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    The state of the big-screen summer comedy is no laughing matter. Can the genre get its mojo back?

    by Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times Jun 26, 2018 7 minutes

    In years past, the summertime box office could always be counted on to deliver at least one mainstream comedy smash that would break out of the pack of superhero films, action spectacles and rampaging giant-monster epics.

    Think: "The Hangover," which pulled in $277 million domestically in 2009. Or "Ted," which grossed $219 million in 2012. Or, more recently, last year's "Girls Trip," which took in $115 million.

    Alas, earlier this month's "Tag" - one of the comedy genre's brighter hopes for this particular summer - was not it.

    Despite boasting an ensemble of name actors (including Ed Helms, Jon Hamm, Hannibal Buress, Jake Johnson, Isla Fisher and Jeremy Renner) and a hooky premise that seemed tailor-made for fans of past comedy hits like "Wedding Crashers" (grown men playing a decades-long game of tag), the film took in $14.9 million in its debut, less than a tenth of the haul of the weekend's other major arrival, Pixar's "Incredibles 2."

    It also came in lower than the recent openings of Amy Schumer's "I Feel Pretty" and Melissa McCarthy's "Life of the Party" - both of which have petered out around or below the $50-million mark domestically.

    At a time when comedy is enjoying a boom on the

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