| The Real Cancun | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rick de Oliveira |
| Written by | Brian Caldirola |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | see below |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Michael Suby |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $5.3 million[1] |
The Real Cancun is a 2003 Americanreality film directed by Rick de Oliveira and written by Brian Caldirola. Inspired by thereality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13 to 23, 2003 as they celebratedspring break inCancún,Mexico and experienced romantic relationships, emotional strife, or just had a good time.[2][3]
The film received negative critical reviews and was abox office flop, earning a little over $5 million in the United States from a $7.5 million budget.[1] It was the film debut ofLaura Ramsey.
The Real Cancun was released theatrically only a month after filming was completed,[2] and was released onDVD and home video only a couple of months after that.
The film earned $2,108,796 in its opening weekend from 2,261 venues, ranking tenth in the North American box office and fourth among the week's new releases.[4] It closed a month later, having grossed $3,825,421 domestically and $1,519,662 overseas for a worldwide total of $5,345,083, coming well short of its $7.5 million production cost.[1]
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The Real Cancun received generally negative reviews from critics (withVariety's Scott Foundas causing to remark in his review thatThe Real Cancun billed itself as "the first reality feature film" is "apparently ignoring last year'sJackass: The Movie").[5] Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 34% score based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's consensus states: "The footage is predictable and rather tame, and most of the people are uninteresting."[6]Metacritic reports a 34 out of 100 rating based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale.[8]
The film was nominated forWorst Picture and Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content) at the24th Golden Raspberry Awards. It lost both awards toGigli for the former andThe Cat in the Hat for the latter.[9][10]
Carol Siegel, a professor of English and American Studies at Washington State University Vancouver, interpretedThe Real Cancun as about society's expectations of juveniles' sexual behaviors; despite visuals such as near nudity and simulations of the act, the characters try to present themselves as being abstinent and not "slut"-ty, and only two couples make love by the end.[11]: 188
A reality movie based upon theGirls Gone Wild video series thatMGM bought the rights to was never put into production, while theUniversal Pictures effortDrunken Jackasses: The Quest was delayed after the flop ofCancun[12] and ultimately went straight to video.[13][14]
