Connie and Carla
Release Date:
April 16, 2004
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 39/92 |
David Mumpower |
Pseudo-Tranny: The Musical! |
Over the past two years, Nia Vardalos has experienced the joy of unexpected triumph with My Big Fat Greek Wedding -- and the disappointment of shocking failure with My Big Fat Greek Life. Now, the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter/actress is returning to the scene of her success -- the cinema -- as she both stars in and writes the screenplay for Universal's Connie and Carla.
A Victor/Victoria for the '00s, the film tells the story of the titular-named Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette), two struggling dinner theater performers to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and witness a mafia hit, endangering themselves as the people responsible want to eliminate witnesses.
The ladies, knowing that they must run for their very lives, decide that the killers will never search for them in a place empty of culture -- so they settle on the soulless city of Los Angeles. There, they take on new identities and discover that their very average abilities as singer/dancers lend themselves perfectly to a new career. As "drag queens," the pair suddenly becomes the toast of the cabaret circuit, with their fame spreading a little further than makes them comfortable.
Not only do they find their ruse more and more difficult to maintain, they also realize that their personal relationships are more complicated. Connie meets a guy named Jeff (David Duchovny), who is in the city to search for his drag queen brother. Though Connie would like to explore a relationship with him, he has no idea of her true identity. Meanwhile, the mafia is closing in on them as their fame spreads -- it's kind of hard to stay "undercover" when your popularity is through the roof.
It's certain that Universal will attempt to capitalize on the breakout success of My Big Fat Greek Wedding in its marketing campaign; what remains in question is whether the people who enjoyed that film's earnest charm will follow Vardalos to a far less conventional story. With Vardalos as the theoretical biggest name on the marquee (Collette is wildly talented but not an actress who enjoys widespread recognition), Connie and Carla will be a true test of the quirky actress's marketability. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
Comparison films for Connie and Carla |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Evolution |
6/8/01 | 13.41 |
14.31 |
2611 |
5135.00 |
5271.3 |
38.31 |
40.88 |
2.86 |
| To Wong Foo... |
9/8/95 | 9.02 |
12.50 |
1294 |
6971.00 |
9294.7 |
36.47 |
50.55 |
4.04 |
| Return to Me |
4/7/00 | 7.82 |
8.74 |
2007 |
3896.00 |
4192.4 |
32.48 |
36.33 |
4.15 |
| My Big Fat Greek Wedding |
8/2/02 | 3.00 |
3.11 |
657 |
4569.00 |
4569.0 |
241.41 |
250.99 |
68.02 |
| Flawless |
11/24/99 | 1.77 |
2.10 |
478 |
3703.00 |
4227.8 |
4.45 |
5.30 |
2.21 |
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