{"id":577186,"date":"2026-04-11T03:35:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/577186\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T03:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T03:35:13","slug":"how-you-me-tuscany-box-office-impacts-future-black-rom-coms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/577186\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ Box Office Impacts Future Black Rom-Coms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOn March 25, filmmaker Nina Lee<\/a> was about to give a speech to a room full of high school students, advising them how to navigate the Hollywood film business.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the Atlanta native was in a tough spot. She was frustrated because her recent rom-com project, \u201cThat\u2019s Her,\u201d starring Coco Jones and Kountry Wayne, was stuck in post-production limbo \u2014 neither picked up nor flat-out rejected by the various studios she\u2019d approached. Before starting her speech, she reposted her tweet<\/a> warning audiences that studios were watching to see how the upcoming rom-com \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany,\u201d now playing in theaters, performed at the box office.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMet with a studio about my already shot romcom and they won\u2019t buy it until they see how \u2018You, Me & Tuscany\u2019 does. Met with an exec about a romance script I have, they won\u2019t buy it until they see how \u2018You, Me & Tuscany\u2019 does. Go see this film!\u201d Lee wrote in a post on X that now has over half a million views.<\/p>\n

1. Met with a studio about my already shot romcom and they won\u2019t buy it until
They see how You, Me & Tuscany does <\/p>\n

2. Met with an exec about a romance script I have, they won\u2019t buy it until
They see how You, Me & Tuscany does <\/p>\n

3. Go see this film!<\/p>\n

\u2014 nina lee (@NinaSerafina) March 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tA few hours later, when Lee finished her talk and checked her phone, she had numerous texts and notifications from friends and new followers. Her tweets had been picked up by popular X accounts like PopCrave<\/a> and DiscussingFilm<\/a>, with people sharing their incredulity over the situation.<\/p>\n

every year there\u2019s a study that comes out saying people are starved for diversity and we\u2019ve got execs still thinking we collectively, as black people, are only as good as the latest black film https:\/\/t.co\/QbcvyhEl1o<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 lyvie scott (@lyviescott) March 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s bringing light to an issue that affects not just Black female directors or Black directors, [but] all minorities,\u201d Lee tells Variety.<\/p>\n

\n\tLee\u2019s film, \u201cThat\u2019s Her,\u201d follows the story of a corporate-climbing playboy falling for an office temp. The movie wrapped production last September and Lee spent the fall meeting with studios at sales screenings, but did not receive any offers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had a lot of execs reach out to my manager, and they were like, \u2018Oh, they want to meet you, because you did such an incredible job and they want to give you some words of encouragement,\u2019\u201d Lee recalls. She received praise for pulling off a large-scale production on a modest budget, but no other solid critiques. At the various meetings she had, five of them told her roughly the same thing: \u201cWe\u2019re not at a place where we can purchase rom-coms, but there are some Black rom-coms coming out in 2026 we want to monitor and see how those do before moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the executives did not specifically name which projects they were eyeing, it was easy enough for Lee to infer they were referring to Universal\u2019s \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany,\u201d one of the few Black-led rom-coms from a major studio to hit theaters in recent years.<\/p>\n

\n\tProduced by Will Packer<\/a>, \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany\u201d follows a young, free-spirited cook (Grammy-nominated singer-turned-actress Halle Bailey<\/a>) who impulsively squats in an empty Tuscan villa and gets caught up in a world of adventure when she meets and falls in love with the homeowner\u2019s cousin (\u201cBridgerton\u201d alum Reg\u00e9-Jean Page<\/a>). It\u2019s a sweet, sun-drenched story featuring all the well-worn rom-com tropes of mix-ups and misunderstandings. But the movie also carries the weight of pressure to perform at the box office.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a pressure Packer \u2014 whose resume boasts smash hits like \u201cGirls Trip\u201d and 10 movies that have opened at No. 1 domestically, including the \u201cThink Like a Man\u201d and \u201cRide Along\u201d franchise films \u2014 is used to navigating. He knows there\u2019s \u201ca lot of eyes\u201d on his film, and that\u2019s been the name of the game for Black filmmakers for decades. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople from Oscar Micheaux to Spike Lee to the Hudlin and Hughes brothers, they\u2019d all like a word, because they\u2019ve been dealing with this way before Will Packer \u2014 and that is just the reality,\u201d Packer quips.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen it comes to \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany\u201d predicating the future of films like it, he adds: \u201cIf the dollars make sense, then you\u2019ll see more of it and Hollywood will change and adjust. So, I am trying to do my part to be successful in a language that Hollywood understands \u2014 which is not really the language of social justice, it\u2019s really the language of economics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDr. Ana-Christina Ram\u00f3n, who co-authors the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report, says Hollywood is ignoring its own data. \u201cIt\u2019s never really an issue of if Black movie goers will support a Black-led movie, because you can see that they do,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the 2025 report<\/a>, Ram\u00f3n and her team elaborated that within the top 20 theatrical films of the previous year, \u201cBIPOC men unambiguously made up the largest audience share for ten of these films, whereas BIPOC women accounted for the largest audience share for another six films. White women and white men each made up the largest audience share for just one of these top 20 films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRam\u00f3n adds that if audiences are aware that a Black-led movie exists, they will go see it, which presents the first hurdle for Black-led films to overcome.<\/p>\n

\n\tA few factors determine how well a movie does at the box office, according to Dr. Stacy L. Smith, founder of USC\u2019s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative: \u201cIt has to have a great story. Secondly, it has to be supported by production and marketing dollars. And lastly, it has to be released in a lot of theaters. Those determinations \u2014 production costs, marketing costs, distribution, density \u2014 are all in the hands of executives, and it\u2019s clear that these executives are completely out of touch with Gen Z, and that over 40% of the U.S. population identifies as non-white.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWithout the promotional backing of studios, it feels near-impossible for films to achieve their full potential. And if studios don\u2019t think the audience will return their investment, it is unlikely for them to push projects they don\u2019t believe in.<\/p>\n

\n\tPacker thinks \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany\u201d wouldn\u2019t have gotten made without the backing of Universal \u2014 not because it wasn\u2019t a strong story, but studios view releasing rom-coms theatrically as a dicey proposition since the growth of streaming.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt actually does matter what it does at the box office,\u201d he says. [\u201cYou Me & Tuscany\u201d is projected to more than $10 million, a solid start for a movie carrying an $18 million budget.]<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt matters for the Nina Lee\u2019s of the world and for audiences that want to see films like this get made,\u201d Packer explains. \u201cIt matters for the next white romantic comedy that somebody is thinking about green lighting as a theatrical proposition.\u201d But there\u2019s power in that, he adds: \u201cHollywood watches and then they react. Hollywood will react to the audiences more so than audiences realize; they have the power to dictate what\u2019s made in Hollywood. You vote with your dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBailey shared her take on Lee\u2019s situation in an interview with Complex<\/a>, saying, \u201cI feel like it almost isn\u2019t fair for us to have to [hear], \u2018Oh, well, we\u2019re gonna watch how this one does. And then we\u2019ll green light you.\u2019 We are known for breaking barriers and not letting anything stop us as a community, and I think that even when the goalposts may be moved every single time, we still will persevere, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Black actors in Hollywood, Bailey and Page have both faced immense pressure and racism in their careers. Their castings as Ariel in Disney\u2019s live-action \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d and Duke Simon Basset in the Netflix series \u201cBridgerton,\u201d respectively, spurned similar hate campaigns, with the hashtags #NotMyAriel and #NotMyDuke trending on social media. Despite the backlash, both projects went on to be major successes, paving the way for them to be seen as viable stars of a major studio movie.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHalle Bailey and Reg\u00e9-Jean Page on the set of \u201cYou, Me & Tuscany,\u201d directed by Kat Coiro.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Credit: Giulia Parmigiani\/<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s no small feat, especially for Bailey, Smith points out. \u201cWomen of color typically are given the least amount of access and opportunity, and yet, our recent economic data has shown that they do just as well at the box office [as] their white male counterparts,\u201d Smith explains, adding that while women of color represent about 20% of the American population, in 2025, only 15% of leading roles in films were portrayed by women of color.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn recent years, romantic comedies have been positioned as risky theatrical bets, with most rom-coms heading straight to streaming<\/a>. The greenlighting of POC-led rom-coms, specifically, speaks to the interests of women, who, according to Smith, are responsible for \u201c50% of ticket sales,\u201d with slight genre variations.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s really interesting that Hollywood has backed off from the idea of romantic comedies, because it\u2019s more of an issue of underestimating the power of women at the box office,\u201d says Ram\u00f3n. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of the fact that people of color are really driving the theatrical industry success, and then you see that films are doing well due to women. It\u2019s underestimating the fact that you could be making a ton of profit with [POC-led] romantic comedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe topic of missed opportunity weighs heavily on Lee\u2019s mind as well. Among the outpouring of support she received after her posts was a story from an Asian filmmaker who told her his original script received similar feedback from studios, telling him they were waiting to see how 2018\u2019s \u201cCrazy Rich Asians\u201d performed. When it was a smash hit, he was reportedly told it was \u201can anomaly,\u201d and studios were unsure if the success would \u201ccontinue to translate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHow do you win when the goal is moving?\u201d says Lee. \u201cYou think you see the goal, and you think you know how to shoot to score, but as soon as you think you\u2019ve got it, they just move it. How do we as filmmakers survive when that keeps happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success of films created by and for certain demographics doesn\u2019t necessarily pave the way for future opportunities. Take the billion-dollar success of Greta Gerwig\u2019s \u201cBarbie\u201d in 2023 or the Academy Award-winning achievements of last year\u2019s \u201cSinners,\u201d for example. Will Hollywood take the right lessons away from those smash hits? That remains to be seen. But the hope is that the industry will recognize the financial incentive of introducing diverse perspectives. <\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Lee, her film \u201cThat\u2019s Her\u201d was selected for the American Black Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere next month. ABFF is a big showcase for the movie, which will screen in a lineup that includes buzzy projects like \u201cGirl Dad,\u201d starring Marsai Martin and Courtney B. Vance and produced by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, plus Malcolm D. Lee\u2019s Peacock thriller \u201cStrung,\u201d led by Chloe Bailey. Lee hopes that after making a splash in Miami Beach, \u201cThat\u2019s Her\u201d will capture the attention of distributors.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have stories to tell as well. Our stories matter,\u201d says Lee. \u201cYeah, I win as a director, but then an audience wins because they get to see themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n