Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand Movie Collaborations
The pair starred together in the romantic drama What's Up, Doc? (1972), produced by Warner Bros., and the comedy The Main Event (1979), distributed by Paramount Pictures. What's Up, Doc? is a screwball comedy that pairs Streisand as a music student with O'Neal as a businessman, while The Main Event centers on a boxing promoter and a boxer. Both films are listed in the American Film Institute catalog and appear in box office databases maintained by The Numbers and Box Office Mojo, which track historical ticket sales and studio revenues Box Office Mojo.
Neither film spawned a direct sequel, but both remain in studio libraries and are available on streaming services operated by Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global. The films are cited in retrospectives on 1970s Hollywood romantic comedies and are referenced in industry histories of the era Forbes.
Box Office Performance and Studio Economics
What's Up, Doc? earned an estimated $33 million in North American rentals during its initial theatrical run, making it one of the higher-grossing comedies of 1972, according to studio data and historical box office compilations The Numbers. The Main Event grossed roughly $17 million in U.S. and Canadian rentals, a solid result for a mid-budget sports comedy of the period.
Both films were greenlit under standard studio development models, with production budgets, marketing spend, and global distribution handled by in-house divisions of Warner Bros. and Paramount. Revenue streams later expanded to home video, television syndication, and digital licensing, which are tracked by studios and reported in earnings releases and annual reports SEC filings.
Legacy, Streaming Availability, and Cultural Footprint
The films are cataloged in the Library of Congress National Film Registry nominations and are referenced in film studies curricula as examples of 1970s studio-era romantic comedies. Streisand's and O'Neal's performances are analyzed in books and documentaries on Hollywood history, including those produced by A&E and the Criterion Collection.
Current Access and Rights Holders
Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global control the distribution rights, with digital copies available on platforms such as Max and Paramount+. Physical media releases include Blu-ray and DVD editions sold through major retailers and e-commerce platforms. The films continue to appear in retrospective lists of notable Streisand and O'Neal roles, and clips are licensed for use in documentaries and broadcast compilations IMDb.