“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox” story was supposed to be the feather in the cap of what was a banner year – one that included critical and commercial successes of “Knocked-Up,” and “Superbad.” Two smashes that earned him the honor of “Mayor of Comedy” by the L.A. Times.
Instead, “Walk Hard” bombed and “the smartest man of the year” – the guy with the impeccable track-record – had a major disappointment on his hands – one that no one’s really talking about.
Or one perhaps a bomb no one wants to admit since the timing was so bad and made them look a little off-the-mark. New York magazine, put Apatow in their “Pop Culture’s Bravest” best of ’07 section on December 18 calling him a “Comedy Scientist.” One day later, ‘Walk Hard’ opened and by Sunday nights totals, was completely pwned by Will Smith’s “I Am Legend.”
Perhaps because it happened quietly during the holidays while all of us were drunk, fighting with our families and bitching about our subpar presents, but no one seemed to notice. The surprise dud debuted in its first week at #8 and taking in only $4.1 million, and it never recovered.
Any other time of year, they’re probably would’ve been a lot of analysis pieces on what this meant for Apatow’s career, but given that it happened right during the holidays, no one really noticed aside from the regular box-office recap pieces that happen each week.
What went wrong? No one seems to know. The film had a shit-ton of press, decent to favorable reviews, marketing, viral clips, fake outtakes and a concert tour starring John C. Reily to give it extra legs, but none of it worked (The only guy we could find who really discussed it, was this dude.)
According to BoxOffice Mojo, ‘Walk’ cost $35 million to make and in North America, it’s only grossed a paltry $18 million (it hasn’t opened anywhere else, but NA was the place this film was supposed to take off). Reviews were decent, but not glowing and it’s definitely been a late-season hit to the guy who seemed untouchable all year.
Poor foresight on the media (EW especially) and maybe a sign that his winning streak is over or at least needs a work? We love the guy and enjoyed ‘Walk Hard,’ more than most, but his upcoming films, “Drillbit Taylor” and “You Don’t Mess With Zohan,” look much, much worse.
It might be up to “Pineapple Express” or “Forgetting Sarah Marshall“ to save the day (they both come out summer 2008, with ‘Pineapple’ hitting in August). Maybe the “Mayor of Comedy” needs to work a little harder in 2008 to get re-elected.