Kevin James Breaks Records At ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2? Premiere

Kevin James’ new movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 just broke two Guinness World Records–and it’s not about money. The original Paul Blart: Mall Cop was a high-grossing movie, earning over $150 million more than its budget.

Prior to the screening in New York, James led a group of 108 Segway-riding Paul-Blart-esque security guards in a type of surreal block party in New York City’s Lincoln Square honoring the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The riders were real-life security guards from the greater New-York area, most even wearing a fake mustache, impersonating the one-and-only Blart.

The first record was for the most people training on a Segway at once, and the second record was for the most people simultaneously completing a 360-degree turn on a Segway. Kevin James and director Andy Fickman picked up the award from a representative from Guinness World Records office. And how did he whisk down the red carpet to get the award? On a Segway, of course.

Kevin James wanted this movie to exceed expectations for his loyal fans. He stated the following while walking the red carpet, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“We wanted to do it only if it could be bigger and better, and that’s what we did. We never planned on making one until people were asking me: ‘What’s going on with this character? When can we see him again?’ And when my fans were asking that enough, I said: ‘I just don’t want to do a movie that’s parallel to the first one. I want a bigger plot form, and make it bigger in every way, with the physical comedy, the emotion, everything like that.”

Kevin James’ is known for putting his all into his characters, and his physical comedy is unmatched, his devoted fans feel. It was a long six years waiting for the lovable, bumbling Paul Blart to appear again. Director Andy Fickman stated the following regarding the inspiration for the Blart character, according to the Boston Herald.

“Peter Sellers was [my] inspiration [for Paul Blart], because I remember watching the Pink Panther movies as a kid, and loving the fact that while the world was so serious, he wasn’t. But also movies like ‘Naked Gun,’ or ‘Airplane,’ I think any movie where there was a crazy real-life situation happening, but at the heart of it were these bumblers involved.”

And where did James get inspiration for his alter ego, Paul Blart? According to the Boston Herald, James stated the following.

“A bunch of the security guards I saw growing up and just feeling for them, that they have to uphold justice and they don’t get the respect, unfortunately. Working with the other comedians in the film was the best part, to bounce off of them and see them take the material that we wrote and raise it to another level, and having that back and forth, that was fun.”

Without any spoilers, the film takes Blart and daughter Maya to Las Vegas for a mall cop convention. This was the first time a film was permitted to shoot inside the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Resort. The film opens nationwide on April 17.

Kevin James had a busy year personally, too, welcoming his fourth child, according to an article in the Inquisitr.

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]