Probably Kevin James' most successful foray into leading man territory to date, the two Paul Blart films still weren't exactly critical darlings. Both films were heavily criticized, particularly for the series' view of people struggling with weight issues. However, audiences flocked to them, resulting in varying levels of profitability for both films.
By keeping in line with Happy Madison's brand of humor, albeit dialing it down from the Sandler-lead movies, Paul Blart found himself gaining quite a few long-time fans. However, there may be some things about these films audiences don't know.
The First Film Made Back Its Budget In The First Weekend
January is typically a notorious dumping ground for movie studios. A month where lesser-quality films with limited box office potential are pushed into theatres with little to no fanfare. Paul Blart: Mall Cop flipped that tendency on its head. With a budget of only $26 million, the movie went on to recoup its budget in the opening weekend alone.
Despite A High Opening Weekend, It Wasn't Frontloaded
By the end of the long weekend that included Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Paul Blart had amassed nearly $40 million and even took a while to slow down. It ended up packing theatres during a time where usually one would find only cobwebs, amassing a final domestic box office tally of $146 million.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop & Observe and Report
Seth Rogen's dark comedy Observe and Report caught some flack for being very similar to Paul Blart in that it was just another goofy heavyset mall cop movie. In reality, they couldn't be any more different.
During the productions of the two films, it was publicly stated that all was above board. They were all friends, and, as they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. However, ten years later, Rogen discovered that the team behind Paul Blart had access to and blatantly utilized material from his script.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop Was Released On UMD
Before the advent streaming movies over one's phone, there was the Universal Media Disc. Made for the SONY Playstation Portable (PSP), these tiny discs didn't last long. It always seemed like a niche product, but studios did back up the format with some fairly popular films—at least, at first.
Major studios caught on pretty quickly that the UMD wasn't doing enough to bolster the response to films like Paul Blart and quickly stopped releasing films on the format.
Paul Blart Was A Hit On DVD, Too
While the film had already made back its budget and then some in theatres, the real gravy was its home video release. In its first six days alone, the film generated over $29 million in revenue.
It stayed at the top of the charts for a while, too. By November, the film had moved over 2.8 million copies and earned investors back 46 million. It's no surprise a sequel was made, but it is surprising that it took five years to make.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2's Tax Credit
Most locals love it when a production crew comes to town; a film's production bolsters the financial strength of the community around it and frequently employs many residents of the city or county. To reward productions for doing so, they're given tax breaks. Not only did Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 receive a $4.3 million tax break, it was the first film ever to receive a Nevada film tax credit.
The Sequel Made Less Money
Going against Furious 7 probably wasn't the best idea. While that franchise film went on to sur its predecessors, Paul Blart 2 earned $71 million in comparison to its predecessor's $146 million.
While its relatively low budget of $30 million allowed it to easily achieve profitability, dropping 50% is pretty much a guarantee that an installment will end a franchise.
There Was A 2017 Petition To Make It A Trilogy
The oddest fun fact about the duology has to be that there was a 2017 petition (with 1,700 signatures) for Happy Madison to release a third film as part of their massive Netflix deal which has led to Sandler-starring "gems" like The Ridiculous 6. While the petition creator is... effusive about his love for Paul Blart, a third film doesn't seem likely.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Received Even Worse Reviews
If the original Paul Blart: Mall Cop has anything going for it, it's a double-digit RottenTomatoes score. The sequel can't say the same, as its 5% critical score makes the previous film's 34% look Oscar-worthy. The consensus reads: "Bathed in flop sweat and bereft of purpose, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 strings together fat-shaming humor and Segway sight gags with uniformly unfunny results."
It Also Received 6 Golden Raspberry Nominations
While it "won" none of them, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was Fifty Shades of Grey, the sequel was nominated for Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel. In short, the film's flippant focus on fat-shaming was time that would have been better served polishing the script.
