Giving new meaning to the phrase good buzz, MGM's $15 million-budgeted Barbershop flipped a few wigs with a surprise $21 million haul on opening weekend. That's a record debut for star Ice Cube and one of the most impressive openings ever for a comedy featuring a mostly African-American cast.
Refreshingly, the movie's appeal was as wide-ranging as Cedric the Entertainer's unruly do. MGM estimates that at least 30 percent of ticket buyers were white -- perhaps reflecting the studio's late realization of Barbershop's mainstream potential. After initially planning to open the movie on a modest 1,200-1,300 screens, MGM decided to expand the release to 1,600 in late August after a highly positive test screening with a primarily white audience. What's more, members of the large cast -- which includes Eve (XXX) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Save the Last Dance) -- made appearances not just on BET's 106 & Park but also on The Tonight Show and Live With Regis and Kelly.
Cube was clearly pleased with the studio's efforts. ''They did what a film company should do when they feel good about a product: Market it and let the people decide whether they want to see it or not,'' says the 33-year-old rapper-actor, noting his displeasure with the campaigns for some of his earlier films.
''MGM gave it the same kind of marketing they would have given a Tom Cruise movie,'' adds Barbershop producer George Tillman, who directed 2000's $49 million-grossing drama Men of Honor. Of course, most Cruise movies don't include hip-hop tie-ins like the video for Fabolous and P. Diddy's ''Trade It All Part 2'' from the Barbershop soundtrack (which debuted in Billboard's R&B Top 10 and has sold 89,000 copies in its first three weeks).
And fans can prepare for a second combing. ''We're very hopeful about doing a sequel,'' says MGM vice chairman/COO Chris McGurk. ''This is one of those properties you can do a lot of things with. Maybe a TV show -- maybe even a stage play.'' Perhaps Cube should clear a couple of gold records off his mantel to make room for a Tony.
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.