On April 10, something exceedingly rare occurred in the United States. A romantic comedy with two—that’s right, two!—Black leads opened in theaters instead of going straight to streaming. “You, Me & Tuscany,” starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page, recently opened after months of marketing. According to my records, it will be the first time this has happened since “The Photograph” in 2020. Six years is an eternity in the entertainment industry, and there have been some wonderful Black rom-coms on streaming in that time, but major theatrical releases are becoming increasingly rare. Now, with the release of “You, Me & Tuscany,” Black writers have been discussing the opportunities the success of the film could provide for the Black creative ecosystem.
On March 25, writer, director, and producer Nina Lee gave a firsthand account about the importance of “You, Me & Tuscany.” She said that she had met with two studios about romance scripts, one already shot and another written, but they won’t buy them until they see how well the movie does. Lamenting, she said, “A film that has nothing to do with me could quite literally change my life.” Now, while this was posted in an effort to encourage support for the film and get people out to the theaters, many Black entertainment followers can’t help but feel that their dollars are once again being monitored. It seems the performance of one film is being used to justify spending on an entire genre.
This isn’t the first time Hollywood has “tested” Black audiences. Similar rhetoric surrounded the demographic’s interest in science-fiction and horror circulated before “Get Out” and “Sinners” were released. Executives were making cautious bets on the films instead of trusting Black audiences to respond to stories centering them. But isn’t every film release a cautious bet for producers?
On the other hand, for every “Get Out,” there’s a “The Photograph.” “The Photograph” opened in 2020 to very modest returns and wasn’t able to break even on its $21 million budget. Since then, a majority of Black rom-coms have premiered directly on streaming. “Really Love” starring Kofi Siriboe premiered on Netflix. “Rye Lane” starring David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah was distributed by Hulu. “Sylvie’s Love” starring Tessa Thompson went straight to Amazon Prime.
It’s hard to say that executives aren’t giving these genre films a chance when films across the board are showing a decrease in sales. Movie theater attendance has declined since COVID. Whether this is due to the worsening economy or the lack of great options, the fact of the matter is that these studios are looking to make money. In the process, mid-budget films, the romances, the parody comedies, and the coming-of-age high school films get slashed in favor of IP-driven stories that have built-in audiences. Thus, newcomers and veterans alike, who once upon a time saw romances and comedies as ways to break up their schedules and portfolios, now use these genres as quality side projects. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was more advantageous to land a starring TV role than a lead in a romance for Black actors these days.
So, what’s the solution? Similar to the “Sinners” phenomenon, these executives will only respond to the bottom line. Overwhelming support at the box office could create more safety around these safer rom-com bets, on film and television. More Black actors could expand their range past well-paid action and drama films and work on more lighthearted projects. We might even get a new wave of Black stars from these rom-coms. Black storytellers could have a better chance at creating new touchstones in the genre for the next generation. The Black executives and producers that worked on those touchstones could then further revitalize Black film and TV down the road. “You, Me & Tuscany” doing well financially definitely could create an overflow effect of Black entertainment excellence.
However, I, like many other Black moviegoers, know all too well how this will probably go. There will be lots of support, but the arbitrary threshold of “success” will be just out of reach. Black rom-coms will continue to go straight to streaming and it’ll be just as hard to make new ones. As long as we’re working within a system that forces us to convince major studios that there is an audience for thought-provoking, emotional films, it will never be enough. All that said, please support this movie. The next “Love Jones” quite literally depends on it.
