After the exceptional summer of Barbenheimer, 2023 still had a phenomenon up its sleeve in December. In a time when Hollywood has stopped betting on the romantic comedy genre on the big screen, in the last days of the year, the last great box office surprise of the year was released, a movie that no one expected and managed to gross ten times its budget. 

Loosely based on Shakespeare's classic Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney (Immaculate, Euphoria) and Glen Powell (Twisters, Hit Man, Top Gun: Maverick), an actor pair at the peak of their popularity in the industry, exuding charisma and, above all, an explosive chemistry, an essential ingredient for the romcom recipe, lacking in many genre films released on streaming platforms.

If you missed the phenomenon during its theatrical run, its arrival on Movistar Plus+ is the perfect moment to discover firsthand the keys to its success. And what better time to do it than in summer, because both the genre, the wedding plot, and the Australian locations couldn't be more in tune with the summer season. 

What's It About

While trying to get the bathroom key in a café, Bea (Sweeney), a law student at Boston University, meets Ben (Powell), an employee at Goldman Sachs. They have an instant connection, spend the day together, and end up falling asleep on Ben's couch. She leaves without waking him in the morning, but reconsiders and returns to the apartment, only to hear him insult her while talking to his friend Pete.

Instead of delaying the first encounter, the movie chooses to start with an amazing date, showing why its protagonists should be together: they seemed like the perfect couple, but something happens and things don't progress further. Until they unexpectedly meet again at a wedding in Australia. 

A Box Office Phenomenon

Anyone But You became a commercial success thanks to social media, mainly on TikTok, where the movie and the main song were viralized: Unwritten, propelling Natasha Bedingfield's song to the top of platforms like Spotify and Apple Music 20 years after its release. 

Thanks to social media and word-of-mouth effect, the movie generated $88.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $131 million in other territories, for a total of $240 million in worldwide box office revenue.

In Spain, after debuting in January in fifth place at the box office with just over €300,000, it had a 79% increase in revenue in its second week. By the third week, it led the Spanish box office with another 17% increase, adding €808,167 for a total of €2.5 million.

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence