Sometimes a film manages to earn financial success in spite of itself. Take, for example, the enigma of 2002's Maid In Manhattan.
2002 was a very interesting year for Jennifer Lopez,
her fans, and move-goers everywhere. Just a couple of weeks before Christmas of that year, J-Lo's film, Maid in Manhattan, appeared to American audiences and racked up nearly $19-million dollars in its opening weekend. Since its release, the film has collected over $150-million worldwide. While critics lamented the film for its unoriginal plot and less-than-great acting by an otherwise talented cast, the film has gone down in history as both a flop and financial success.
The film was directed by Wayne Wang, a Chinese-American film director who was behind the camera for other classics such as 1987's Slam Dance, 1993's The Joy Luck Club, and the 1995 southern throwback, Because of Winn-Dixie. Wang has since directed The Princess of Nebraska, Chinatown Film Project, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. The film was produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Deborah Schindler, and Paul Schiff. Schiff is known for his production of Mona Lisa Smile, the Yong Guns franchise, the Epic Movie series, and My Cousin Vinny.
Maid In Manhattan was the 16th film for Jennifer Lopez, following Enough, The Wedding Planner, The Cell, and Anaconda. The film was reported to be a story developed by John Hughes, who was credited in the film under a pseudonym. However, the film's plot and premise closely resembled a 1935 film called Page Miss Glory, which also involved a five-star hotel housekeeper being mistaken for a world famous celebrity. According to sources, John Hughes' title for the film was to be The Chambermaid, which was also what a character was referred to in Page Miss Glory.
Despite the film being hailed as one of the top ten worst chick flicks of all time by Time Magazine, the film had an all-star cast. Maid In Manhattan was able to pull in Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Amy Sedaris, Tyler Posey and Stanley Richardson for shooting. While the film made nearly $19-million in its opening weekend and became the #1 film in over two thousand theatres across America, Maid In Manhattan was hardly a critical success. Its financial success overshadowed critical assessment of the plot and storyline. With a budget of approximately $50-million, it grossed three times that amount worldwide. Its total box office rake-in was well over $154-million.
The American television network ABC prepared to make a TV series with Jennifer Lopez as the producer, but the project was later pulled, and its page on IMDB.com was removed. While a script had been in development, ABC and the writers were at a stalemate in getting the series off the ground and fled. According to reports, a pilot was filmed, but never aired before ABC finally pulled the plug on the entire endeavor. Nevertheless, the film has gone down in history as quite the spectacle, as it had major financial success while simultaneously leaving a bad taste in the mouths of movie critics everywhere.
