Pretty Woman celebrates 30 years, but could the movie be made today?

Pretty Woman debuted in March 1990 and quickly became a smash hit, propelling newcomer Julia Roberts to stardom. Thirty years later, the romantic comedy still ranks as one of the highest-grossing rom-coms of all time. And it’s easy to see why.

No one saw the success of Pretty Woman coming. An R-rated Disney film about a sex worker who falls in love with a high-powered executive, the movie was originally pitched as a dark drama with Vivian (Julia Roberts) being addicted to cocaine. Thankfully, the premise was rejected and rewritten as a modern-day fairy tale. Today, it remains Disney’s highest-grossing R-rated film.

For the millions of fans who have seen the movie (over and over), this comes as no surprise. The chemistry between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere set the screen ablaze and compelled more and more viewers to shell out their hard-earned cash to see these two find their happily ever after. After all, who can resist a rich Prince Charming and a down-on-her-luck Cinderella? Well, they couldn’t…then.

The question is: Today, would viewers accept a movie about a sex-worker falling in love with an uber-rich mogul and rescuing her? The star of the movie doesn’t seem to think so. Though she won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal as the street-savvy prostitute, Julia Roberts admitted in an interview with the Guardian that the film probably couldn’t be made today.

"“I don’t really think you could make that movie now, right? So many things you could poke a hole in, but I don’t think it takes away from people being able to enjoy it.”"

The movie doesn’t focus on the true realities of being a sex-worker, and it might seem simplistic to some. Maybe even offering a too-easy way out that rarely happens in the real world. But, in all honesty, most stories behind movies, especially those offering happily-ever-after, rarely happen in the real world. That’s one of the main reasons why Pretty Woman was so successful.

Though Roberts might think this movie wouldn’t fly today, Robert Moran of The Sydney Morning Herald isn’t so sure as he explained in his March 2019 article.

"This is, after all, an industry that last month bestowed its highest honour on a film widely criticised as a “white saviour” fantasy. The Happytime Murders, that grotesque Muppets-starring sex romp, was released in cinemas just over six months ago. If that’s not proof you can still make pretty much anything in Hollywood, I’m not sure what is."

Whether Pretty Woman could be made today and achieve the same amount of success is unknown. Thankfully, we have the original which we can watch over and over.

Will you be watching Pretty Woman again in honor of its 30th anniversary? Though you can’t stream Pretty Woman free online, for a nominal $3.99, you can watch the movie on Amazon and Vudu.