Kevin James Reveals How Adam Sandler Saved His $183M Comedy: “I Thought My Career Was Over”

Paul Blart: Mall Cop is one of Kevin James' most well-known movies, but he credits Adam Sandler as the person who saved it.

James plays the titular mall security guard in the 2009 action-comedy film, where he must rise to the occasion and save hostages from a heist. It became a box office hit that grossed $183.8 million worldwide against a reported budget of $26 million, the success of which led to a sequel, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, being released in 2015. Sandler was a producer on both movies through his Happy Madison production company.

On The Drew Barrymore Show, James shared that he does not think Paul Blart: Mall Cop would have been made without Sandler's behind-the-scenes contributions. James thought the first cut of the movie was "horrendous" and would mean the end of his career. Sandler stepped in, "let areas breathe," and made the changes that James attributes to the movie becoming a success. Check out his comments below:

He saved me. He made my movie Mall Cop. I would never have gotten that made. He made it happen. We shot it, and we edited it. And you know what it's like seeing the first cut of a movie. It's horrendous. I thought my career was over. And we were so panicked. 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.

Instead of being a project that ended James' career, Paul Blart became one of James' most recognizable roles and launched a franchise. While only one sequel has been made so far, he remains hopeful that Paul Blart 3 will still happen. He told ScreenRant in 2022 that, "Yeah. Well, we've got to work that one out. I would love that. I don't know what the story is yet. But it was so much fun shooting in Vegas. That was a great time."

The cast of Paul Blart: Mall Cop also included Jayma Mays, Bobby Cannavale, Keir O'Donnell, Adam Ferrara, and Raini Rodriguez. In the sequel, Rodriguez returned to reprise the role of Paul's daughter, Maya, and the new cast featured Neal McDonough, David Henrie, Daniella Alonso, and Loni Love. Also in the sequel, Sandler's wife, Jackie, appears in the credited role of Attractive Lady, and their nephew, Jared, plays a character named Jared. James co-wrote both films, with Steve Carr directing the first and Andy Fickman directing the second.

The Paul Blart movies are far from the only Kevin James and Adam Sandler collaboration. Their other projects include I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Grown Ups, Grown Ups 2, Zookeeper, Home Team, Pixels, Sandy Wexler, Leo, Hubie Halloween, and the first three Hotel Transylvania movies. As James told Barrymore, "Everything he does, I listen. I just follow him."

17 years after Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Kevin James' newest movie, Solo Mio, has the best Rotten Tomatoes critics' score yet in his career at 81%, and this time, Sandler is not involved. While their 2009 action comedy was a surprise box office hit, it did not fare well with critics, as indicated by the 34% score on Rotten Tomatoes, nor did the sequel, which has a 6% score.

Release Date January 16, 2009

Runtime 91 Minutes

Director Steve Carr