Meet Dave
Encyclopedia
Meet Dave is a 2008 American family comedy film
directed by Brian Robbins
and starring Eddie Murphy
. The film was co-written by Bill Corbett
and Rob Greenberg
. The film was released by 20th Century Fox
and Regency Enterprises
on July 11, 2008.
apartment, a young boy named Josh Morrison (Austyn Lind Myers) watches through his telescope an approaching object coming from the sky. It is a golf ball-sized metal ball which flies through the window of his room and lands in his fishbowl, quickly draining the water. He keeps it and shows it at school in a science class presentation. Some months later, on Liberty Island
, a massive fireball crash lands. The fireball is actually a spaceship resembling a human (Eddie Murphy
). It is controlled by 100 humanoid aliens, each one inch tall. Its captain (also played by Murphy) pilots the spaceship along with his crew from inside its head. For people the spaceship seems fairly human, but odd and with superpowers. A superstitious cop named Officer Dooley (Scott Caan
) is desperately searching for the alien.
The aliens are seeking a way to save their planet, Nil, from an energy crisis. For that they need salt, which they plan to produce by draining the Earth's ocean
s using the metal ball, so they have to recover it. After the spaceship is hit by the car of Josh's single mother Gina Morrison (Elizabeth Banks
), the spaceship befriends Gina and Josh, telling them its name is Dave Ming Cheng, and sees the ball on a photograph. After having breakfast with Gina, Dave goes to Josh's school where he pretends to be a substitute teacher and eventually is able to talk to Josh alone. Josh tells him that the ball was taken from him by a bully. Directed to him by Josh, Dave takes the metal ball back from the bully.
The Captain spends time with Josh and Gina, and realizes that humans are more advanced than they thought, having feelings and love. He decides to cancel the plan of draining the oceans because of the damage to the Earth. The police know from the impression of Dave's face in the dirt on the crash site what he looks like, and they arrest him for investigation. After spending too much time on Earth, most of the crew began to have different "feelings". For example, Number 4, the security guard, begins to realize that he is gay
. Number 2 decides that Number 1's and the rest of the crew's changing behavior is unacceptable so he aggressively takes over command and imprisons the captain. Now under the command of Number 2, Dave breaks out of the police station, and the police try to arrest him again. Number 3 (Gabrielle Union
), who is secretly in love with The Captain, becomes jealous of Gina. She first cooperates in the change of command but later agrees with Number 1's views on humans. However, both are caught by Number 2, and they are expelled from the spaceship. In the meantime, one crew member, Number 17 (Kevin Hart
), drunk
from the alcoholic drink Dave has taken, jumps out. The Captain apologizes to Number 3 for ignoring her. He admits that he does love her and wants to be with her. Back at the police station, Dooley discovers Number 17 in his coffee and takes him to get information regarding where Dave is going.
Number 2 leads Dave to a dock where he tries to throw the metal orb into the ocean but is stopped by The Captain and Number 3, who have managed to re-enter the spaceship. They convince the rest of the crew that the real captain be in charge again. Number 1, reinstated, orders Number 2 to be stuck in the ship's "butt" forever. The metal orb meanwhile slips out of Dave's hand and rolls into the ocean. Number 1 attempts to retrieve the orb but is told that they only have enough power to retrieve the orb or return home. Number 1 decides to save Earth and the rest of the crew agrees. The ball, thrown in the ocean by Number 2, is retracted. Dave powers down while Dooley and his partner catch him and threaten him with their guns. With no power, Dave's shields are disabled, leaving the crew defenseless. Josh tries to tell the police officers that Dave is harmless but he is ignored. He grabs Dooley's taser which he uses on Dave, recharging him. Numbers 1 and 3 reveal themselves to the police officers who stand down. Number 1 says goodbye to Josh and Gina saying he now understands love. Number 17 is allowed to enter Dave. While trying to fly away, a force from the FBI comes in and traps Dave in a net. While the FBI wrestle the body down, "Dave's" crew evacuate to one of the ship's "lifeboat" shoes, activate the lifeboat's engine, detach the shoe from the rest of the ship/body and leave Earth. While in the shoe "lifeboat", The Captain asks for Number 3's hand in marriage. She accepts, and they kiss.
originally pitched the story for SciFi.com, the website for the Sci Fi Channel
, which previously aired Mystery Science Theater 3000
, where Corbett worked as a writer. The concept was eventually dropped and Corbett, along with other MST3K alumni, instead developed the online mini-series The Adventures of Edward the Less
for the site. Corbett later revived the idea for a movie and discussed it with friend and fellow writer Rob Greenberg
, who would become his screenwriting partner for the project. Although both writers acknowledged several other "little people inside big people" movies had been made in the past, Corbett thought the aspect of an entire Star Trek
like crew operating a human being bore some originality.
During filming, Meet Dave was transferred from Paramount Pictures
(which released many of Murphy's early films) to 20th Century Fox
.
Meet Dave was written under the title Starship Dave, but studio executives insisted on a title change in part because of the poor box office performance of The Adventures of Pluto Nash
, a 2002 science-fiction comedy that also starred Eddie Murphy
. Corbett said the executives also wanted the title changed because they felt having any semblance of science-fiction in the title would isolate a large percentage of audiences. Corbett unsuccessfully argued against changing the title, which he described as "beyond generic" and said was repetitive of a comedy released earlier in the year called Meet Bill.
Although the project as it was originally conceived appealed to both children and slightly older audiences, the final script aimed for a much more solidly family-based audience. Corbett and Greenberg wrote the original draft and some subsequent drafts and, although they were given the sole writing credit, Corbett said other writers "have romped through the script as well," including one unnamed writer who spent one week adding material after the final draft was submitted. A large amount of improvising and rewriting was also done on the set, and Corbett and Greenberg had little creative control during filming. Corbett said most of the people they worked with were pleasant and some of the notes from the studio were helpful, but that Meet Dave ultimately suffered from a "too-many-cooks thing."
Filming was expected to begin in March 2007. As of early June, they were filming scenes at the Statue of Liberty in New York City
. There was also some filming in early 2007 at an elementary school in Pasadena, California.
Meet Dave began receiving criticism and virulence months before it was actually released, especially by die-hard movie fans Corbett compared to the Comic Book Guy
character in The Simpsons
. Greenberg enjoyed reading the negative comments on the Internet Movie Database
, whereas Corbett said he would "rather take an acid bath" than read them. Corbett, who did not see the final film until after it was widely released, said he did not know how the final result would come out:
and released by Varèse Sarabande
. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony
at the Newman Scoring Stage in February 2008.
Meet Dave opened on July 11, 2008, in 3,011 theaters in the United States and Canada and grossed an estimated $5,300,000, ranking seventh at the box office. 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston said of the flop that cost $55 million to make, "It was a tough concept to get across. It's upsetting for all of us and for Eddie. He's very funny in this. Just not enough people came."
Also, in its third weekend, it broke the record for the highest number of theater drops for a film in wide release, losing 2,523 theaters.
The film's performance became a joke for comedians, with Jay Leno
saying that the movie's title was going to be changed to Meet Dave: At Blockbuster insinuating that the movie should have been a straight-to-DVD release. In the Family Guy
episode "Friends of Peter G", during the "Mr. Booze" song number, Carl mentioned that since he started drinking, he's never left his couch and has seen every movie ever made. Meet Dave is the first movie called out, and Carl mentions he's seen it.
The film grossed just $11,803,254 at the domestic box office. However, the film performed better in other parts of the world making a current overseas tally of $38,846,825 and bringing the worldwide gross to $50,650,079. However, the film still failed to gross over its budget, making ot a box office bomb
. It was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst Actor (Eddie Murphy) and Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy).
Eddie Murphy skipped the Meet Dave premiere because he was working on a new film, the 2009 comedy A Thousand Words. Screenwriter Bill Corbett also missed the premiere, which he said was due to family plans, "not an act of protest, per se."
Bill Corbett said he would love to record a Meet Dave track on RiffTrax
, a site featuring downloadable audio commentaries recorded by Mystery Science Theater 3000 alum Michael J. Nelson
and other regular commentators, including Corbett. However, Corbett said the track was not likely to ever be recorded since comedies rarely work as spoofs. A reference to the film was, however, included in the RiffTrax Presents commentary for Planet of the Apes
recorded by Matthew J. Elliott (in which he suggested that the filmmaker's original intention had been to launch Charlton Heston
's character into space inside a giant Eddie Murphy
), as well as the commentary for The Day After Tomorrow
recorded by Corbett and Kevin Murphy
, in which Bill claims the natural phenomena hitting Los Angeles were "almost as big a Hollywood disaster as Meet Daves box office."
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins is an American actor and producer, director and screenwriter. He often collaborates with Mike Tollin.-Biography:...
and starring Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
. The film was co-written by Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , for which he voiced the robot Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel and played the character...
and Rob Greenberg
Rob Greenberg
-Producing:*How I Met Your Mother*Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal*Ex Men*Spellbound*Harry's Girl*Bad Haircut*Frasier*Fly by Night-Writing:*Meet Dave *Spellbound...
. The film was released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company formed by Arnon Milchan and Joseph P. Grace. It was founded in 1982 as Embassy International Pictures, but the company name changed to avoid confusion with Norman Lear's Embassy Pictures . Its most successful film is...
on July 11, 2008.
Plot
In a New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
apartment, a young boy named Josh Morrison (Austyn Lind Myers) watches through his telescope an approaching object coming from the sky. It is a golf ball-sized metal ball which flies through the window of his room and lands in his fishbowl, quickly draining the water. He keeps it and shows it at school in a science class presentation. Some months later, on Liberty Island
Liberty Island
Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. Though so called since the turn of the century, the name did not become official until 1956. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D...
, a massive fireball crash lands. The fireball is actually a spaceship resembling a human (Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
). It is controlled by 100 humanoid aliens, each one inch tall. Its captain (also played by Murphy) pilots the spaceship along with his crew from inside its head. For people the spaceship seems fairly human, but odd and with superpowers. A superstitious cop named Officer Dooley (Scott Caan
Scott Caan
Scott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
) is desperately searching for the alien.
The aliens are seeking a way to save their planet, Nil, from an energy crisis. For that they need salt, which they plan to produce by draining the Earth's ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s using the metal ball, so they have to recover it. After the spaceship is hit by the car of Josh's single mother Gina Morrison (Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
), the spaceship befriends Gina and Josh, telling them its name is Dave Ming Cheng, and sees the ball on a photograph. After having breakfast with Gina, Dave goes to Josh's school where he pretends to be a substitute teacher and eventually is able to talk to Josh alone. Josh tells him that the ball was taken from him by a bully. Directed to him by Josh, Dave takes the metal ball back from the bully.
The Captain spends time with Josh and Gina, and realizes that humans are more advanced than they thought, having feelings and love. He decides to cancel the plan of draining the oceans because of the damage to the Earth. The police know from the impression of Dave's face in the dirt on the crash site what he looks like, and they arrest him for investigation. After spending too much time on Earth, most of the crew began to have different "feelings". For example, Number 4, the security guard, begins to realize that he is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. Number 2 decides that Number 1's and the rest of the crew's changing behavior is unacceptable so he aggressively takes over command and imprisons the captain. Now under the command of Number 2, Dave breaks out of the police station, and the police try to arrest him again. Number 3 (Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Monique Union is an American actress and former model. Among her notable roles is as the cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the film Bring it On. Union starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the blockbuster film Bad Boys II and played a medical doctor in the CBS drama...
), who is secretly in love with The Captain, becomes jealous of Gina. She first cooperates in the change of command but later agrees with Number 1's views on humans. However, both are caught by Number 2, and they are expelled from the spaceship. In the meantime, one crew member, Number 17 (Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart (actor)
Kevin Hart is an American actor and stand-up comedian.-Early life and career:Hart was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was raised by his single mother...
), drunk
Drunkenness
Alcohol intoxication is a physiological state that occurs when a person has a high level of ethanol in his or her blood....
from the alcoholic drink Dave has taken, jumps out. The Captain apologizes to Number 3 for ignoring her. He admits that he does love her and wants to be with her. Back at the police station, Dooley discovers Number 17 in his coffee and takes him to get information regarding where Dave is going.
Number 2 leads Dave to a dock where he tries to throw the metal orb into the ocean but is stopped by The Captain and Number 3, who have managed to re-enter the spaceship. They convince the rest of the crew that the real captain be in charge again. Number 1, reinstated, orders Number 2 to be stuck in the ship's "butt" forever. The metal orb meanwhile slips out of Dave's hand and rolls into the ocean. Number 1 attempts to retrieve the orb but is told that they only have enough power to retrieve the orb or return home. Number 1 decides to save Earth and the rest of the crew agrees. The ball, thrown in the ocean by Number 2, is retracted. Dave powers down while Dooley and his partner catch him and threaten him with their guns. With no power, Dave's shields are disabled, leaving the crew defenseless. Josh tries to tell the police officers that Dave is harmless but he is ignored. He grabs Dooley's taser which he uses on Dave, recharging him. Numbers 1 and 3 reveal themselves to the police officers who stand down. Number 1 says goodbye to Josh and Gina saying he now understands love. Number 17 is allowed to enter Dave. While trying to fly away, a force from the FBI comes in and traps Dave in a net. While the FBI wrestle the body down, "Dave's" crew evacuate to one of the ship's "lifeboat" shoes, activate the lifeboat's engine, detach the shoe from the rest of the ship/body and leave Earth. While in the shoe "lifeboat", The Captain asks for Number 3's hand in marriage. She accepts, and they kiss.
Cast
- Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
as Dave Ming Cheng / The Captain - Elizabeth BanksElizabeth BanksElizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
as Gina Morrison - Scott CaanScott CaanScott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...
as Officer Dooley - Mike O'MalleyMike O'MalleyMichael Edward "Mike" O'Malley is an American actor and playwright who has appeared in films and television series. He hosted Nickelodeon GUTS, and he starred in the CBS comedy Yes, Dear...
as Officer Knox - Austyn Lind Myers as Josh Morrison
- Ed HelmsEd HelmsEdward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
as Number 2 - Gabrielle UnionGabrielle UnionGabrielle Monique Union is an American actress and former model. Among her notable roles is as the cheerleader opposite Kirsten Dunst in the film Bring it On. Union starred opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the blockbuster film Bad Boys II and played a medical doctor in the CBS drama...
as Number 3 - Pat KilbanePat KilbanePatrick F. "Pat" Kilbane is an American comic actor. He first appeared in a 1996 episode ofSeinfeld , in which he played Feldman, Bizarro Kramer. Kilbane appeared for several seasons on MADtv, most notably the spokesperson for MADtv's fictitious company, Spishak...
as Number 4 - Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. as Number 12
- Kevin HartKevin Hart (actor)Kevin Hart is an American actor and stand-up comedian.-Early life and career:Hart was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was raised by his single mother...
as Number 17 - Adam Tomei as Number 35
- Allisyn Ashley ArmAllisyn Ashley Arm- External links :* on Twitter* on Youtube...
as Nerdy Girl
Production
Screenwriter Bill CorbettBill Corbett
Bill Corbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , for which he voiced the robot Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel and played the character...
originally pitched the story for SciFi.com, the website for the Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
, which previously aired Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
, where Corbett worked as a writer. The concept was eventually dropped and Corbett, along with other MST3K alumni, instead developed the online mini-series The Adventures of Edward the Less
Edward the Less
The Adventures of Edward the Less, better known simply as Edward the Less, is a 2001 animated miniseries fantasy comedy created by the former cast of the popular show Mystery Science Theater 3000 for SciFi.com, the Sci Fi Channel website...
for the site. Corbett later revived the idea for a movie and discussed it with friend and fellow writer Rob Greenberg
Rob Greenberg
-Producing:*How I Met Your Mother*Mike Birbiglia's Secret Public Journal*Ex Men*Spellbound*Harry's Girl*Bad Haircut*Frasier*Fly by Night-Writing:*Meet Dave *Spellbound...
, who would become his screenwriting partner for the project. Although both writers acknowledged several other "little people inside big people" movies had been made in the past, Corbett thought the aspect of an entire Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
like crew operating a human being bore some originality.
During filming, Meet Dave was transferred from Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
(which released many of Murphy's early films) to 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
.
Meet Dave was written under the title Starship Dave, but studio executives insisted on a title change in part because of the poor box office performance of The Adventures of Pluto Nash
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a 2002 science fiction comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy as the owner of a lunar nightclub investigating who was behind the arson that destroyed his club...
, a 2002 science-fiction comedy that also starred Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
. Corbett said the executives also wanted the title changed because they felt having any semblance of science-fiction in the title would isolate a large percentage of audiences. Corbett unsuccessfully argued against changing the title, which he described as "beyond generic" and said was repetitive of a comedy released earlier in the year called Meet Bill.
Although the project as it was originally conceived appealed to both children and slightly older audiences, the final script aimed for a much more solidly family-based audience. Corbett and Greenberg wrote the original draft and some subsequent drafts and, although they were given the sole writing credit, Corbett said other writers "have romped through the script as well," including one unnamed writer who spent one week adding material after the final draft was submitted. A large amount of improvising and rewriting was also done on the set, and Corbett and Greenberg had little creative control during filming. Corbett said most of the people they worked with were pleasant and some of the notes from the studio were helpful, but that Meet Dave ultimately suffered from a "too-many-cooks thing."
Filming was expected to begin in March 2007. As of early June, they were filming scenes at the Statue of Liberty in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. There was also some filming in early 2007 at an elementary school in Pasadena, California.
Meet Dave began receiving criticism and virulence months before it was actually released, especially by die-hard movie fans Corbett compared to the Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
character in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. Greenberg enjoyed reading the negative comments on the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, whereas Corbett said he would "rather take an acid bath" than read them. Corbett, who did not see the final film until after it was widely released, said he did not know how the final result would come out:
Soundtrack
Meet Dave: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by John DebneyJohn Debney
John C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
and released by Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony
Hollywood Studio Symphony
The Hollywood Studio Symphony is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Sucker Punch, Jurassic Park 3, Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, We Are Marshall, Spider-Man 2, Lost and The...
at the Newman Scoring Stage in February 2008.
Reception
The film garnered mostly negative reviews, with web site Rotten Tomatoes showing only 18 positive reviews out of 92 tallied for a "Rotten" score of 19%.Meet Dave opened on July 11, 2008, in 3,011 theaters in the United States and Canada and grossed an estimated $5,300,000, ranking seventh at the box office. 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston said of the flop that cost $55 million to make, "It was a tough concept to get across. It's upsetting for all of us and for Eddie. He's very funny in this. Just not enough people came."
Also, in its third weekend, it broke the record for the highest number of theater drops for a film in wide release, losing 2,523 theaters.
The film's performance became a joke for comedians, with Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
saying that the movie's title was going to be changed to Meet Dave: At Blockbuster insinuating that the movie should have been a straight-to-DVD release. In the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Friends of Peter G", during the "Mr. Booze" song number, Carl mentioned that since he started drinking, he's never left his couch and has seen every movie ever made. Meet Dave is the first movie called out, and Carl mentions he's seen it.
The film grossed just $11,803,254 at the domestic box office. However, the film performed better in other parts of the world making a current overseas tally of $38,846,825 and bringing the worldwide gross to $50,650,079. However, the film still failed to gross over its budget, making ot a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
. It was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst Actor (Eddie Murphy) and Worst Screen Couple (Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy).
Eddie Murphy skipped the Meet Dave premiere because he was working on a new film, the 2009 comedy A Thousand Words. Screenwriter Bill Corbett also missed the premiere, which he said was due to family plans, "not an act of protest, per se."
Bill Corbett said he would love to record a Meet Dave track on RiffTrax
RiffTrax
RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital...
, a site featuring downloadable audio commentaries recorded by Mystery Science Theater 3000 alum Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
and other regular commentators, including Corbett. However, Corbett said the track was not likely to ever be recorded since comedies rarely work as spoofs. A reference to the film was, however, included in the RiffTrax Presents commentary for Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
La Planète des singes, known in English as Monkey Planet or Planet of the Apes, is a French 1963 science fiction novel by Pierre Boulle...
recorded by Matthew J. Elliott (in which he suggested that the filmmaker's original intention had been to launch Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
's character into space inside a giant Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
), as well as the commentary for The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
recorded by Corbett and Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...
, in which Bill claims the natural phenomena hitting Los Angeles were "almost as big a Hollywood disaster as Meet Daves box office."