Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
December 31, 2008
Reagen Sulewski: As far as Joel's list goes, I'd be amused to see, say, Terrence Howard try and open You Don't Mess With the Zohan.
Pete Kilmer: I think Joel's list is pretty strong. But don't count out Sandler as too old to adapt. He's a smart guy and I could see him hooking up with the Apatow crew for something and I think he'd totally fit with them on the right project. In fact I think he'd be great to join the Apatow crew for that rumored Ghostbusters project.
Scott Lumley: Terrence Howard? Let's shoot the moon here and see if George Clooney or Tom Cruise could open that film. If we're gonna dream, we should dream big.
Jamie Ruccio: I want to take off on something Sean mentioned when he listed Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, or Adam Sandler. All of these comedic actors where bankable stars for several years. I think the shelf life of comedic actors in movies is five to seven years or two or three movies, which ever comes first. For whatever reason they don't seem to last beyond those guidelines.
I think the smart ones diversify their careers like Carrey has attempted to do with forays into more serious roles and Eddie Murphy did by embracing family fare (imagine if you'd told someone in the late '80s that Eddie Murphy would have a career in movies playing a wholesome father who talks to animals in a Dr. Dolittle remake? They'd have taken your Members Only jacket away).
I think Sandler with Bedtime Stories banked away the family demo for later use in case other ventures fail.
And if I'm Will Ferrell I'm nervous about the next few years (although if Land of the Lost is family friendly, he's perhaps ahead of me here).
Kim Hollis: Covering many, many responses to various answers that we've already received here, I think Joel's list is all wrong in a lot of ways. I'm not really understanding why so many of us here are ringing the death knell for Sandler's career. He's about as consistent an opener as is working in the business today. If we exclude his dramas (Reign Over Me, Spanglish, Punch-Drunk Love) and his animated anomaly (Eight Crazy Nights), his last seven movies prior to Bedtime Stories opened to $34 million or more and all finished in excess of $100 million. How is that not more consistent than anyone in the business? And Bedtime Stories looks to add to that success, in my opinion. It had $38 million over the four-day Christmas weekend, and I suspect he'll have another $100 million earner on his resume by the time it's all said and done.
As for his career trajectory, Pete mentions that Sandler might hook up with Judd Apatow. We already know that he has done just that as Apatow co-wrote Zohan. And Sandler's next project, Funny People, is both written and directed by Apatow. It features not just Sandler, but also current hot comedy actors like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. I think Sandler knows what his fans want, and I accept that Joel obviously isn't one of them. You still can't get past the fact that he always delivers on his promise and does so while being one of the most decent people in Hollywood, to boot. None of the people Joel lists can claim the same - at least not with some kind of franchise backing them up.
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