The Tuxedo
Release Date:
September 27, 2002
Move over, Feathers McGraw. Your techno-trousers can't possibly compare to the high-tech gadgetry that will be seen in The Tuxedo.
Hot off the heels of the US release of The Accidental Spy, Jackie Chan will again play an ordinary guy who becomes a spy due to circumstances beyond his control. In The Tuxedo, Chan is a truck driver who finds and begins wearing a device-filled tuxedo after he helps a comatose secret agent. One can only assume that madcap hilarity and action follow.
Jennifer Love Hewitt is in talks to co-star, and Kevin Donovan will attempt to make the jump from directing commercials to his first feature film, which will go from start to screen in five months. Since filming for The Tuxedo is on such a rushed schedule, a date change or two is likely, but that may actually work out to the movie's benefit.
Chan's US films have consistently shown a tremendous level of success, and the trend certainly looks as though it could continue with the release of The Tuxedo. Word is that DreamWorks hopes to have a Tuxedo franchise on its hands, so I would expect the marketing to be gangbusters. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
September 20, 2001 As anticipated, the release date for The Tuxedo wound up being pushed back; however, giving it a summer release is likely to reap dividends after the performance of Chan's recent summer blockbuster, Rush Hour 2. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
April 11, 2002 The fact that The Tuxedo was moved from June to October can't bode well for the film's quality, particularly since a trailer had just been released within the past week and all signs seemed to point toward a build in momentum. It may wind up being reworked a bit. It has now seen moves from March to June prior to this most recent date shift. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
April 26, 2002 Though the film has been moved to August from that aforementioned October release date, my concerns about quality probably still stand. I'll guess this film moves around a bit more before it's all said and done. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
June 28, 2002 And we're back to October. As a Jackie Chan fan, I'm starting to get impatient. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
September 13, 2002 Merciful God, the execs over at DreamWorks are having a harder time sticking with a date for more than a nanosecond than Winona backstage at the Lollapalooza tour. As of _:00:00, Eastern Standard Time, September __, the release date for The Tuxedo is slated for September 27, 2002. But in this case more than ever, check your local listings.
As the release date has at least allegedly gotten closer, more details about the plot have emerged. Chan's character, Jimmy Tong, is reportedly a cab driver whose breakneck driving abilities so impresses a passenger (Debi Mazar) that she recruits him as the personal chauffeur to "playboy millionaire" Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs).
The job is going well, until a Plot Contrivance, oops, an "accidental explosion" sends Devlin to the hospital, where Tong promises his new boss that he will "get those bastards that did this to you, old friend!" Or something like that anyway. Returning to Devlin's apartment to think and presumably snoop around to discover exactly what kind of secrets this playboy millionaire has hiding in his closet, Tong discovers he just can't resist the siren song of Devlin's prized tuxedo. And faster than you can say "Smmmmmmmokin!", shy cabbie Tong is transformed into a super, tricked out secret agent type who is licensed to both kill AND drive.
Though apparently, Tong (or Chan) must have assassinated Gandhi in a prior life, because his partner and fellow ass-kicker in this set up ends up being rookie agent Jennifer Love Hewitt, who doesn't exactly inspire fear in the hearts of villains (other than via her pop song stylings). They partner up to save the world's bottled water supply (?!) from the nefarious plottings of Dietrich Banning (Ritchie Coster) and everyone's favorite back alley eyeball surgeon and wood-chipper warranty flaunter, Peter Stormare.
Presumably, wackiness is still planning to ensue. We here at BOP still love Jackie Chan, but remain concerned about quality concerns that are usually behind most studio release date flip floppings. (Calvin Trager/BOP)
Vital statistics for The Tuxedo |
Main Cast |
Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, Ritchie Coster, Debi Mazar, Brian Rhodes, Larissa Larkin |
Supporting Cast |
Boyd Banks, Mia Cottet, Daniel Kash, Peter Stormare, Scott Yaphe |
Director |
Kevin Donovan |
Screenwriter |
Michael J. Wilson, Michael Leeson |
Distributor |
DreamWorks |
Trailer |
Click Here for Trailer
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Official Site |
http://www.dreamworks.com/thetuxedo |
Rating |
PG-13 |
Running Time |
98 minutes |
Screen Count |
3,022 |
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Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
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Comparison films for The Tuxedo |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
Rush Hour 2 |
8/3/01 | 67.41 |
71.94 |
3118 |
21619.00 |
22193.0 |
226.14 |
241.35 |
3.35 |
Rush Hour |
9/18/98 | 33.00 |
42.42 |
2638 |
12509.00 |
15469.6 |
141.17 |
181.50 |
4.28 |
Shanghai Noon |
5/26/00 | 15.61 |
17.46 |
2711 |
5758.00 |
6196.0 |
56.90 |
63.65 |
2.90 |
Rumble in the Bronx |
2/23/96 | 9.86 |
13.45 |
1736 |
5680.00 |
7453.4 |
32.35 |
44.13 |
3.28 |
First Strike |
1/10/97 | 5.78 |
7.59 |
1344 |
4301.00 |
5434.8 |
14.53 |
19.08 |
2.51 |
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