'Paul Blart: Mall Cop' was underestimated

Sony and Sandler's Happy Madison Productions -- which has made six movies for the studio that have grossed more than $100 million -- loved the idea but had several concerns. First, a looming strike by the Writers Guild of America meant that James and screenwriter Nick Bakay had little time to work up a screenplay (they finished a draft in about a month), and second, Sony had to beat another mall-cop comedy -- Warner Bros.' much less family friendly "Observe and Report," from writer-director Jody Hill, due April 10 -- into theaters.

Equally important, "Mall Cop" couldn't be expensive.

Once the industry's low-budget alternative to expensive action films, comedies have grown progressively more pricey. Paramount and DreamWorks spent so much production money ($100 million) and gave away so much gross profit (about 25%) on "Tropic Thunder" that last year's Ben Stiller comedy, with a domestic gross in excess of $110 million, will barely make a profit. But the potential rewards for low-budget comedies -- including Universal's $30-million "Role Models" and Sony's $28-million "Pineapple Express" -- are far more attractive.

So Sony budgeted "Mall Cop" at $26 million, deciding that in place of expensive action scenes it would focus on family-friendly gags. "The studio, and specifically Adam, felt that the movie would have its greatest potential as a PG movie," Belgrad says.

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and a Chicago Blackhawks hockey gameIn addition to placing a "Mall Cop" trailer on almost every print of Sandler's Christmas comedy, "Bedtime Stories," Sony also bought television spots that reached adults, especially sports broadcasts such as NBA games and the NFL playoffs. Sony's promotions team flooded shopping malls nationwide the day after Thanksgiving, dressing up as mall cops and helping shoppers carry bags to their cars.

The result was not only that a large number of parents bought "Mall Cop" tickets with their kids (rather than simply dropping off) but also that the film played surprisingly well outside of major cities. "The other secret weapon was that it did proportionally even better in the middle of America than it did in Los Angeles and New York," says Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "There's an audience that maybe isn't all involved in the Oscar movies."

Belgrad and his Sony production chief partner, Matt Tolmach, have a number of modestly budgeted comedies in the works, including Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler in "The Ugly Truth"; "Bad Teacher"; the demolition derby story "The Precious View"; and "Winter's Discontent."

What's less clear is when Paul Blart might save the day again. James has been developing the comedy "Zookeeper" at MGM and may soon costar in a new Sandler comedy for Sony.

"Happy Madison historically has been very reluctant to do sequels," says a hopeful Belgrad. "But we believe there is an opportunity to make another Paul Blart movie."

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john.horn@latimes.com