From Justin To Kelly
Rate Movie[Total: 9 Average: 1]
- Directed By: Robert Iscove
- Written By: Kim Fuller
- Release Date: June 20, 2003
- Domestic Distributor: FOX
- Cast: Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini
Box Office Info:
| Budget: $12 million | Financed by: FOX |
|---|---|
| Domestic Gross: $4,928,883 | Overseas Gross: $0 |
“I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper and I could not get out of it. Two words: contractually obligated.”
–Kelly Clarkson
We normally do not do write-ups on lower budgeted fare like this, but we’ll make a special exception for From Justin To Kelly, one of the worst movies ever made.
FOX rushed this much ridiculed disaster into production for a modest $12 million, riding the hype of their television success American Idol and contractually requiring Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini to humiliate themselves in this. Director Robert Iscove, who made She’s All That for Miramax was originally handed Chicago to direct, but the Weinsteins eventually passed him over for directing duties on the smash hit musical and the poor fella ended up with this third rate musical.
From Justin To Kelly was shot in one month in January 2003 and hastily thrown together to make an April release, but FOX pushed the pic back to June 13 and then moved it back a week to June 20. From Justin To Kelly bowed against Hulk and Alex & Emma. Reviews were as bad as they come and From Justin To Kelly instantly cemented its place in the pantheon of bad cinema.
It was booked into 2,001 theaters, where it placed #11 for the weekend with an awful $2,715,848. Audiences gave the movie a poor C+ cinemascore and it fell a whopping 77% the following weekend to $625,469 and promptly lost most of its theater count. It was pulled from theaters after 5 weeks with only $4,928,883 in receipts. FOX would see returned about $2.6 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, which would barely put a dent in their P&A costs.
The studio upset theater chains by rushing the movie onto DVD a little over a month after it opened in theaters. From Justin To Kelly went straight to video overseas.