Buddy Overload?

Is the buddy-cop genre tapped out?

Rob Cohen, co-producer of Universal’s “The Hard Way,” thinks that’s why his picture has been a surprising dud at the box office.

“I think this proves the public has lost its appetite for these films,” Cohen tells us. “Unless you’ve got a franchise like ‘Lethal Weapon,’ I don’t think buddy-cop movies can pull them in anymore.”

“The Hard Way” seemed to have the makings of a spring hit. The only action-comedy in the marketplace, it paired Michael J. Fox with James Woods as a spoiled Hollywood actor and tough New York cop improbably partnered to catch a killer. Reviews were largely favorable.

But after two weeks, the movie fell to fifth place, with cumulative ticket sales of just $12.2 million.

Cohen also feels that the end of the Persian Gulf War put audiences in a mood “the opposite of what you’d expect. . . . It’s as if a kind of introspection is going on. Instead of using comedy as a relief, there seems to be a need for something more grim and intense.

“I think ‘Silence of the Lambs’ (the top film for four weeks) taps into that.”

Cohen and co-producer/director John Badham are philosophical about “The Hard Way,” and expect it to be a video hit.

“The obligation of filmmakers is to make good pictures,” Cohen says. “But then, just like a surfer on a board, you hope to catch a wave. We were out there with a board on a flat sea.”