Every year, Adam Sandler does a couple of films. On the whole, they’re all fairly profitable. Every now and then one of them is a fairly big hit. So far, Sandler’s had the kind of savvy that’s managed to avoid the colossal failures of other Saturday Night Live alums like Eddie Murphy (Pluto Nash from 2002, which grossed some $90 million under production budget at the box office) and Mike Myers (The Love Guru, which grossed some $20 million under production budget at the box office.) While a colossal failure is almost certainly on the horizon for Sandler (some of us can, at least, hope) Sandler’s future failure doesn’t seem likely to be the all-star comedy Grown Ups.
Co-written by former Comics Only second banana Fred Wolf, Grown Ups centers on five former high school friends getting together for a Fourth of July weekend. The impressive cast includes Maya Rudolph, Salma Hayek, Rob Schneider, Maria Bello, David Spade and Chris Rock - a strange mix at best, but more than enough variety to pique most people’s interest.
While it’s not destined to be a huge money maker, there’s little doubt that a far lower-budget interpersonal comedy will appeal to enough of an audience to be the solidly profitable, if forgettable work that has become standard for Sandler. (Russ Bickerstaff/BOP)
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