That's My Boy
Rate Movie[Total: 20 Average: 2.3]
- Directed By: Sean Anders
- Written By: David Caspe
- Release Date: June 15, 2012
- Domestic Distributor: Sony
- Cast: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $70 million | Financed by: Sony; Relativity |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $36,931,089 | Overseas Gross: $21,127,278 |
Screenwriter David Caspe successfully pitched Sony That’s My Boy in May 2008 and his script, originally titled I Hate You, Dad made the 2010 Black List as one of the best unproduced screenplays. This would not be the first time a script on the Black List was eventually made into a godawful movie. Sandler and his ‘creative team’ also completely rewrote the screenplay, who are not exactly known for elevating material and the end result is this lazy and expensive box office bomb.
The budget for That’s My Boy was $70 million and it was bankrolled by Sony and they received additional capital from a fund that Relativity had set up called “Beverly Blvd.” The $500 million “Beverly Blvd” would cover a huge slate of Sony movies and the studio matched the fund’s investments, creating a billion dollar fund. One of the investors in “Beverly Blvd” was the Aramid Entertainment Fund, which ended up being swindled out of $44 million. You can read about that case here, which includes this ridiculous movie. Aramid went bankrupt paying legal fees during litigation. Shady financing shenanigans aside, “Beverly Blvd” was certainly devalued by this dud.
Sony opened That’s My Boy in the US in 3,030 theaters against Rock Of Ages and it was tracking for a near $20 million opening — which was a bit lower than the usual Adam Sandler fare due to the R rating. Sandler’s previous restricted rated movies had all fared poorly at the box office, though two were lower budget (Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me) and were not broadly designed — but Funny People had little support from his built in audience. Sandler’s fanbase had also reached their breaking point with the diminishing quality of his pictures, which had arguably reached its nadir one year earlier with the travesty Jack and Jill.
Reviews were poor, which was typical for Sandler’s work, but it came in way below expectations with $13,453,714 — placing #4 for the weekend led by holdover Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. The film declined 43.3% the following weekend to $7,630,411 and then sank 70.6% in its third frame to $2,240,411 when the comedy hit Ted opened. That’s My Boy closed its domestic run after only six weeks with $36,931,089.
Sony released That’s My Boy overseas to an even worse $21,127,278. After theater’s percentage of the gross, Sony would see back about $31.7 million from the worldwide receipts, leaving much of the P&A costs in the red and the theatrical gross wouldn’t touch the budget.