First Daughter
Release Date:
September 24, 2004
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 58/126 |
Kim Hollis |
The story is rough and the end is a mess, but the actors are all charming. |
Truth is often stranger than fiction. This adage is most often proven true in Hollywood, that mystical place of lunatics with large bankrolls and heavy drug addictions. The fallout from the combination of these two, drugs and money, is that *ahem* unusual decision making is a built-in part of the process. As a cautionary tale, let's consider the case of First Daughter, a story written by one of the co-stars of Kangaroo Jack. And no, it's not even the kangaroo but instead Scream 2 med student Jerry O'Connell.
The child actor must have watched The American President one weekend, and decided that the underwritten daughter character should get a sequel that fleshed out her details a bit more. From there, the chestnut of an idea blossomed into O'Connell's first full screenplay with a greenlighted movie project as the end result. This is ten times scarier than The Exorcist could have been, no?
The idea is that the 18-year-old daughter of the president might one day choose to go to college sans secret service (editor's note: you'll notice we never said O'Connell had a good idea). The premise hinges upon the audience's acceptance that the president would allow this to happen. If you are struggling with this, please consider that the man playing POTUS is Michael Keaton, an actor who once was given a choice between Batman and oblivion, and picked the latter.
Anyway, the daughter is allowed to go off to college without the horror that is a security force with the single goal of securing her safety. Unbeknownst to our spirited young heroine is that President Mr. Mom has assigned a youthful secret service to work undercover on her campus as an Even More Secret Service agent. Mark Blucas will be playing this role, possibly because it sounds like a carbon copy of his work as Riley on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Hijinks ensue when Samantha, the president's daughter, meets up with the agent assigned to protect her and falls in love. He is hopelessly devoted to her, as is the norm in sweet teen comedies, but will the headstrong lass be able to forgive her father and him when she inevitably discovers his secret? Even more important since the actress in the lead role is Katie Holmes, will she be able to top her prior work in The Gift? (David Mumpower/BOP)
Comparison films for First Daughter |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Just Married |
1/10/03 | 17.55 |
17.55 |
2766 |
6345.00 |
6345.0 |
56.13 |
56.13 |
3.20 |
| Phone Booth |
4/4/03 | 15.02 |
15.02 |
2481 |
6054.00 |
6054.0 |
46.56 |
46.56 |
3.11 |
| Hope Floats |
5/29/98 | 14.21 |
18.26 |
2367 |
6003.00 |
7423.8 |
60.11 |
77.28 |
4.23 |
| Waiting to Exhale * |
12/22/95 | 14.13 |
19.58 |
1253 |
11277.00 |
15036.0 |
67.01 |
92.88 |
4.74 |
| Disturbing Behavior |
7/24/98 | 7.01 |
9.01 |
1842 |
3806.00 |
4706.8 |
17.49 |
22.48 |
2.50 |
| Wonder Boys |
2/25/00 | 5.81 |
6.49 |
1253 |
4637.00 |
4989.7 |
19.22 |
21.50 |
3.30 |
| Wes Craven Presents: They |
11/29/02 | 5.14 |
5.34 |
1615 |
3185.00 |
3185.0 |
12.84 |
13.34 |
2.03 |
| Abandon |
10/18/02 | 5.06 |
5.26 |
2341 |
2163.00 |
2163.0 |
10.72 |
11.14 |
2.12 |
| Go! |
4/9/99 | 4.71 |
5.61 |
1563 |
3013.00 |
3440.0 |
16.84 |
20.06 |
3.58 |
| Gift, The |
1/19/01 | 3.46 |
3.69 |
805 |
4299.00 |
4413.1 |
11.95 |
12.75 |
3.44 |
| Teaching Mrs. Tingle |
8/20/99 | 3.33 |
3.96 |
1710 |
1947.00 |
2223.0 |
8.91 |
10.61 |
2.68 |
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