Hollywood Strikes Out on Valentine’s Day?

Some things never go out of style.

• Tuxedoes
• Flowers on a first date
• Romantic movies for budding couples

Hollywood has a golden opportunity to help on the latter front. Or, should we say had?

A quick look at the film release calendar for Feb. 14, 2025 shows the industry forgot Saint Valentine.

Valentine’s Day weekend debuts “Captain America: Brave New World,” a film seemingly devoid of meet-cute moments or airport reunions. We’ll also see “Paddington in Peru,” the third film in a saga known for its family-friendly yuks.

Two major releases. Zero attempts to woo romantic movie goers.

The indie film “When I’m Ready” (opening Feb. 7 but expanding to VOD Feb. 14) hints at a complicated kind of love. The story follows a couple striving to find meaning on what could be the last days of Earth.

Fun date movie, no?

The weekend’s main holdovers are anti-romances. “Love Hurts” is a groaner of an action comedy about a former assassin (Ke Huy Quan) lured back into the business to defend an old flame (Ariana DeBose). You really have to squint to find the love angle here, and the stars have zero chemistry.

And then there’s “Heart Eyes.” The horror comedy follows a killer who stalks lovers on Valentine’s Day. The film has the holiday in mind, at least. Its grisly slayings aren’t catnip for the typical lovestruck couple.

Why miss a huge marketing opportunity with new Valentine’s Day movies? It’s complicated.

RELATED: HOW THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION KILLED THE ROM COM

Yes, the rom-com marketplace has struggled over the past decade. Some romances head straight to video or streaming. Others just aren’t being made, and the duds help explain why.

“Fly Me to the Moon,” a star-studded affair with a bloated budget, earned just $20 million last year.

We have seen some popular exceptions. 

The 2022 charmer “Ticket to Paradise” with Julia Roberts and George Clooney earned $68 million domestically (and $100 million more from international theaters). Last year’s “Anyone But You” opened modestly but ended its theatrical run with an impressive $88 million US dollars.

There is one new rom-com available this weekend, but you won’t find it in any theater.

The fourth film in the “Bridget Jones’ Diary” series debuts exclusively on Peacock Feb. 13. “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” stars Renée Zellweger as the title character, now a widowed mom looking for a new chapter in life.

The last film in the saga, “Bridget Jones’s’ Baby,” earned a tepid $24 million at the US box office in 2016. That explains the film’s straight-to-streaming trajectory.

How do you explain Hollywood ignoring lovers on Valentine’s Day 2025?

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