| Little Nicky | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Steven Brill |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Theo van de Sande |
| Edited by | Jeff Gourson |
| Music by | Teddy Castellucci |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80-85 million[1] |
| Box office | $58 million[2] |
Little Nicky is a 2000 Americandark fantasycomedy film directed bySteven Brill, written byTim Herlihy,Adam Sandler, and Brill, and starring Sandler in the title role,Patricia Arquette,Harvey Keitel,Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.,Rhys Ifans, andRodney Dangerfield with supporting roles byAllen Covert,Kevin Nealon,Jon Lovitz,Michael McKean, andQuentin Tarantino.
The film depicts the son of Satan and an angel who is tasked with returning his two brothers to Hell and preventing them from destroying the boundary between good and evil on Earth.
The film received negative reviews from critics and was abox office bomb, grossing $58 million against an $80–85 million budget.
With his 10,000-year reign coming to an end,Satan must decide which of his three sons will succeed him as ruler ofHell. Adrian is the most devious, Cassius is the cruelest and Nicky is the kindest. Nicky has had aspeech impediment and a disfigured jaw since Cassius hit him in the face with a shovel. Satan assembles his sons to tell them that as they are not yet ready to succeed him, he will continue ruling Hell.
Angered by this decision, Adrian and Cassius travel to Earth to create a new Hell by possessing religious and political leaders inNew York City. As they leave, they freeze the entrance to Hell, preventing more evil souls from entering and causing Satan to begin to disintegrate. Stanley the Gatekeeper informs Satan of this and Satan punishes him by growing breasts on his head and giving him to his fatherLucifer. Now too weak to stop Adrian and Cassius, he sends Nicky to Earth with a silverflask that traps whoever drinks from it inside.
Nicky has difficulty surviving on Earth and is killed several times, landing in Hell and returning to New York each time. While learning how to eat and sleep, he meets apossessed talking bulldog named Mr. Beefy, rents an apartment with an actor named Todd and falls in love with a design student named Valerie. Nicky encounters Adrian but fails to capture him and scares Valerie away. Nicky then observes Cassius on television possessing the referee of aHarlem Globetrotters game. Nicky arrives at the game and successfully tricks Cassius into the flask.Satanistmetalheads John and Peter swear loyalty to Nicky. That evening, Nicky apologizes to Valerie and they reconcile.
The following day, Adrian possesses the Chief of the New York City Police Department and accuses Nicky of mass murder. Nicky has Todd kill him so he can go back to Hell and ask his father for advice. However, Satan has trouble hearing because his ears have fallen off, and his assistants are panicking because the deadline to capture Adrian and Cassius is approaching.
Back on Earth, Nicky and his friends devise a plan to capture Adrian in a subway station. Adrian discovers their trick and in the ensuing fight, grabs Valerie and dives onto the track as a train approaches, but Nicky throws her aside, leaving himself and Adrian to be killed by the train.
Arriving in Hell just minutes before midnight, Adrian begins taking over Hell by pushing what remains of his father aside, sitting on the throne, rising toCentral Park, and starting a riotous party. Meanwhile, Nicky wakes up in Heaven as a reward for sacrificing himself and meets his mother Holly, anangel who tells him that he can defeat Adrian with the "inner light" that he inherited from her.
After she gives him a mysterious orb, he confronts Adrian in Central Park. Adrian appears to win the battle by transforming into abat and locking Nicky in the flask. However, Nicky escapes from the flask and shatters the orb, causingOzzy Osbourne to appear,bite off Adrian's head, and spit it into the flask.
With his brothers captured, Nicky prepares to save his father. He and Valerie express their love for each other and she kills him. In Hell, Satan regains his body and suggests Nicky stay with Valerie to maintain things in the middle while stating to Holly that he still loves her. In the presence of Nicky and Satan, Lucifer shoves the flask containing Adrian and Cassius upAdolf Hitler's rump.
One year later, Nicky and Valerie live in New York with their infant son named Zachariah who has demonic powers.
A postscript revealed what happened to everyone:
It opened at #2 at the North American box office making $16 millionUSD in its opening weekend, behindCharlie's Angels, which was on its second consecutive week at the top spot.[3] The film went on to earn $39.5 million domestically and another $18.8 million worldwide, bringing the total to $58 million.
OnRotten Tomatoes,Little Nicky has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 114 critics, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's consensus reads: "Despite the presence of a large, talented cast, the jokes inLittle Nicky are dumb, tasteless, and not that funny, and Adam Sandler's character is grating to watch."[4] OnMetacritic it has a score of 38% based on reviews from 29 critics.[5] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on a scale of A to F.[6]
Comedian and formerMystery Science Theater 3000 hostMichael J. Nelson named the film the worst comedy ever made.[7]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film a score of two-and-a-half stars out of four, describingLittle Nicky as "the best Sandler movie to date" and the Nicky character as "intriguing", while at the same time lamenting Sandler's lack of finesse and vocal quirks.[8]
In 2020, Evan Saathoff of/Film argued against the characterization ofLittle Nicky as being "a blight on [Sandler's] filmography", writing that Sandler "certainly never gotthis wild again, not in one of his own films at least."[9]
The film was nominated for five awards at the21st Golden Raspberry Awards, includingWorst Picture,Worst Actor (Adam Sandler),Worst Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette),Worst Director andWorst Screenplay. It lost in all categories toBattlefield Earth starringJohn Travolta. At the 2000Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received seven total nominations: Worst Picture (lost toBattlefield Earth), Worst Actor for Sandler (lost to John Travolta), Worst On-Screen Couple for Sandler and that unfunny bulldog (lost to John Travolta and everyone in the galaxy forBattlefield Earth), Most Annoying Fake Accent for Sandler, Worst On-Screen Hairstyle for Sandler (lost to both Travolta andForest Whitaker forBattlefield Earth), Most Annoying Product Placement forPopeyes Chicken (lost toFedEx andWilson inCast Away), and Most Unfunny Comic Relief for the painfully unfunny talking bulldog (lost toTom Green forRoad Trip andCharlie's Angels). As noted, its only win was for Most Annoying Fake Accent.[10]
Little Nicky was released onDVD andVHS on April 24, 2001 byNew Line Home Entertainment. The DVD includes two audio commentaries, a special feature dedicated to rock/metal music, the music video "School of Hard Knocks" byP.O.D., and deleted scenes.
Scream Factory released the film on Blu Ray for the first time on August 8, 2023, with all the special features from the DVD release & a new master from a 2K scan.
| Little Nicky (Music from the Motion Picture) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | October 31, 2000 (2000-10-31) |
| Genre | Nu metal[11] |
| Length | 48:31 |
| Label | Maverick |
| Producer |
|
| Singles from Little Nicky (Music from the Motion Picture) | |
| |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Soundtrack.Net |  [13] |
The soundtrack album,Little Nicky (Music from the Motion Picture), was released October 31, 2000, throughMaverick Records and featured a lineup that leaned heavily toward Maverick recording artists that includedDeftones, Insolence,Muse andÜnloco.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "School of Hard Knocks" (performed byP.O.D.) | 4:04 | ||
| 2. | "Pardon Me" (performed byIncubus) | 3:45 | ||
| 3. | "Change (In the House of Flies)" (performed byDeftones) | 4:58 | ||
| 4. | "(Rock) Superstar" (performed byCypress Hill) | DJ Muggs | 4:37 | |
| 5. | "Natural High" (performed by Insolence) |
| Sylvia Massy | 3:20 |
| 6. | "Points of Authority" (performed byLinkin Park) | Don Gilmore | 3:21 | |
| 7. | "Stupify (Fu's Forbidden Little Nicky Remix)" (performed byDisturbed) |
| 5:08 | |
| 8. | "Nothing" (performed byÜnloco) |
| Johnny K | 2:40 |
| 9. | "When Worlds Collide" (performed byPowerman 5000) |
|
| 2:57 |
| 10. | "Cave" (performed byMuse) | Matthew Bellamy | John Leckie | 4:46 |
| 11. | "Take a Picture" (performed byFilter) | Richard Patrick |
| 4:22 |
| 12. | "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) (Acoustic)" (performed by Deftones) |
|
| 4:33 |
| Total length: | 48:31 | |||
Some songs featured in the film, but excluded from the soundtrack, were "Ladies' Night" byKool & the Gang; "Runnin' with the Devil" byVan Halen; "Flying High Again", "Mama, I'm Coming Home", and "No More Tears" byOzzy Osbourne; "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" byChicago; "Now or Never" byZebrahead; "Everlong" byFoo Fighters; "Two of Hearts" byStacey Q; "Southtown" and "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)" byP.O.D.; "Rock You Like a Hurricane" byScorpions; and "Highway to Hell" byAC/DC.
"Solve" byDream is the image song for the Japanese release.[14]
AGame Boy Color game based on the film was released on December 15, 2000.
