The antics of Adam Sandler and company in Pixels isn't really earning a lot of buzz pre-release, as most critics are tearing it to shreds. What's interesting, however, is that this isn't the first time that the film has pissed off a large number of people, as apparently the production was the target of many complaints when shooting was taking place in Toronto.
The Toronto Sun has the scoop on this story, learning about the grievances directly from Adam Sandler himself. The actor was asked about his experience filming in the Canadian city, and while his response started out nostalgic - remembering that he shot Billy Madison there 20 years ago - he then revealed that he and the cast and crew of Pixels irked a lot of people during filming. They were in one particular area to shoot the Pac Man sequence that is featured in most of the feature's the trailers - and while he expected people on the street to be excited about seeing the Hollywood production and stars, that wasn't the case at all. Said Sandler,
It started at like four o'clock at night (and) we would take over the area and Pac-Man is running through and we have all these extras it was like a monster movie, all these (special) effects. I thought I was going to be, like, the king of the town, (but) they were so mad at me for shutting down the neighborhood.
You can watch the scene in question below:
What's odd about this whole situation is that Adam Sandler was actually dealing with these complaints himself - not just overhearing conversations between residents and on-set security/management. He told the newspaper,
Day one it was like, 'What's up Adam? Ruining everything, I got to drive (all over) to get home'. I was like, 'I got two weeks of this, of people hating my guts'. But we got through it.
Adam Sandler's expectations about the situation make me wonder if the reception of the Pixels production would have gone smoother just five years ago. The actor's more recent efforts like Blended, That's My Boy, and Jack and Jill have not had the same kind of success of Sandler's heyday titles - and reports suggest that Pixels will only make between $20 and $30 in its first three days. While early hits earned him a lot of good will for many years, there is certainly now a growing demand for him to make better choices where picking projects is concerned.
