It’s been a while since Kevin James was in a major movie that received a nationwide theatrical release. Some of his recent films either had runs in a limited number of theaters (like “Becky” at Drive-Ins in 2020) or were straight to streaming flicks (such as “Hubie Halloween”, “Home Team” and “Playdate”). James starred on two TV comedies in the past decade, “Kevin Can Wait” and “The Crew”, and lent his voice to some animated “Hotel Transylvania” installments.
You have to go back to 2015’s “Pixels”, opposite friend and frequent collaborator Adam Sandler, for a major live-action movie with James. But he returns to theaters on Feb. 6 in Angel Studios’ romantic dramedy “Solo Mio”. Angel is coming-off of two successful animated releases in 2025, “David” and “The King of Kings”, with more releases on the way this year, including “Animal Farm” and “Young Washington”, that hope to have an impact on the box office. “Solo Mio” stars James as Matt, who was left at the altar and decides to take his planned honeymoon to Italy alone. Angel hopes the film serves as romantic counterprogramming over the Valentine’s Day timeframe to WB’s “Wuthering Heights” (with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi).
Following his breakout appearance on “Everybody Loves Raymond” and starring sitcom role on “The King of Queens”, James transitioned to the big screen with Will Smith in 2005’s “Hitch”. James followed that up with voice work in Summer 2006’s “Monster House” and the starring role of Otis the cow in “Barnyard: The Original Party Animals”. “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” with Sandler was in ’07. And then in January 2009, James portrayed one of the defining characters of his career, “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. A not quite as successful sequel was released in 2015. In between, James was in the hit “Grown Ups” films, along with the moderate moneymakers “The Dilemma”, “Zookeeper” and “Here Comes the Boom”. The indie drama “Little Boy” gave James some attention in 2015.
I think the PG-rated (but adult-skewing) “Solo Mio” has a good chance at performing well this February.