Herbie: Fully Loaded

Release Date: June 22, 2005
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Movie of the Day for Monday, November 22, 2004
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Slug bug!  No returns!

On the Big Board
Position Staff In Brief
69/166 David Mumpower Yes, it's absurd but like most Disney re-makes, it perfectly parallels the tone of the older Herbie films. I got warm fuzzies a couple of times.

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Disney's favorite star is back for another round of family fun. And this time, she's brought Herbie the Love Bug along with her.

That's right, the House That Walt's Frozen Head Built is re-making yet another classic from their library. So, when it came time for casting, the studio already had Lindsay Lohan on speed dial. As long as Lohan can find an empty slot in her inexplicably crowded production schedule, she is grabbing the keys to everyone's favorite Volkswagon and taking it out for a spin. She is old enough to drive, right?

For those of you who grew up in biospheres that didn't have televisions, Herbie the Love Bug is a race car with a heart (engine?) of gold. The spirited Volkswagon beetle is the only car to drive when a plucky young heroine has to win a race in order to win the prize money, thereby saving the orphanage from having its bank loan recalled by the evil town miser. Or something like that.

The vanilla humor offered by a race-striped #53 Beetle proved so successful in the 1970s that Walt Disney turned Herbie into a cottage industry of sequels, television movies, lunchboxes and toy replicas. After the recent successes of The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday, it's rather straightforward studio thinking for Herbie to be the next logical step.

The only question, then, is how Herbie will be adopted to the modern era. The blockbuster success of the re-launch of the Beetle as a car makes an updated look easy if the studio is so inclined. As for the plot, this outing will find Herbie in a blood feud with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart. That's right! Everybody's favorite Beetle is going to try to win the Winston Cup. Nascar drivers, beware! There's a spunky economy-size car sneaking up in your rearview mirrors.

If you are worried about the cheesy premise of the script, I do have some good news here. Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, two of the geniuses behind The State, are on board. The director, Angela Robinson, is largely unknown at the moment. Her freshman
outing, D.E.B.S., performed impressively enough at Sundance to earn her a step up to the big leagues of film production. (David Mumpower/BOP)


Vital statistics for Herbie: Fully Loaded
Main Cast Lindsay Lohan, Michael Keaton, Matt Dillon
Supporting Cast Justin Long, Breckin Meyer, Cheryl Hines
Director Angela Robinson
Screenwriter Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant
Distributor Walt Disney Pictures
Trailer Click Here for Trailer
Official Site http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/herbie/
Rating G
Running Time 100 minutes
Screen Count 3,521
Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture



Comparison films for Herbie: Fully Loaded
Title
Date
Opening
Adjusted Opening
Screens
PSA
Adj PSA
Total BO
Adjusted Total
Mult
Freaky Friday 8/8/0322.20 22.20 2954 7516.00 7516.0 110.22 110.22 0.00
Parent Trap, The (1998) 7/31/9811.15 14.33 2247 4962.00 6136.4 66.30 85.24 5.49
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen 2/20/049.35 9.35 2503 3735.75 3735.8 29.30 29.30 0.00


     


 
 

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