Great Balls of . . . Hype

Quaid, meanwhile, is the subject of just-out cover stories in American Film and Interview, following an Esquire cover in March. Still to come: “Great Balls” cover pieces in Premiere, Rolling Stone and Fame (the latter features a piece on Jer Lee).

For a hot cover boy, Quaid has never really set the box office aflame. Quaid’s last film, “Everybody’s All-American,” sold a measly $12.5 million in tickets. Prior to that he fizzled with “D.O.A.” ($12.6 million), “The Big Easy” ($17.2 million) and the costly “Innerspace” ($25.8 million). “Suspect” managed $19 million.

As one source close to “Great Balls” noted, “This is the film that makes him or breaks him as a movie star.”