? Especially on a Memorial Day weekend, when families typically crowd theaters?

There's actually a bigger question. How in the world did "The Hangover 2" grab the all-time top spot for a comedy opening? In fact, this raucous film is now second on the list of all-time R-rated openings as well (behind 2003's "The Matrix Reloaded"). So with an $86 million weekend, and a $105 million four-day holiday opening, lets take a look at what it is that brought audiences in such droves.

First of all, rated-R films are rarely serious contenders for that No. 1 spot. Historically, there are no rated R films in the top 15 biggest weekend openings, and only four in the top 50. However, the mid- to failure-level that rated R films are typically relegated to is not necessarily because of the rating — it's because of the reasoning behind the rating.

As family-orientated film critics, Nate and I avoid most R-rated films because they don't usually mesh with our values, and we don't enjoy the content. Most R-rated content is gratuitous in nature anyway, included to draw audiences who like that kind on content in, not because it has any bearing on the story.

But occasionally there is a brilliant story told in film, and when the story is finished the filmmakers and writers look back over the product and see that certain elements of the story warrant an R rating. The key difference here is that the story creates the R-rated content, as opposed to R-rated content being the driving force for audience enjoyment.

A look at some of the highest grossing R-rated flicks can help us get a clearer picture. "Gladiator" (2000) demanded a bit of violence, but how could you tell the story of a gladiator fighting his way to overthrow a monarch without some fighting? Most epic war films have the same demand. To tell a story that centers around scenes of battle, assassination, skirmishes and such, you often need to show some of those scenes. Something like "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) may take the “realism” factor a bit far, but it was in an effort to portray the story. At the top of the box office list you also find "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003), a sequel to one of the most breakthrough and brilliant films of all time, with one of the most innovative stories as well. There's also "Terminator 2" (1991), which shares an appeal similar to The Matrix franchise in that it's a sequel to an incredible world and story. R-rated smashes are hard to predict, but when they come it is easy to see the similarities between them and past hits, as is the case with Harrison Ford's 1997 "Air Force One," a brilliant thriller.

But where were we? Ah, yes … "The Hangover 2." The question is why this film didn't fall into the niche crowd that populates theaters when films such as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" or "Old School" came out? Well unlike those films, which draw on the crude factor for laughs and completely leave out a good story, "The Hangover 2" follows the success of its predecessor by focusing on a mystery-type story with great actors to carry the audience through, effectively breaking out of the crude-based category of film and entering the story-based category, allowing it to have wider appeal.

Now I am neither condoning, nor saying that I enjoy or watch all R-rated films that fit into this story-based category (“The Hangover 2” is certainly filled with not-family-friendly content). I am, however, saying that "The Hangover 2" breached typical niche lines and drew in all sorts of audiences (about 50 percent of attendees this past weekend were female, for example) by providing a good story. And although the crude content of "The Hangover 2" certainly connects with some audiences on a purely comedic level, it is the focus on writing, story and character that brings audiences out in droves.

When all is said and done, however, the typical lack of such story elements will continue to keep most R-rated flicks off the radar.