Messing up has proved hugely profitable for comedian Kevin Hart.
“Let Me Explain,” in theaters now and consisting largely of his sold-out Madison Square Garden performance, cost $2.5 million to make and hauled in $17.5 million in its first five days, Variety reported. (The actual “Let Me Explain” live tour generated more than $32 million, Variety noted.)
“I’m trying to be our generation’s version of what Eddie Murphy was like,” Hart, 33, told us during a recent interview. “It could be monumental. It could be historic.”
The movie begins mockumentary style, with Hart surrounded by friends at a raucous party in a lightly scripted scene. His pals start confronting him about various foibles, providing the movie’s graphics department a nifty reason to slap up a series of articles detailing Hart’s arrest on DUI charges, marital strife and other woes.
The only thing to do, decides Kevin Hart the actor playing Kevin Hart the comedian, is hightail it to Madison Square Garden. From then on, the movie consists of Hart’s stand-up performance in which he discusses the reasons for his 2011 divorce from ex-wife Torrei Hart. Namely, he is a cheater whose friends are not good at lying to cover up for him.
“When you’re an entertainer, everyone has an opinion about you,” Hart told us. “When you put yourself in a position to set the record straight, it’s refreshing. It’s getting a monkey off your back.”
It’s a formula that works for him. The 2011 “Laugh at My Pain” was also a film adaptation of his live performance material.
“We did about 200 screens at ‘Laugh at My Pain’ and did about $8 million,” he said. “With ‘Let Me Explain,’ I decided to go bigger and better.”
Little of his material, especially his chosen term for ladies, is printable in a family newspaper.
“Overall, yes I cuss and my language isn’t the best,” Hart said. “But the things I’m talking about are pretty much universal. The key is always being relatable. You always want to be able to relate to your fan base.”
He’ll continue relating with assorted other projects including the sequel to the ensemble romantic comedy “Think Like a Man,” which is filming now in Las Vegas, and “Ride Along,” which was filmed in Atlanta. Both are due for release in 2014.
“It’s smart. It’s funny,” he said of “Ride Along,” which also stars Ice Cube. “I love Atlanta. I can be in Atlanta for however long. I wish I could film all my movies in Atlanta.”
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