In the film, Jack (Sandler) was living an almost perfect life, with the exception of one, annoying constant – his twin sister Jill (also played by Sandler). Every year he has to tolerate a Thanksgiving visit from his smothering sister, who doesn’t take long to turn his life upside down. As the weekend intrusion starts stretching into a month, the siblings fight, tease, and bicker in the way only twins can. When it becomes clear Jill is never leaving, Jack sets into motion several schemes that he hopes will return Jill to where he loves her most – the other side of the country.

“What I found interesting was that somewhere partway through the production I thought of Adam as playing Jack, but I thought of Jill as if she were her own person. Adam didn’t walk around off-camera acting like Jill, but after a while, it was as if Jill was a woman we hired who happened to look remarkably like Adam.”

In the film, Sandler plays Jack, an advertising executive who is one commercial away from hitting the big time – or, if the deal falls through, unmitigated disaster. Into this turmoil comes his twin sister, Jill – who always makes things more complicated than they need to be.

“I knew Adam would have no problem playing Jill. The part he worked at was to play Jack,” says Steve Koren, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sandler. “Jack’s the kind of guy who’s a little bit on edge – he’s had to work to make that guy different from who he really is.”

While writing the film with Adam Sandler, Koren found some interesting things. “Some twins actually create their own language when they’re little kids, so we invented a special, private language that only Jack and Jill speak,” he says. “We also found out that twins have a bond that is a lot stronger than some siblings, so we tried to incorporate as much of that as possible.”

Playing the dual role required an ingenious sense of timing from Sandler. “Part of the joke was that Jack and Jill would do the exact same things at the exact same time,” Koren explains. “What that meant, of course, was that Adam would do the scene once, and then he’d redo it as the other character. It was almost like a dance, a ballet; Adam had to have incredible focus and perfect timing. It was pretty incredible to watch.”

Describing the character and the plot of the film, Koren explains, “Jill had only two constants in her life – taking care of her parents and the love of her bird, Poopsie. She’s sacrificed her personal life. When she comes to visit Jack for the holidays and won’t leave, Jack tries to help her find a guy – a guy who he hopes will get her out of his house.”

Opening across the Philippines on Feb. 22, “Jack and Jill” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Adam Sandler Plays the Dual Roles of ‘Jack and Jill’ originally appeared on Starmometer on February 7, 2012.

When you get together with your family for the holidays, everybody has that one family member who drives you crazy. They mean well, and you love them, but still…

For Jack (Sandler), that’s his sister – his twin sister – Jill (also played by Sandler). Growing up, their lives were incredibly intertwined. But ever since Jack moved away, they have moved in different directions. Jack has become a highly motivated and successful ad executive in L.A., while Jill was the one who stayed back east and took care of their parents. Now, they see each other only once a year, at Thanksgiving, when Jill comes to L.A. for a visit. Time and distance have taken a toll on their relationship – and now Jack finds himself enduring Jill’s annual visit, rather than enjoying it.

Still, it’s just a couple of days, right? Wrong. Jack and Jill get off on the wrong foot – just like always – and the only way Jack can make things right is to ask Jill to stay on through Hanukkah, giving her some time to enjoy everything L.A. has to offer, from game shows to horseback riding. Still, Jack isn’t exactly pleased that his sister is extending her trip…

And adding to Jack’s stress is the fact that things aren’t going all that well at his ad agency. His biggest client, Dunkin Donuts, is demanding that Jack deliver Al Pacino to perform in a new Dunkaccino commercial. Jack wonders how in the world he is going to get Pacino – does he even do commercials? – and his quest is intensified when he finds out that the famous actor is having a nervous breakdown and losing his mind. Having played one too many roles, the actor is starting to confuse reality with the parts he is playing and is acting out in some increasingly erratic ways.

When Jack takes Jill to see the Lakers, he approaches Pacino about the commercial, but is stunned when Pacino is much more interested in talking to Jill. It turns out that Jill reminds Pacino of everything he left behind – his boyhood home in the Bronx, his childhood – and for Pacino, who is preparing to play Don Quixote on stage, something clicks. Because he’s having trouble with reality, suddenly, Jill isn’t Jack’s wacky sister… she’s Dulcinea, Don Quixote’s idealized romantic love – and Pacino must conquer her affections to realize his quest.

Trouble is, Jill isn’t interested. But Pacino will not be brushed aside so easily. Inviting himself to Jack and Jill’s surprise birthday party, he sweeps Jill off her feet and takes her for a private party at his home – but Jill still isn’t biting, which only inflames Pacino’s passion (and insanity). It’s not clear who’s more upset – Jill, from the experience, or Jack, who thinks his chance to get Pacino could be over, or Pacino, who is completely losing it for Jill.

For Jack, now the shoe is on the other foot: he has to try to convince Jill to extend her trip even further and give Pacino one more shot. It’s a move that sets in motion a wild, outrageous series of events that reveals to Jack who the most important people in his life are – and have always been.

Opening soon across the Philippines on February 22, “Jack and Jill” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Video Link: “Jack and Jill” Full Trailer

Twice the Fun, Twice the Mayhem in ‘Jack and Jill’ originally appeared on Starmometer on January 22, 2012.

“We were incredibly fortunate to get the voice cast that we have. Adam Sandler got on board first to play the monkey – and now, I can’t imagine anybody else playing that part,” says director Frank Coraci.

In the film, the animals at the Franklin Park Zoo love their kindhearted caretaker, Griffin (Kevin James). Finding himself more comfortable with a lion than a lady, Griffin decides the only way to get a girl in his life is to leave the zoo and find a more glamorous job. The animals, in a panic, decide to break their time-honored code of silence and reveal their biggest secret: they can talk! To keep Griffin from leaving, they decide to teach him the rules of courtship – animal style.

“Adam is so talented, he could have voiced any animal in this movie, but I can’t think of a better match than the monkey,” says co-screenwriter Nick Bakay. “The monkey is one of our best animal actors – it did incredible faces and exhibits tons of personality, just like Adam.”

Cher joins the film as the zoo’s lovely and loving lioness, with Sylvester Stallone as the king of the jungle himself. Nick Nolte plays Bernie, the gruff gorilla, who becomes an unlikely friend to Griffin. The voice cast also includes Judd Apatow as Barry the elephant; Jim Breuer as a neighborhood crow; Jon Favreau and Faizon Love as Jerome and Bruce, a pair of quarreling grizzly bears; Richie Minervini as an ostrich; Maya Rudolph as a Mollie the giraffe; and UFC fighter Bas Rutten as Sebastian the wolf.

“If the lion is king of the jungle, Janet is the power behind the throne,” says Cher of her character. “But she totally plays it cool. Like all powerful ladies, she can let her man play the big man – it’s enough for her to know that he knows who’s in charge.”

Adam Sandler plays Donald, a Capuchin monkey with a big mouth and big ideas for Griffin on how he can win his lady love. “I was first on board, and I’m a producer on the movie, so I got to pick which animal I wanted to be,” Sandler explains. “The monkey was the only animal smart enough, handsome enough, and funny enough to handle my voice coming out of its mouth.”

Sylvester Stallone brings his unique voice to Joe, the lion. “Joe likes to think he’s the king, but the rest of the animals have other ideas about who’s really in charge,” says the actor.

Though the filmmakers opted to use real animals wherever possible, one instance required movie magic. “Gorillas are endangered,” says producer Mark Forbes. “No private party can own a gorilla. So, we used an animatronic gorilla suit to play the role of Bernie.”

The first step was to capture Bernie’s voice, and the filmmakers turned to Nick Nolte. “Nobody has muscles like Bernie, and nobody has the voice of Nick Nolte,” says Coraci.

How did he capture a gorilla’s distinctive growl? “I kind of have a growl to my voice anyway,” says Nolte. In the movie, Bernie has been isolated from the other animals and most other people, and Nolte was determined to express the character’s loneliness in his vocal performance. “I played that detached feeling,” he says. “That started working right away – ‘Keep going,’ they said – and we decided to do the whole movie in that first session.”

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 21, “Zookeeper” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Sandler, Stallone, Cher Lead Voice Cast of ‘Zookeeper’ originally appeared on Starmometer on September 16, 2011.

Also starring in the movie are Katie Holmes and Al Pacino.

Synopsis: Jack and Jill is a comedy focusing on Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler), a successful advertising executive in Los Angeles with a beautiful wife and kids, who dreads one event each year: the Thanksgiving visit of his identical twin sister Jill (also Adam Sandler). Jill’s neediness and passive-aggressiveness is maddening to Jack, turning his normally tranquil life upside down. Katie Holmes plays Erin, Jack’s wife.

Directed by Dennis Dugan, “Jack and Jill” will be released to theaters on November 11, 2011.

Watch the trailer here:

Jack and Jill – Movie Trailer originally appeared on Starmometer on September 2, 2011.

Also starring in the movie are Katie Holmes and Al Pacino.

Synopsis: Jack and Jill is a comedy focusing on Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler), a successful advertising executive in Los Angeles with a beautiful wife and kids, who dreads one event each year: the Thanksgiving visit of his identical twin sister Jill (also Adam Sandler). Jill’s neediness and passive-aggressiveness is maddening to Jack, turning his normally tranquil life upside down. Katie Holmes plays Erin, Jack’s wife.

Directed by Dennis Dugan, “Jack and Jill” will be released to theaters on November 11, 2011.

Adam Sandler Takes on Dual Role in ‘Jack and Jill’ originally appeared on Starmometer on August 20, 2011.

The film tells the story of Danny (Sandler), as a plastic surgeon romancing Palmer (Decker), a much younger schoolteacher. He enlists his loyal assistant (Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.

Last year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl, it’s easy to see why a guy like Danny would fall for Brooklyn Decker. “Palmer is a really sweet girl, a naïve, compassionate, and hopeful math teacher,” says Decker. She falls in love with Danny, and he decides this girl might be the one for him. So he gets caught up in this whole web of lies to try to convince Palmer that he’s a decent guy.”

Decker had auditioned for “Just Go With It” and was in the mix for the part when last year’s Swimsuit Issue hit newsstands. “That was a total whirlwind,” she remembers. While she was doing publicity for the magazine, “that week, I got a call asking if I could come out for the table read with Adam, Jen, Nicole [Kidman], and Nick [Swardson] – so I came out to do it, and that evening I got a call from Adam saying, ‘Hey, kid, you want the part – it’s yours.’”

Director Dennis Dugan says Decker had the chops to hang with her more seasoned co-stars. “Obviously, she’s extremely beautiful, but it turns out she’s just a natural actress,” says Dugan. “She’s very sweet and a good actress.”

“Acting is effortless for her,” says co-star Nick Swardson. “She’s just so funny, natural, charming, organic; it’s so real. There’s nothing corny about her – her performance is just genuine.”

It might have been intimidating to take on such a key role for her first film, but Decker couldn’t have asked for a better set. “I’m the new kid on the block, and I’m surrounded by these amazing people, but they were all very encouraging and made the set a lighthearted place. Everyone was so talented – everyone was funny – it was really an opportunity for me to challenge myself under the best circumstances.”

Of course, it wasn’t all serious work. “The guys were playing pranks on each other and making jokes and laughing all day. It’s a really fun way to work.”

Decker tried a prank of her own – but it didn’t work out so well. “I had the fart app on my phone – you push the button and it makes this wretched noise,” says Decker. “It was a scene where Adam and I were in bed together – it’s incredibly quiet and the camera pans were very slow. I had the phone under the pillow, and I’m snuggled with Adam and when the camera panned over I was planning on releasing the fart app. So I do, and he barely hears it. He thinks it’s my stomach growling, and he just says, ‘All right, let’s do that again.’” That was my failed prank.”

Opening across the Philippines on Feb. 16, “Just Go With It” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Sandler Falls for Supermodel Brooklyn Decker in ‘Just Go With It’ originally appeared on Starmometer on February 14, 2011.

The 44-year-old actor took his wife Jackie Titone and their two daughters Sadie, 4, and Sunny, 2, along to the unveiling on Hollywood Boulevard, and the proud star admitted he still feels very lucky to even get to work on films.

The “50 First Dates” star said: “I work hard as a comedian, then I got on TV, then I got on the movies. So many people come out here with the same dreams I have and I’m getting to do that. I really appreciate it.”

Both his daughters praised their father – who stars in upcoming romantic comedy ‘Just Go With It’ with Jennifer Aniston – saying into the microphone: “I love my daddy.”

And Adam’s family looked on proudly as he unveiled the 2,431st star on the Walk of Fame.

Sandler stars in Columbia Pictures’ new romantic comedy “Just Go With It” as a plastic surgeon romancing a much younger schoolteacher. He enlists his loyal assistant (played by Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.

Sandler has enjoyed phenomenal success as an actor, writer, producer and musician. His films have grossed over $3 billion worldwide. His most recent film, “Grown Ups,” is the highest-grossing of his career, taking in more than $271 million worldwide. Sandler also recently starred in “Funny People,” written and directed by Judd Apatow starring with Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Eric Bana, as well as the box office smashes “Bedtime Stories,” “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.”

Later this year, Sandler will lend his voice for the Columbia Pictures’ comedy “Zookeeper” alongside Kevin James, Sylvester Stallone and Rosario Dawson, and will star in both title roles in “Jack and Jill,” also for Columbia.

Previously, Sandler has been seen in the box-office hits “Click,” starring with Kate Beckinsale, and “The Longest Yard,” starring with Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds. He also starred in James L. Brooks’ “Spanglish,” opposite Tea Leoni; the romantic comedy “50 First Dates,” with Drew Barrymore; “Anger Management,” with Jack Nicholson; and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love,” for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor.

Opening across the Philippines on Feb. 16, “Just Go With It” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Adam Sandler Gets Star at Hollywood Walk of Fame originally appeared on Starmometer on February 10, 2011.

When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.

At the center of “Just Go With It” is an everyday guy who has let a careless lie get away from him. “At the beginning of the movie, my character, Danny, was going to get married, but he gets his heart broken,” says Adam Sandler. “The night of his heartbreak he happens to have the ring on and a young lady is nice to him, because she thinks he’s married and thinks he’s harmless and won’t do anything that other guys were trying to do. A light goes off in his head.”

The ring becomes his scheme to avoid getting his heart broken: the ladies think he’s off the table, and with no strings attached, no one gets hurt – especially not Danny. But when he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), the girl of his dreams, his lies come back to haunt him – she thinks he’s married. Instead of coming clean, he chooses to weave an even more tangled web: he invents a fake wife – to be played by his long-suffering assistant, Katherine (Aniston) – from whom he can get a fake divorce, clearing the way for smooth sailing with Palmer.

But that’s just the start – as Danny and Katherine attempt to keep up the charade, the lie keeps getting bigger and bigger. “Every lie has a domino effect,” says director Dennis Dugan who most recently directed Sandler in “Grown Ups,” the star’s biggest worldwide hit to date, taking in more than $260 million.

Before Katherine knows it, her kids, Maggie and Michael, have been looped into the lie, but they’ll need a little more convincing… especially when Michael sees a way to turn the tables on Danny. Before he knows it, Danny is on his way to Hawaii with a fake wife, fake kids, his real cousin (who’s playing the fake wife’s fake boyfriend) – all in an effort to convince Palmer that he’s a stand-up guy.

Overseeing the production is director Dennis Dugan, whose films have taken in more than a billion dollars worldwide. Dugan marks his sixth collaboration with Sandler on “Just Go With It” (and recently wrapped production on their seventh, the comedy “Jack and Jill,” in theaters this fall). The director says that he has enjoyed his fifteen-year relationship with Sandler. “We have a great way of working together,” he says. “I try to figure out what he wants to see, what he wants, what he’s picturing in his head, and then I try to put my spin on it and see how magnificent we can make it.

“There’s a specific way that we work together,” Dugan adds. “Adam and I have a similar approach to comedy. As crazy as it gets, we try to base it in reality. We tell all the actors who work with us that everybody can get as crazy as they want, but we try to keep it all in the same style.”

Opening across the Philippines on Feb. 16, “Just Go With It” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Watch the HD trailer here:

Careless Lies Go Awry in ‘Just Go With It’ originally appeared on Starmometer on February 2, 2011.

Check out Adam Sandler‘s 5 best-loved romantic comedy movies of all time.

Since his days in the long-running “Saturday Night Live,” Adam Sandler has been cracking up audiences with his goofball comedy shtick. The Brooklyn-born comedian/actor/writer has appeared in more than 30 films over the course of his 20-year career. His latest, “Just Go With It” – in which he plays a plastic surgeon who enlists his loyal assistant (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie – opens across the Philippines on Feb. 16.

And since “Just Go With It” is a romantic comedy and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, it would be an appropriate time to take a look back at some of the comic actor’s best-loved rom coms.

1. “50 First Dates.” Both funny and heartfelt. Sandler made his name off making guys across the world laugh, and this movie is no exception. Girls get a purported fifty times their money’s worth — instead of boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, the end, we get a bevy of rinse-and-repeats. Sandler’s hapless Henry (Sandler) is forced to make Barrymore’s memory-impaired Lucy (Drew Barrymore) fall in love with him time and time again.

2. “The Wedding Singer.” The airhead-pop-filled ’80s provides the perfect backdrop for this bubbly, super-sweet romantic comedy about a once successful, now heartbroken singer, Robbie (Sandler), and an engaged banquet-hall waitress, Julia (Barrymore again). After tragically misreading each other’s cues — he thinks she can be wooed by money, she’s angered by his presumption and thinks he’s interested in her friend — the two realize they’re in love. And the icing on the cake? New Wave pop icon Billy Idol chips in to help Robbie keep Julia from flying off with her cheating fiancé.

3. “Punch-Drunk Love.” Director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia,” “There Will Be Blood”) reinvented Adam Sandler as a dramatic actor in this odd and charming comedy about a disturbed and anti-social guy who ignites a cute romance with a similarly socially challenged woman (Emily Watson). The result was Sandler’s most mature and acclaimed performance. And the movie ends up being genuinely romantic while deviating completely from the very stale paradigm for romantic comedies of the 2000s.

4. “Click.” Sandler portrays a family man whose busy career as an architect doesn’t leave much time for his wife, (Kate Beckinsale), and two kids. Unable to figure out which of his many remotes turns on the television, he goes shopping for a universal remote and finds the perfect device with magical powers. The message of this film is that spending time with your family is far more important than your job. A funny movie that leads to some truly touching scenes in the final 30 minutes. You will be hard-pressed not to have tears in your eyes near the end.

5. “Spanglish.” When filmmaker James L. Brooks (“As Good as It Gets”) first met Sandler back in his “SNL” days, he says he was struck by the actor’s kindness and empathetic streak. And so Brooks gave Sandler another chance to flex his acting muscle in this dramedy, in which Sandler plays a successful chef trying to keep his family together while being enamored by his beautiful Mexican housekeeper (Paz Vega). A deeply heartwarming film that says you don’t need to always act on your romantic feelings in order to express love.

Counting Down Adam Sandler’s Best-Loved Rom-Coms originally appeared on Starmometer on January 26, 2011.

In the film, a plastic surgeon (Sandler), romancing a much younger schoolteacher, enlists his loyal assistant (Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie.

When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives.

“Just Go With It” is directed by Dennis Dugan, from a screenplay by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling, based on the “Cactus Flower” screenplay by I.A.L. Diamond.

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Just Go With It” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Watch the trailer here:

Jennifer Aniston Paired with Adam Sandler in ‘Just Go With It’ originally appeared on Starmometer on January 18, 2011.

Jennifer Aniston, on the other hand, came in second with $25 million earnings in the last 12 months. And what do the no. 1 and no. 2 top earning actresses in Hollywood have in common? Brad Pitt of course.

Jolie starred in the movies Wanted, Changeling and a voice over in the animated film Kung Fu Panda. Aniston, on the other hand, starred in He’s Just Not That Into You and Marley & Me.

FORBES’ Top Earning Hollywood Actresses of 2009

1. Angelina Jolie, $27 million
2. Jennifer Aniston, $25 million
3. Meryl Streep, $24 million
4. Sarah Jessica Parker, $23 million
5. Cameron Diaz, $20 million
6. Sandra Bullock, $15 million
7. Reese Witherspoon, $15 million
8. Nicole Kidman, $12 million
9. Drew Barrymore, $12 million
10. Renee Zellweger, $10 million
11. Cate Blanchett, $8 million
12. Anne Hathaway, $7 million
13. Halle Berry, $7 million
14. Scarlett Johansson, $5.5 million
15. Kate Winslet, $2 million

In the Top Earning Actors category, Harrison Ford leads the pack with $65 million earnings in the last 12 months. Thanks to the box-office success of Indiana Jones 4. Comedian Adam Sandler is 2nd with $55 million and Will Smith is 3rd with $45 million.

Brad Pitt is at no. 9 with an earning of $28 million. He earned $1 million higher than his partner Jolie.

Angelina Jolie is Forbes’ Top Earning Actress of 2009 originally appeared on Starmometer on July 4, 2009.

Gist: Hotel handyman Skeeter Bronson’s life is changed forever when the bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to mysteriously come true. He attempts to take advantage of the phenomenon, incorporating his own aspirations into one outlandish tale after another, but it’s the kids’ unexpected contributions that turn Skeeter’s life upside down.

Video Link: Bedtime Stories Trailer

Adam Sandler in Disney’s Bedtime Stories originally appeared on Starmometer on December 10, 2008.