Back in April at the CinemaCon in Vegas, director Todd Phillips was asked if he was nervous about the third installment of his Hangover trilogy going up against Fast & Furious 6 over Memorial Day weekend. His answer took the form of an expletive-laden rant that concluded thusly:
“Come on, it’s … Vin Diesel and the Rock.”
Even at the time this seemed a little arrogant. I mean, the dude was talking about Fast & Furious 6 like he had just made Godfather II instead of a movie that gets most of its laughs from a half-naked Asian man.
Well, guess what, Todd? It turns out that everybody loves Vin Diesel, The Rock, and Fast & Furious 6—the critics who gave it a 72% over at Rotten Tomatoes, as well as the fans who forked over $120 million to see it over the last four days. Meanwhile, Hangover III? Not so much. The critics blasted the thing, and it earned just $51.2 million at the box office.
Will it end up making money for Warner Brothers? Yeah, probably. But not much. The thing cost them a whopping $103 million to make, thanks in large part to the increase in actors’ salaries—which including a $5 million payday for the afore-mentioned half-naked Asian man.
So here’s a new rule for directors: if your name isn’t Steven Spielberg or James Cameron, no trash-talking.
