The Hot Chick
Release Date:
December 13, 2002
Rob Schneider has surprising consistency in his short stint as a headlining actor at the box office. Deuce Bigalow was the Adam Sandler cohort's first major starring role, and he managed to carry that film to a $12.2 million opening on a weekend that is generally considered to be box-office death. More impressively, the film racked up total box office of $65.5 million against its $18 million budget and that's all before video-rental receipts of $75.5 million even entered the equation.
Last summer, Schneider followed up that newfound success with The Animal, which stunned a number of box-office analysts with its $19.61 million debut weekend. Its staying power was quite a bit less substantial than the earlier film, and it wound up with $55.8 million once it finished its box-office run. Rentals added another $41.7 million to the kitty, which means Sony had to have been pleased with the profit made relative to the $22 million budget. Whether it's luck, good marketing, or a deal with the Devil, Schneider has an undeniable ability to draw an audience, and Disney will hope to capture that same magic that they found with Deuce Bigalow when they release the diminutive actor's next film, The Hot Chick, in 2003.
The Hot Chick is a film that definitely ranks high on the list of odd plot synopses. Schneider will play a good-looking, popular and mean-spirited high-school girl. You heard me. The twist here is that the girl wakes up one day to find herself suddenly morphed into a 30-something-year-old man. As she deals with her strange circumstances and tries to find a way to get back into her own body, she learns how superficial and mean she has always been.
Co-starring with Schneider will be Anna Faris (Scary Movie), Matthew Lawrence (yes, one of those Lawrence brothers), Adam Sandler, and relative newcomer Rachel McAdams as the actual teenage "hot chick." Schneider co-wrote the film with Tom Brady, who will be directing for the first time. Brady has writing credits on terrific shows like The Simpsons, The Critic, and Sports Night, but he also had a hand in the screenplay of The Animal, so there's no real reason to expect anything more than a fun, dumb comedy in the vein of Schneider's past work.
One thing The Hot Chick will have going for it that the two previous Schneider films were missing is a wider demographic. While Deuce Bigalow and The Animal were targeted primarily toward young men, The Hot Chick should be able to capture the interest of teenage girls and young women as well, due to its subject matter. With savvy marketing, Disney may be looking at another surprise breakout hit. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
Comparison films for The Hot Chick |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Animal, The |
6/1/01 | 19.61 |
20.92 |
2788 |
7033.00 |
7219.7 |
55.76 |
59.51 |
2.84 |
| Wedding Singer, The |
2/13/98 | 19.10 |
24.55 |
2821 |
6771.00 |
8373.5 |
80.25 |
103.17 |
3.66 |
| Little Nicky |
11/10/00 | 16.06 |
17.96 |
2910 |
5519.00 |
5938.8 |
39.44 |
44.12 |
2.46 |
| Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo |
12/10/99 | 12.22 |
14.56 |
2154 |
5673.00 |
6477.0 |
65.54 |
78.10 |
5.36 |
| Night at the Roxbury, A |
10/2/98 | 9.61 |
12.35 |
1865 |
5153.00 |
6372.6 |
30.32 |
38.98 |
3.16 |
| Superstar |
10/8/99 | 8.91 |
10.61 |
1943 |
4586.00 |
5236.0 |
30.63 |
36.50 |
3.44 |
| Ladies Man |
10/13/00 | 5.43 |
6.07 |
2022 |
2685.00 |
2889.2 |
13.59 |
15.20 |
2.50 |
