After a String of Losses, Adam Sandler Is Back on Top
Adam Sandler and his frequent studio of choice, Sony Pictures, have had a 2015. Coming off abumpy end to 2014, Sony had a long dry spell at the box office this year with Sandler’s beleaguered video game-focused film Pixels among several disappointments. Both Sandler and Sony desperately needed a win and they got one this weekend with, of all things, Hotel Transylvania 2. According to BoxOffice Mojo, the animated sequel raked in $47.5 million at the box office making it the most successful September opening ever, easilySony’s biggest hit of 2015, and Sandler’s most lucrative film in over a decade.
Pixels wasn’t Sandler’s only flop of late. In fact his last four films including Blended,Men, Women & Children, and the direct-to-video release The Cobbler were all pretty much dead on arrival. But Hotel Transylvania 2 was expected to do well. The first installment set the previous record for best September opening and even nabbed a Golden Globe nomination in 2012. Not only that, but with 2015 films like Inside Out ($775 million worldwide) and Minions ($1.1 billion worldwide) continuing to dominate at the global box office, it’s clear that whatever impact increasingly competitive home theater set-ups are having on the multiplex, the world of animation remains relatively unscathed.
Sandler and his famously versatile voice, is a perfect fit for animation. Film festival efforts like The Cobbler and Men, Women, & Children aside, Sandler’s juvenile approach to comedy—once so popular—seems to be wearing out its welcome with audiences and critics alike. Maybe that makes a move to the kid-friendly realm of animation a natural fit for Sandler’s boyish charms. As for Sony, with positive advance buzz on Goosebumps and the latest Bond installment, Spectre, right around the corner, they might still make it out of 2015 in good shape.
