Executives at Walt Disney studios are asking Hollywood creatives for movies aimed at teenage boys, according to recent reporting in Variety . On one hand, this is hilarious. Since at least the 1980s, movie studios have been fixated on catering to an audience of teenage boys. This is not a new concept.

On the other hand, teen films as a genre — most of which were geared to all kids, regardless of gender — are a casualty of the changing business model brought on by streaming, as studios have abandoned mid-budget films to focus almost exclusively on blockbusters.

I can’t think of a single teen movie that’s played in theaters this year. Does “Freakier Friday” qualify?

Not really, according to Jacqueline Johnson, a teaching associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. The 2003 vers

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