Kevin James looked back on the movie that nearly ended his career, and the friend who saved it.
Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show to promote his latest romantic comedy, Solo Mio, James revealed that the first cut of his 2009 comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop left him terrified.
“We shot it, and we edited it. And you know what it’s like seeing the first cut of a movie. It’s horrendous,” he admitted. “I thought my career was over. And we were so panicked.”
That’s when Adam Sandler, who produced the film, stepped in.
“He saved me. He made my movie Mall Cop. I would never have gotten that made,” James said.
“Adam goes, ‘Relax, buddy. Let me check it out.’ He looked at it. He let areas breathe, and he just knew what to do with it. And he made the movie that was. It was just amazing.”
The comedy, which James also cowrote and coproduced, went on to gross $183 million worldwide on a $26 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
Its success spawned a sequel in 2015 and cemented James as a comedy star.
James has since reunited with Sandler on multiple projects including Grown Ups and Here Comes the Boom.
He told Barrymore that he considers Sandler “the greatest.”
“Everything he does, I listen,” James said. “I just follow him.”
