# Down to Earth (2001 film)
**Down to Earth** is a 2001 American comedy-fantasy film directed by [Chris Weitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-weitz) and Paul Weitz, in which struggling comedian Lance Barton ([Chris Rock](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-rock)) dies before his time and is returned to Earth in the body of a wealthy white Manhattan businessman until a suitable replacement body can be found.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH) It is a remake of the 1978 film *Heaven Can Wait*, which itself remade the 1941 film *Here Comes Mr. Jordan*, both drawn from Harry Segall's 1937 stage play of the same name.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/) [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) released it in the United States on February 16, 2001.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Directors | Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, whose previous feature was *American Pie*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH) • [4](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2001/02/down-to-earth/) |
| Screenwriters | Chris Rock, Lance Crouther, Ali LeRoi, and Louis C.K., adapting a screenplay by Elaine May and Warren Beatty[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH) |
| Release | February 16, 2001 (wide, Paramount Pictures); PG-13; 87–88 minutes[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH) |
| Box office | $64,186,502 domestic (90.2% of total), $7,000,000 international, $71,186,502 worldwide, against a $49,000,000 budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/) |
| Critical reception | 18% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (95 reviews) and 40% on the Popcornmeter; Metascore 32 from 28 reviews on Metacritic[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1104813-down_to_earth) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/down-to-earth/) |
| Source lineage | Harry Segall's 1937 play *Heaven Can Wait* → *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* (1941) → *Heaven Can Wait* (1978) → *Down to Earth*[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Lance Barton is a struggling comedian and bicycle messenger in New York whose dream is to perform at the farewell Amateur Night at the [Apollo Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/apollo-theater); his manager, Whitney Daniels ([Frankie Faison](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankie-faison)), has lined up a slot for him, but he cannot win over a crowd.[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/down-to-earth-2001) Riding home, he is hit by a truck and wakes in heaven, where the angels King ([Chazz Palminteri](https://www.edgepedia.org/chazz-palminteri)) and Keyes (Eugene Levy) admit that Keyes collected him before his time and that his own body is gone.[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/down-to-earth-2001) Their solution is the newly available body of Charles Wellington III, a wealthy businessman who has just been murdered by his wife (Jennifer Coolidge) and her lover, his personal assistant (Greg Germann).[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/down-to-earth-2001) • [8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/chris-rock-earns-his-wings/0f191ee5-bde6-4a16-baa1-f602e2c77ad6/)
Lance refuses the arrangement until he learns that Sontee Jenkins ([Regina King](https://www.edgepedia.org/regina-king)), an activist he admires, is camped in Wellington's penthouse in protest against his company, at which point he agrees to borrow the body until a better one turns up.[7](https://www.netflixmovies.com/down-to-earth-2001) In this new life he falls in love with Sontee, discovers his true self, and improves his comedy act, ultimately reaching the Apollo stage.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1104813-down_to_earth) • [9](https://www.cinema.com/articles/451/down-to-earth-production-information.phtml)
## Production and background
The film's lineage runs through four versions of the same premise. Harry Segall wrote *Heaven Can Wait* as a stage play in 1937, about a boxer who accidentally dies before his time and is reincarnated in the body of a murdered millionaire; it flopped on Broadway in 1946, but before that it was adapted into the well-received 1941 film *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* with Robert Montgomery, which itself spun off a poorly received 1947 sequel titled *Down to Earth*.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/) In 1978 [Warren Beatty](https://www.edgepedia.org/warren-beatty) and [Elaine May](https://www.edgepedia.org/elaine-may) remade *Jordan* as *Heaven Can Wait*, which received nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/)
**The racial twist.** Rock and his writing team changed the protagonist from an athlete (a football player in the 1978 version) to an untalented stand-up comic, and made the body transfer cross-racial: a black man inhabiting the body of a white millionaire.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/) Rock said the idea took hold after a casual lunch meeting with Warren Beatty, and argued that the scenario "works better if the person comes back in a different race," because "putting a black man in the role just ups the ante at every level."[9](https://www.cinema.com/articles/451/down-to-earth-production-information.phtml) It was Rock's first starring role.[9](https://www.cinema.com/articles/451/down-to-earth-production-information.phtml)
[Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) began on [Valentine's Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/valentines-day) 2000 and was divided between New York, which supplied the exterior locations, and Toronto.[9](https://www.cinema.com/articles/451/down-to-earth-production-information.phtml) The film had earlier been slated for release in the summer of 2000 under the title *I Was Made to Love Her*.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/) Production companies were Alphaville and 3 Arts Entertainment, with distribution by Paramount Pictures, Village Roadshow, and NPV Entertainment; Jamshied Sharifi composed the score.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH)
## Cast
The principal cast, with roles:[10](https://www.paramount.com/movies/down-to-earth)
- Chris Rock as Lance Barton
- Regina King as Sontee
- Chazz Palminteri as King
- [Eugene Levy](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-levy) as Keyes
- [Mark Addy](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-addy) as Cisco
- Frankie Faison as Whitney Daniels
- [Greg Germann](https://www.edgepedia.org/greg-germann) as Sklar
- Jennifer Coolidge as Mrs. Wellington
- Wanda Sykes as Wanda
- John Cho as Phil Quon
## Reception and box office
The film opened at $17,268,883 from 2,521 theaters, ranking second for the weekend, and finished with $64,186,502 domestically and $7,000,000 internationally, for a worldwide total of $71,186,502 against a $49,000,000 budget.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/) The Numbers records a slightly different domestic figure of $64,172,251 and an opening weekend of $20,027,309, 31.2% of the final total.[11](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Down-to-Earth-%282001%29) Domestic business accounted for 90.2% of the worldwide gross.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/)
Critics were largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes lists an 18% Tomatometer from 95 reviews and a 40% Popcornmeter from more than 50,000 ratings, with the critics consensus calling it "a toned down Chris Rock" failing "to bring a limp script to life."[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1104813-down_to_earth) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 32 from 28 reviews, labeled "Generally Unfavorable," with a user score of 5.4.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/down-to-earth/) Reviewers repeatedly identified the same problem: the film blunted Rock's stand-up persona. Lisa Schwarzbaum of *Entertainment Weekly* wrote that what Rock fans would miss was "the earthiness and outrageous hilarity of his stand-up act," while still scoring it 75 and predicting that when Rock found his authentic swing as an actor he would be "a movie god."[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0231775/criticreviews/) The *Village Voice* credited the Weitz brothers with making "almost every minute" entertaining while finding it unsurprising.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0231775/criticreviews/) Jonathan Rosenbaum of the *Chicago Reader* called it "slight but likable, and diverting enough as light entertainment."[4](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2001/02/down-to-earth/) The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw was harsher, calling the result "a disaster: a cutesy, dull film."[13](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/88020/down.to.earth) A Washington Post review by [Stephen Hunter](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-hunter) took the opposite view, calling Rock "the best thing about his flimsy pretext of a film" and the movie "pretty consistently funny."[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/chris-rock-earns-his-wings/0f191ee5-bde6-4a16-baa1-f602e2c77ad6/)
## References
1. [Down to Earth (2001), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61996-DOWN-TO-EARTH)
2. [Michael O'Sullivan, "'Down to Earth' Hits Rock Bottom," The Washington Post, February 15, 2001](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/down-to-earth-hits-rock-bottom/4d5b6619-4f42-48d8-af0a-4dd0b9285bbd/)
3. [Down to Earth (2001), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0231775/)
4. [Jonathan Rosenbaum, "Down To Earth," February 13, 2001](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2001/02/down-to-earth/)
5. [Down to Earth, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1104813-down_to_earth)
6. [Down to Earth, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/down-to-earth/)
7. [Down to Earth (2001), NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/down-to-earth-2001)
8. [Stephen Hunter, "Chris Rock Earns His Wings," The Washington Post, February 15, 2001](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/02/16/chris-rock-earns-his-wings/0f191ee5-bde6-4a16-baa1-f602e2c77ad6/)
9. [Down to Earth: Production Information, Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/451/down-to-earth-production-information.phtml)
10. [Down to Earth, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramount.com/movies/down-to-earth)
11. [Down to Earth (2001), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Down-to-Earth-%282001%29)
12. [Down to Earth (2001) Metacritic reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0231775/criticreviews/)
13. [Peter Bradshaw, Down to Earth review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/movie/88020/down.to.earth)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2000 to 2002 › Comedies of 2001*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license