‘Pixels’ Continues Adam Sandler’s Box Office Losing Streak

The once red-hot star of “Waterboy” and “Big Daddy” fails to reverse his string of disappointing big-screen releases

Adam Sandler has been reliably unreliable at the box office lately. And “Pixels” continued his slump with a disappointing $24 million opening weekend after tracking significantly higher a few weeks ago.

The $88 million video-game adventure extended a recent losing streak for the 48-year-old actor, whose recent releases have included disappointing indies like this spring’s “The Cobbler,” which grossed just $24,000, and last fall’s “Men, Women & Children,” which topped out at $704,000.

Even recent studio releases like 2012’s “That’s My Boy” with Andy Samberg underwhelmed, taking in just $36.9 million. That’s a big drop from 15 years ago when he scored his biggest domestic hits, “The Waterboy” (1998) and “Big Daddy” (1999), which raked in an impressive $161.5 million and $163 million, respectively.

Even so, Sandler still has some muscle at the foreign box office. “Blended,” his 2014 reteaming with Drew Barrymore that grossed just $46 million in the American market but $80 million overseas.

So despite a disappointing opening weekend, it’s not game over for “Pixels.”

Sony Pictures, which Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions has long called home, is counting on foreign audiences to turn “Pixels” into a hit. So far, the film has grossed $3.3 million in South Korea.

But after this September’s animated sequel “Hotel Transylvania 2,” Sandler will pivot from a dependence on make-or-break big-screen openings. His next four films are part of a multipicture deal with Netflix, which doesn’t even report its viewership figures.

Below, TheWrap takes a look at how Sandler’s last 10 movies before “Pixels” fared at the box office — including their budget, and domestic and foreign totals.

the cobbler
Illumination Entertainment

1. The Cobbler (2015)

Budget: $10 million
Domestic box office: $24,000
Foreign box office: $517,249
Summary: The Image Entertainment film follows a frustrated shoemaker that finds a magical sewing machine that allows him to see the world in a new perspective when he steps into the lives of his customers.

menwomenchildren
Paramount Pictures

2. Men, Women & Children (2014)

Budget: $16 million
Domestic box office: $705,908
Foreign box office: $1.5 million
Summary: The movie follows a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they navigate the way the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.

blended
Warner Bros.

3. Blended (2014)

Budget: $40 million
Domestic box office: $46 million
Foreign box office: $80 million
Summary: In the second film co-starring alongside Drew Barrymore, “Blended” is about a man and a woman who find themselves at a family resort together after a bad blind date. However, their attraction grows as the movie goes.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

4. Grown Ups 2 (2013)

Budget: $80 million
Domestic box office: $133.7 million
Foreign box office: $113.3 million
Summary: In the sequel to “Grown Ups,” Lenny (Sandler) moves his family back to his hometown to be with his friends, where things get crazy.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

5. Hotel Transylvania (2012)

Budget: $85 million
Domestic box office: $148.3 million
Foreign box office: $210 million
Summary: This Sony/Columbia animation comedy centered around Dracula who operates a high-end resort for villains, far away from the human world. However, he is forced to go into an overprotective mode when a boy discovers the hotel.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

6. That’s My Boy (2012)

Budget: $70 million
Domestic box office: $36.9 million
Foreign box office: $20.8 million
Summary: Sandler and Andy Samberg play father and son in this comedy: Donny (Sandler) father a son, Todd (Samberg) and raised him as a single parent. After not seeing each other for years, Donny resurfaces just before Todd’s wedding, turning his world upside down.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

7. Jack and Jill (2011)

Budget: $79 million
Domestic box office: $74.2 million
Foreign box office: $75.5 million
Summary:  It’s about Jack Sadelstein (Sandler) who prepares for Thanksgiving, an event he dreads every year because of his visiting twin sister, who then refuses to leave.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

8. Just Go With It (2011)
Budget: $80 million
Domestic box office: $103 million
Foreign box office: $111.9 million
Summary: On a weekend trip to Hawaii, a wealthy plastic surgeon (Sandler) convinces his assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his soon-to-be divorced wife as he tries to cover up a lie he told to his younger girlfriend (Brooklyn Decker).

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

9. Grown Ups (2010)

Budget: $80 million
Domestic box office: $162 million
Foreign box office: $109.4 million
Summary: Five friends and former teammates (Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade) reunite for a Fourth of July weekend after their high school basketball coach passes away.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures

10. Funny People (2009)

Budget: $75 million
Domestic box office: $51.8 million
Foreign box office: $19.7 million
Summary: George Simmons (Sandler), a comedian, learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition. His desire to form a friendship causes him to take a comedian (Seth Rogen) under his wing as his opening act.

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