Modified On June 20, 2012
E! Online.com solicited a quote from the editors of this magazine for an article entitled, “What Killed The Adam Sandler Comedy?”
E! Online’s Joal Ryan speculates on why, after a ten-flick string of $100-million-grossing pictures, Adam Sandler has had two bombs in a row. We responded, via text message:
“I think Sandler will bounce back,” Brian McKim, cofounder of the comedy blog SHECKYmagazine.com, said in a text: “He’s got an awful lot of good will to draw upon, and a lot of success, too. A coupla bombs probably won’t put a dent in his trajectory.”
We added:
Besides, he can always embark on a tour of live shows/personal appearances to remind his public of his standup roots.”
We’re disappointed that the second part was omitted. It’s the part that’s most interesting. Sandler has an advantage over so many box office stars in that he can always get in peoples’ faces– and entertain them… and makes boatloads of money– by utilizing that skill that gained him notoriety in the first place, i.e., standup comedy. We suppose that Al Pacino (who co-starred in “Jack & Jill,” Sandler’s movie first in a long time that failed to crack the $100-million-domestic-gross ceiling), is doing something similar, starring in “An Evening With Al Pacino” at theaters throughout the U.S. (We only were aware of this because he was coming up at the Durham Performing Arts Center last time we were here in Raleigh.)
We rarely enjoy an Adam Sandler movie. We’ll watch one on occasion and conclude, “Well… it’s not intended for us.” We are not sure who the target audience is, but they certainly flock to his movies and even the “bombs” are wildly successful– although “J & J” broke his string of successes, it still grossed $150 million worldwide on a budget of $79 million.
This is but a bump in the road for Sandler. He’s currently working on the sequel to “Grown Ups,” which was Sandler’s most successful movie to date!