The 30 Best Comedy Movies of 2023 (So Far)

There's no better way to settle into 2023 than with a brand-new watchlist of all the new funny films set to be released this year. The best comedy movies of 2023 thus far range from soon-to-be animated classics to irreverent action films to several rom-com novel adaptations—and that's without mentioning the most highly-anticipated romp of the year. (Say it with me...Barbie.) Read on to discover all of the hilarious films coming to screens this year.

'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'

Release Date: December 21, 2022

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Even though this Shrek universe film came out during the holidays, word-of-mouth has made this animated adventure one of the sleeper hits of the new year. It follows Puss as he embarks an epic journey to restore the eight lives he's lost by finding the mythical Last Wish.

'Cocaine Bear'

Release Date: February 24, 2023

Starring: Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Jesse Tyler Ferguson

In case you've yet to hear about this wild thriller-comedy, it's about a bear who gets high on cocaine that's been dumped in the woods and goes on a killing spree (loosely based on a real story). While the bear torments a small Georgia town, a group of kids, criminals, and tourists work  together to take him down.

'Champions'

Release Date: March 10, 2023

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ernie Hudson, Madison Tevlin, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Kaitlin Olson, and Cheech Marin

This sports dramedy follows Marcus (Harrelson), a washed-up basketball coach who's just been fired from the minor-leagues. When he's assigned a community service order to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities, he learns how to emotionally connect with his players with the goal of playing in the Special Olympics finals.

'Chang Can Dunk'

Release Date: March 10, 2023

Starring: Bloom Li, Zoey Renee, Ben Wang, Chase Liefeld, and Dexter Darden

In this heartwarming teen comedy, basketball-loving Chang makes a bet with the school's point-guard Matt: In 10 weeks, he’ll dunk on a regulation 10-foot net. At stake is a mint-condition Charizard card, the respect of Chang's peers, and everything he thinks he knows about his loved ones and himself.

'Murder Mystery 2'

Release Date: March 31, 2023

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Adeel Akhtar, Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent, and Jodie Turner-Smith

In this sequel to the 2019 comedy, couple Nick and Audrey Spitz are now struggling full-time detectives trying to get their private eye agency off the ground. Trouble follows the pair during their trip to celebrate the wedding of the Maharaja (Adeel Akhtar), when the groom is kidnapped for ransom and each guest, family member, and even the bride becomes a suspect.

'A Tourist's Guide to Love'

Release Date: April 21, 2023

Starring: Rachael Leigh Cook, Scott Ly, Missi Pyle, Ben Feldman, Glynn Sweet, Quinn Trúc Trần, and Nsưt Lê Thiện

A travel executive (Cook) reeling from an unexpected breakup accepts an assignment to learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. Along the way, she finds adventure and romance with her expat tour guide (Ly) as they explore the country outside the guidebook.

'Love Again'

Release Date: May 12, 2023

Starring: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion

Mira Ray (Chopra Jonas), a woman who's grieving the death of her fiancé, begins sending messages to his old cell phone number, not knowing it's been reassigned. The new owner, journalist Rob (Heughan) becomes captivated with the texts and enlists the superstar he's profiling (Dion) to help him meet Mira in person.

'The Little Mermaid'

Release Date: May 26, 2023

Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, and Noma Dumezweni

The highly-anticipated live-action musical is finally arriving this Memorial Day, with Bailey playing the iconic red-headed songstress.

'Elemental'

Release Date: June 16, 2023

Starring: Mamoudou Athie and Leah Lewis

Pixar's next film that's determined to make us feel all the things is set in Element City, where fire, water, land, and air residents live together. The story follows quick-witted and fiery Ember (Lewis), whose friendship with laid-back, water resident Wade (Athie) challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.

'The Blackening'

Release Date: June 16, 2023

Starring: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji

This hilarious horror-comedy—which spins off the horror trope that the Black character is usually the first to die—follows a group of former college friends who meet up for a reunion at a rustic mountain cabin, where they're forced to play the deadly game of a mysterious killer.

'No Hard Feelings'

Release Date: June 23, 2023

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Morales, Scott MacArthur, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jordan Mendoza, and Andrew Barth Feldman

After stretching her comedy muscles in Don't Look Up, Lawrence will star in this R-rated comedy as a "ne’er-do-well" who is hired by a rich couple to befriend their socially awkward kid.

'The Perfect Find'

Release Date: July 21, 2023

Starring: Gabrielle Union, Keith Powers, Aisha Hinds, D.B. Woodside, Janet Hubert, Alani “La La” Anthony and Gina Torres

This hilarious rom-com stars Union as Jenna, a top fashion editor making her comeback after a high-profile firing and breakup. When she falls for a charming, much younger co-worker (Powers)—who happens to be her boss’ son—Jenna has to decide if she’ll risk it all on a forbidden romance.

'The Out-Laws'

Release Date: June 30, 2023

Starring: Adam DeVine, Pierce Brosnan, Ellen Barkin, Nina Dobrev, Michael Rooker, Poorna Jagannathan, Julie Hagerty, Richard Kind, Lil Rel Howery, and Blake Anderson

Owen (Devine) is a straight-laced bank manager about to marry the love of his life (Dobrev). When his bank is held up by the infamous Ghost Bandits on the week of his wedding, he believes his future in-laws (played by Bronson and Barkin), who just arrived in town, are the outlaws.

'Joy Ride'

Release Date: July 7, 2023

Starring: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu, Desmond Chiam, and Ronny Chieng

This raunchy buddy comedy from Crazy Rich Asians co-writer Adele Lim follows small-town besties Audrey (Ashley Park) and Lolo (Sherry Cola) as they travel to Beijing and get into countless drug-fueled and K-pop inspired antics.

'Theater Camp'

Release Date: July 14, 2023

Starring: Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Ayo Edebiri, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Owen Thiele, Caroline Aaron, and Amy Sedaris

When the founder of the scrappy kids' theater camp AdirondACTS falls into a coma, her clueless crypto-bro son Troy (Tatro) has to step in and work with a group of eccentric teachers and counselors to save the camp from financial ruin.

'Barbie'

Release Date: July 21, 2023

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, America Ferrera, and Helen Mirren

Plot details on Greta Gerwig's highly-anticipated film are mostly under wraps, besides the below cast teaser and this intriguing summary: "To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken." 

'They Cloned Tyrone'

Release Date: July 21, 2023

Starring: Jamie Foxx, John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, David Alan Grier, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Kiefer Sutherland

This sci-fi mystery follows an unlikely trio as they investigate a government conspiracy. If there doesn't seem to be a lot of comedy in that description, then just watch Foxx and Parris in the hilarious teaser.

'Happiness for Beginners'

Release Date: July 27, 2023

Starring: Ellie Kemper, Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, Ben Cook, Shayvawn Webster, Esteban Benito, Gus Birney, Julia Shiplett

Ellie Kemper stars as Helen, who a danger-averse woman looking to try new things following her divorce. She joins a group of strangers on a survival course for the "adventure of a lifetime" with the hope of learning how to live, and maybe even love, again.

'Red, White, and Royal Blue'

Release Date: August 11, 2023

Starring: Zakhar Perez, Nicholas Galitzine, Uma Thurman, Clifton Collins Jr., and Stephen Fry

This year we're getting an adaptation of excellent rom-com of the same name by Casey McQuiston (if you haven't read it yet, order it now and thank me later). When Alex Claremont-Diaz, the charming son of the President of the United States, and Prince Henry of England's feud hits the tabloids, the two are forced to fake a friendship, but things get complicated when forced amicability prompted by diplomacy slowly blooms into love.

'Strays'

Release Date: August 18, 2023

Starring: Will Ferrell, Isla Fisher, Jamie Foxx, Randall Park, and Will Forte

We don't know much about this comedy, but its premise—an abandoned dog teams up with other strays to get revenge on his former owner—and its absolutely stacked cast means it's a comedy to look out for.

'Bottoms'

Release Date: August 25, 2023

Starring: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Kaia Gerber, Havana Rose Liu, Nicholas Galitzine, Dagmara Domińczyk, and Marshawn Lynch

Two unpopular high-schoolers (Sennott and Edebiri) desperate to spend time with their respective crushes (Gerber and Liu) decide to start a fight club for girls to learn self-defense. (And yes, the trailer is as wild and hilarious as that premise sounds.)

'You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah'

Release Date: August 25, 2023

Starring: Sunny Sandler, Samantha Lorraine, Idina Menzel, Adam Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Sadie Sandler, Dylan Hoffman, Jackie Hoffman, and Luis Guzmán

This hilarious tween comedy introduces viewers to a new generation of comedy stars, led by Adam Sandler's talented daughters Sunny and Sadie. BFFs Stacy (Sunny Sandler) and Lydia (Lorraine) are both planning epic bat mitzvahs, but their plans unravel when Hebrew school drama and popular boy Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman) come between them.

'Love at First Sight'

Release Date: September 15, 2023

Starring: Haley Lu Richardson, Ben Hardy, Jameela Jamil, Rob Delaney, Dexter Fletcher, and Sally Phillips

Jennifer E. Smith’s novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is getting a Netflix adaptation this year, with Richardson and Hardy playing Hadley and Oliver, strangers who begin to fall for each other on their flight from New York to London. When they're separated after landing, the probability of ever finding each other again seems impossible, but their love may have a chance at defying the odds.

'What Happens Later'

Release Date: October 13, 2023

Starring: Meg Ryan and David Duchovny 

Rom-com queen Meg Ryan returns to the big screen in this movie about a pair of exes who are reunited through a twist of fate. When Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa (Meg Ryan) get snowed in at an airport overnight, they begin to wonder if they were brought together again by coincidence, or something more.

'Quiz Lady'

Release Date: November 3, 2023

Starring: Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, and Will Ferrell

Awkwafina and Oh play a pair of polar opposite sisters who are put into a bind when they're forced to help cover their mother’s gambling debts. When Anne's (Awkwafina) beloved dog is kidnapped, she and Jenny (Oh) set out on a cross-country trip to get Anne onto her favorite quiz show and win a fortune.

'Next Goal Wins'

Release Date: November 17, 2023

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, and Rhys Darby

This comedy from Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is based on the true story of the famously-terrible American Samoa soccer team, best known for losing a 2001 FIFA match, 31-0. Hoping to improve their team, they hire an unorthodox new coach (Fassbender).

'Wish'

Release Date: November 22, 2023

Starring: Ariana DeBose and Alan Tudyk

Disney's next animated musical will star Oscar winner DeBose as a girl named Asha, who's involved in an origin story of sorts for the Disney universe's "wishing star."

'Family Switch'

Release Date: November 30, 2023

Starring: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, Brady Noon, Rita Moreno, Bashir Salahuddin, Xosha Roquemore, Paul Scheer, and Pete Holmes

In this body-swap comedy, the whole family (made up of mom Garner, dad Helms, daughter Myers and son Noon) goes through a Freaky Friday situation on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, as they unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout.

'Wonka'

Release Date: December 15, 2023

Starring: Timothée Chalamet Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Calah Lane, and Natasha Rothwell

Chalamet will play a young Willy Wonka in this musical(!) prequel about the legendary Charlie and the Chocolate Factory chocolatier.

'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget'

Release Date: December 15, 2023

Starring: Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Imelda Staunton, and Jane Horrocks

The stop-motion animated classic is getting a sequel 23 years after the original, following the continued misadventures of chickens Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and charming Rocky (Zachary Levi).