"Overboard" is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Greenberg. He wrote the screenplay with Bob Fisher and Leslie Dixon. This movie is a remake of the original 1987 film, which was also written by Dixon. In this version, Eugenio Derbez, Anna Faris, and Cecilia Suárez play the roles of the original characters played by Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Edward Herrmann. Eva Longoria and John Hannah also appear in the film.
The story follows Kate, a single mother from a working-class family, who convinces Leo, a wealthy man with amnesia, that they are married.
The film was released in the United States on May 4, 2018. It made $91 million worldwide, even though it only cost $12 million to make. Critics gave the film mostly negative reviews. They praised Anna Faris' comedic acting but said the story was not very good and did not stand out from the original version.
Plot
Kate Sullivan is a mother of three daughters who is not married anymore. She works two jobs and is also studying to become a nurse. She is assigned to clean carpets on a yacht owned by Leonardo "Leo" Montenegro, a rich and mean man who likes to have fun. Leo says mean things to Kate and fires her without paying her when she refuses to bring him food. When Kate tells him he is wrong, he pushes her off the boat with the cleaning tools.
At the same time, in Mexico, Leo's younger sisters, Magdalena and Sofia, are caring for their sick father. Their father announces that Leo will take over their family company. That night, Leo slips off the yacht and falls into the ocean. He wakes up on a beach with no memory of who he is. He walks through town and is later taken to a hospital. Magdalena finds Leo in the hospital but leaves him there after learning he has no memory. She returns home with ashes from a campsite grill and lies to others that Leo was killed by a shark, hoping to take over the company herself.
Kate and her friend Theresa see news about Leo's amnesia. To help him, they trick him into thinking he is married to Kate. They use a detail Kate saw on the yacht: a drawing of a cartoon character on his back. Kate takes Leo home and introduces him to her daughters, pretending they are a family. She also gives him a hard construction job through her friend Bobby.
Leo starts to get along with Kate's daughters. Kate feels guilty but decides not to tell him the truth after seeing how happy the girls are with him. Instead, they celebrate what Kate calls their anniversary. The next day, Leo finds condoms in the car and accuses Kate. Theresa lies, saying she had an affair. Leo and Kate decide to renew their marriage vows.
Meanwhile, Leo's family holds a memorial for him. A photo of Leo at the beach is found, and his father realizes Magdalena lied. He goes to find Leo. When Leo sees his father, his memory returns, and he remembers what happened. He is hurt and angry, so he returns to his yacht. The girls cry and try to stop him, but he leaves.
Kate decides to find Leo and borrows a boat to chase him. Leo realizes how selfish his old life was and decides to stay with Kate and the girls. He tells the boat captain to turn around. His father tries to stop him, but Leo jumps into the water. Kate jumps in too, and they swim to each other and kiss. Leo ignores his father's threats, and his father decides to name Sofia as the new company leader instead.
Leo returns to live with Kate and the girls. A former worker named Colin arrives and offers to be their nanny. When they say they can't afford him, he mentions that Sofia sent him to remind Leo that he still owns a yacht worth $60 million. Leo and Kate marry on the yacht. Friends and family celebrate them at the end. Meanwhile, Magdalena tries to improve her reputation by saying she started a school for children in the Philippines, but the children do not like her.
Production
In February 2017, Anna Faris appeared as a guest on the podcast Rupaul: What's the Tee with Michelle Visage. Rupaul Charles suggested the idea of remaking a film starring Goldie Hawn, noting Faris's similarity to the actor. Faris said she enjoys the 1987 movie Overboard but expressed hesitation about taking on a role that is well-known. Co-host Michelle Visage proposed that Chris Pratt, Faris's then-husband, might join the project as a co-star. In March 2017, it was announced that Faris and Eugenio Derbez would star in a new version of the film, directed by Rob Greenberg. The main characters in this remake have their genders reversed compared to the original. Derbez plays a wealthy man who falls off a yacht and is discovered by Faris's character, a single mother who convinces him he is her husband. Filming for the movie began in Vancouver in May 2017. That same month, Eva Longoria joined the cast.
Release
The movie Overboard was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate Films, though it is listed under Pantelion Films, a division of Lionsgate. The film was first planned to come out on April 20, 2018. In January 2018, the release date was changed to April 13, 2018. Later, in March 2018, the date was changed again to May 4, 2018, to avoid competing with the new release of Avengers: Infinity War on April 27, 2018.
Reception
The movie Overboard earned $50.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $40.9 million in other countries, for a total worldwide earnings of $91.2 million. The film’s production cost was $12 million.
In the United States and Canada, Overboard was released at the same time as Tully and Bad Samaritan. It was expected to earn about $12 million during its first weekend in 1,623 theaters. The film earned $4.8 million on its first day, including $675,000 from previews on Thursday nights. This was an increase from the $450,000 earned by a previous film starring the same actor, How to Be a Latin Lover, the year before. The film opened with $14.8 million, ranking second in its first weekend, behind Avengers: Infinity War. At least 41% of the audience was Latino, which is more than half of the viewers. In its second weekend, the film earned 31% less, or $10.1 million, and dropped to fourth place. It was behind Avengers: Infinity War ($64.8 million), Life of the Party ($18.2 million), and Breaking In ($16.5 million).
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 24% from 87 reviews, with an average score of 4.2 out of 10. The site’s summary states, “Overboard does not use the talented Anna Faris well and chooses a weak story for a remake that fails to match the original.” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 42 out of 100 from 27 critics, meaning reviews were mixed or average. Audiences who saw the film gave it an average grade of “A−” on a scale from A+ to F, and 83% of viewers reported a positive experience.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman wrote, “Overboard was made with enough humor and skill that changing the main character’s gender was a smart choice for both entertainment and business reasons.” In contrast, Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post wrote, “Hollywood is now making bad remakes of average films, not just poor remakes of great ones. Overboard is an example of this.”