Trailer
Plot summary
At The Golden Wonton, an orphanage and Chinese restaurant in Boiling Springs, Tennessee, Norbit Albert Rice and Kate Thomas grow up as friends and play at marrying with Ring Pops until Kate is adopted away. Rasputia Latimore, a tough girl, saves Norbit from bullies and becomes first his girlfriend, then his wife. Her older brothers Jack, Blue and Earl run a construction company where Norbit keeps the books, along with an extortion racket that keeps the town afraid; only Mr. Hangten Wong refuses to sell them his business. Kate returns to buy the orphanage, and she is engaged to Deion Hughes.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Norbit (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Murphy wrote the story after going on the Internet to see videos "where really large women, African-American women, would beat up their tiny husbands", a concept which he found hilarious.
- For Rasputia's suit Baker wanted to work from a real life model and auditioned over a hundred extra large ladies, all with the necessary proportions, who also needed to be able to dance; a foam latex suit was created based on the chosen model's measurements.
- Baker praised Murphy, saying "He really makes the stuff come to life, and he never complains. When we did 'The Nutty Professor' [...], he spent 80-odd days in the makeup chair. As much as I love makeup, even I would have been complaining by the end, but Eddie didn't."
- According to Thandiwe Newton, during filming the stand-ins were very convincing, and she frequently filmed scenes with them instead of Murphy.
- The film was released in the middle of Oscar voting season, and the overwhelmingly negative reaction is believed to have cost Murphy the Best Supporting Actor Oscar he was nominated for that year for Dreamgirls, as voters would be hesitant to vote for him after seeing this film.
- Industry projections expected Norbit to earn about $20 million in its opening weekend and Paramount was projecting $25 million; the film opened to $34.2 million in the United States, and was Eddie Murphy's 14th number-one box office opener.
- Norbit was nominated for eight Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture and won three, all for Eddie Murphy as three different characters, while the film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup.
- Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys called Norbit his favorite movie in a 2007 interview with Mark Voger for the Asbury Park Press; Voger later found the exchange had grown into an Internet meme, with fans dedicating reviews to Wilson after his death in 2025.
