100 Best Comedy Films Ever Made; 'Wicked: For Good' Dazzles With $150M; Why Universal Splitting the Musical Paid Off

View the latest from Variety ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  View on web New reader? Subscribe Daily Variety November 24, 2025 This Thanksgiving week, the Variety staff is thankful for all the laughs on the big screen over the years. To celebrate, we've created a list of the top 100 best comedy films of all time. Our film critics, editors and reporters assembled 100 of the funniest, wackiest and most influential comedies ever made. From "Annie Hall" to "Groundhog Day" to "Superbad," and 97 more, check out the side-splitting list below. Also, "Wicked: For Good" dominated the box office this weekend with a $150 million domestic opening weekend and $226 million worldwide box office. Rebecca Rubin explains why splitting the movie into two parts was a risky gamble that ended up paying off for Universal. -- Jordan Moreau   The 100 Best Comedy Movies of All Time The top 100 comedies include the slapstick genius of the silent clowns; the joyful lunacy of the Marx Brothers; the riotous repartee of screwball comedy; the sick-joke revolution of “Dr. Strangelove”; the prankster surrealism of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen; the midnight madness of John Waters; the unleashed anarchy of the “Saturday Night Live” generation; the barely controlled chaos of Jim Carrey and more. Read More 'Wicked': How Universal's Risky Gamble to Split the Musical Into Two Movies Paid Off at the Box Office More than a few eyebrows were raised around Hollywood when Universal decided to turn "Wicked" into two separate films. Yes, the stage show has been a sensation on Broadway for decades. But it's a risk to split any movie in half and count on audiences to return a year or more later for the conclusion. Musicals are already a polarizing genre, and in this case, Universal needed to turn two of them into blockbusters to justify the expensive gamble. After all, the studio spent a combined $300 million on production and roughly $250 million on marketing for 2024's "Wicked" and the follow-up, "Wicked: For Good." Read More Daily Variety Podcast On today’s episode, Variety’s Rebecca Rubin unpacks Universal Pictures’ risky decision to break “Wicked” in two parts, and how it paid off with a record haul. And Jennifer Maas gives us an update on the mood at HBO as the parent company slides into sale mode yet again. Subscribe More News SPONSORED How 'Hello Beautiful' Aims to Rewrite Hollywood's Cancer Stories Read More Box Office: 'Wicked: For Good' Dazzles With $150 Million, Biggest Debut for Broadway Adaptation Read More 'Y: Marshals' Trailer: Kayce Dutton Rides Again in First Look at 'Yellowstone' Spinoff Read More Jimmy Cliff, Legendary Reggae Musician and Star of 'The Harder They Come,' Dies at 81 Read More Billie Eilish's 'Hit Me Hard and Soft' 3D Concert Movie Set for Release by Paramount, Co-Directed by James Cameron Read More Will 'Zootopia 2,' 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' and Other Holiday Hopefuls Salvage the 2025 Box Office? Read More Zach Bryan Announces 2026 U.S. and International Tour Dates Read More Guns N' Roses Announce 2026 North American Tour Dates Read More Udo Kier, German Actor Who Appeared in 'My Own Private Idaho,' 'Andy Warhol's Frankenstein,' Dies at 81 Read More Why Does 'The Wizard of Oz' Still Cast Such a Wicked Spell? Because It's the Movie That First Flipped the Patriarchy on Its Head Read More How Brendan Fraser Confronted His Loneliness in 'Rental Family' and His Warning on AI Acting: 'It Strikes Me as a Form of Plagiarism' Read More Josh Hutcherson on Why a 'Hunger Games' Return 'Wouldn't Take Any Convincing' and How 'I Love L.A.' and 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' Got Him Out of a Major Slump Read More Events Calendar Monday Nov. 24 Tuesday Nov. 25 Wednesday Nov. 26 Singapore Film Festival through Dec. 12  Singapore Sgiff.com  Thursday Nov. 27 Thanksgiving Friday Nov. 28 Marrakech Film Festival through Dec. 6  Marrakech, Morocco Marrakech-festival.com  Saturday Nov. 29 Sunday Nov. 30 British Independent Film Awards  London Bifa.film  93rd Hollywood Christmas Parade  Hollywood Thehollywoodchristmasparade.org  Variety Podcasts Keep it in the family with our suite of Variety produced podcasts covering everything from awards to business as well as our long-form investigative series, Variety Confidential. Subscribe Your weekly edition of Variety is now available. You are receiving this as part of your Variety subscription. Read More This email was sent to mufhandu.o.itsol@blogger.com by Variety. Please add email@email.variety.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Variety Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11355 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA, 90064 View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Your California Privacy Rights | Ad Choices | Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Update Profile