With ‘Bottoms’ and ‘Cocaine Bear,’ Brownstone Productions Is Reviving the R-Rated Comedy
variety.comJaden Thompson Everyone remembers their first R-rated movie. Maybe you snuck into a theater trying to pass as 17, or maybe your parents didn’t care for censorship.
Either way — whether it’s a movie with gore, expletives or nudity — that first experience leaves an impression. Max Handelman, who co-founded Brownstone Productions with his wife, Elizabeth Banks, recalls watching John Landis’ “Kentucky Fried Movie” and “Animal House” in his youth.
His colleague Alison Small, head of film at Brownstone, distinctly recalls watching “White Men Can’t Jump” with her family and seeing “American Pie” in a packed theater with friends.
Now, Handelman and Small have found success trying to rekindle that experience for a new generation of moviegoers, with two of this year’s stand-out R-rated comedies: “Cocaine Bear” and “Bottoms.” That has been an uphill battle.
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