www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/jul/27/variety-lucks-into-alba-cook-team-for-knox/Variety lucks into Alba-Cook team for Knox benefit
By Betsy Pickle (Contact)
Friday, July 27, 2007
Actress Jessica Alba and comedian-actor Dane Cook, who star in the new romantic comedy “Good Luck Chuck,” will visit Knoxville in September for a screening of the film to benefit Variety — The Children’s Charity of Eastern Tennessee.
‘GOOD LUCK CHUCK’ PREMIERE
What: Actors Jessica Alba and Dane Cook at movie premiere benefiting Variety — The Children’s Charity of Eastern Tennessee
When: Evening of Sept. 18
Where: Regal Cinemas’ Pinnacle 18 at Turkey Creek
Tickets: $75 each; on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 7 at Pinnacle 18
Star power: Previous Variety/Regal premieres have featured Will Ferrell (“Talladega Nights”); Jessica Simpson, Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott (“The Dukes of Hazzard”); The Rock (“Walking Tall”); and Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Radio”).
2007’s Sexiest Woman in the World and the comedian/actor who put out the highest-charting comedy album since Steve Martin’s “Wild and Crazy Guy” are set to visit Knoxville for a benefit screening of their new romantic comedy in September.
Jessica Alba, who earned 8 million votes to become FHM’s sexiest woman this year, and Dane Cook, the Boston-bred comedian-turned-actor whose “Retaliation” CD debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard charts, will come to Knoxville to greet fans and introduce their film, “Good Luck Chuck,” at a Sept. 18 benefit for Variety — The Children’s Charity of Eastern Tennessee.
The red-carpet do will take place at Regal Cinemas’ Pinnacle 18 at Turkey Creek. There will be 300 tickets available to the general public at $75 each. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, exclusively at Pinnacle 18.
Dena Pinsker, Variety’s executive director, says the timetable for the Sept. 18 premiere is not firm, but the screening is expected to start at 8 p.m., with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and a presentation by Alba and Cook preceding it.
Last year’s benefit with funnyman Will Ferrell and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” raised about $260,000 for Variety, and Pinsker expects to take in about the same amount this year. She also anticipates that the event will appeal to a similar crowd, although “Good Luck Chuck” is rated R rather than PG-13 like "Talladega Nights."
“I think we’re going to gear toward the college set, very similar to what was brought in by Will Ferrell,” said Pinsker. “I see the same audience: younger, fun-loving Jessica Alba fans. And Dane Cook is very, very funny and talented, similar to Will Ferrell, and I think he and Jessica are going to put on a great stage performance.
“A lot of people don’t know who Dane Cook is yet, but they’re going to know.”
Cook, 35, is a Boston native who was one of the first entertainers to build a following through MySpace. He made his big-screen debut a decade ago in the independent film “Flypaper,” but his first leading film role was in last year’s “Employee of the Month” (opposite previous Variety-benefit participant Jessica Simpson). He earned acclaim earlier this year for his dramatic performance opposite Kevin Costner and William Hurt in “Mr. Brooks.”
Cook has hosted “Saturday Night Live” twice and has had his own HBO special, in addition to performing on numerous Comedy Central specials and series.
Alba, 26, began appearing in commercials as a child in California, and she made her film debut in 1994’s “Camp Nowhere.” After she was cast as genetically engineered super-soldier Max Guevera in James Cameron’s Fox series “Dark Angel” in 2000, she started getting recognized as a major screen beauty.
She has been included on numerous “sexiest women” lists, coming in at No. 2 behind Eva Longoria on Maxim’s Top 100 this year. Along the way, she has starred in several hit films including “Sin City,” “Fantastic Four” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”
“Good Luck Chuck” is about an unlucky-at-love guy (Cook) who comes to realize that every woman he dates finds her true love with the next man she becomes involved with after him. Alba plays the Ms. Right who inspires him to try to shake his curse.
“We chose this film because we were looking for a romantic comedy,” said Pinsker. “We thought a duo, especially Jessica Alba and Dane Cook, would be a great mix for the Knoxville community.”
Money raised by Variety aids numerous organizations that serve children.
“A third of our gifts go to children with physical disabilities,” said Pinsker. “Variety purchases mobility equipment for them through various equipment providers.
“The largest chunks are $10,000 to $30,000 donations for children’s agencies like Second Harvest, Tennessee School for the Deaf, Covenant Hospice, Empty Stocking Fund, Catholic Charities.”
Variety's previous premiere benefits — “Talladega Nights” and “The Dukes of Hazzard” at Pinnacle 18 (which opened in June 2005) and “Walking Tall” and “Radio” at Regal’s West Town 9 — cumulatively raised nearly $700,000. Pinsker said Alba and Cook are looking forward to helping Variety raise more money.
“We’re going to have a great show, I can tell,” said Pinsker. “They’re very interested in what Will did last year, and they’ve already asked about Variety and who we are, and I think they’re going to come prepared.”
Pinsker pointed out that the premieres also help the films featured at them.
“The Pinnacle is one of the highest-grossing theaters in the Southeast region, and when you have a film that gets this kind of coverage from having a benefit screening, it guarantees the film will do a great amount of business in this region,” she said.
“It started with Cuba Gooding Jr. and the ‘Radio’ (benefit). Every film is a top-grosser in this region for a week or two at least, even if it’s not nationally. … It all works out so well for all of us, and all the money goes to the children here in East Tennessee.”