When the first trailer for New Year’s Eve arrived it was one of about three different trailers for generic rom-coms featuring Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” but this time around New Line isn’t pulling a repeat and going with Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything”. After all, if you’re trying to sell a generic romantic comedy built on names and what’s hot at the moment and sure to be cold the next you have to adapt with the times.
If you were unaware, New Year’s Eve is the unofficial sequel to Valentine’s Day with Garry Marshall returning to direct and doing so with a cast of thousands. Here’s the list: Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Hector Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Hilary Swank and Sofia Vergara.
This is a list of names I only wish I could see each actor’s pay stub. How much does it cost to get Halle Berry, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in this film? And what does their deal look like compared to Ashton Kutcher, Josh Duhammel and Jon Bon Jovi?
I’m not necessarily saying one deserves more than the other, especially when you consider Berry, De Niro and Pfeiffer aren’t exactly hot tickets at the box-office any longer as much as they are simply bigger names, but in a cast like this I’d almost think the more pop culture names make for a bigger draw, names like Lea Michele and Zac Efron. Am I wrong in this thinking?
New Year’s Eve hits theaters on December 9, which tells me by the time the holiday for which it’s named rolls around this thing will continue to be a hot ticket. After all, as much as I loathed Valentine’s Day, it did make over $56 million on its opening weekend and ultimately made over $110 million domestically and over $216 million worldwide. Can’t argue with those numbers.
New Year’s Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.
