Paul Blart: Mall Cop is a 2009 American action comedy film directed by Steve Carr, written by Kevin James and Nick Bakay, and produced by James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, Todd Garner, and Barry Bernardi. It stars James as the titular character with Jayma Mays, Keir O'Donnell, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen Rannazzisi and Shirley Knight in supporting roles. The film tells the story of Paul Blart, a single dad and a bumbling mall security guard, who finds himself in the middle of a heist and the only person in position to rescue hostages. Filming began in February 2008 with a majority of the shooting taking place at the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Massachusetts; it was produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions and in association with Relativity Media.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop was released in the United States on January 16, 2009, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film grossed $186 million worldwide against a production budget of $26 million, but was not well received by critics apart from positive comments about James' performance. A sequel titled Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 was released in 2015.

Paul Blart lives in West Orange, New Jersey with his young daughter Maya and his mother. Aspiring to join the New Jersey State Police, he trains at the police academy, but his hypoglycemia causes him to collapse before finishing the physical fitness test, leading Paul to take a job as a security officer at the West Orange Pavilion Mall.

Paul patrols the mall on a Segway and begins training Veck Simms, who shows little interest in the job. Meanwhile, Paul becomes acquainted with Amy Anderson, a vendor of a new kiosk. Paul meets her one evening at a restaurant with other mall employees. Things initially go well, but when Paul participates in a nacho-eating contest with his friend Leon, the jalapeño peppers prove too spicy for him, and he chugs two glasses of margarita, mistaking it for lemonade. He gets drunk and makes a wild exit by falling through a window.

Two days later on Black Friday, an organized gang of thugs disguised as Santa's Village employees begin a heist inside the mall. They take Amy, Stuart, Leon, Mr. Ferguson and the bank workers hostage in the bank, and Veck is revealed to be the gang's leader. The goons force the majority of shoppers to exit the mall and place motion sensors at each entrance to detect any attempt to enter or exit the building.

Paul is oblivious as he plays Rock Band before walking back into the mall to discover that it is nearly empty. He calls the police and leaves the mall, but realizes that Amy is still inside when he spots her car and returns to the mall to look for her. A SWAT team arrives with commander James Kent at the helm. Kent, a former classmate and bully from Paul's childhood, takes control of the police units and orders Blart to let them handle the situation. Paul refuses and attempts a rescue. Vastly outnumbered, he takes a stand against Veck's crew, improvising to take them down one by one. He discovers credit card codes written in invisible ink on the burglars' arms, realizing that their plans go beyond robbing the bank.

Unaware of this, Maya shows up at the mall to bring Paul some food, but Veck's henchmen seize her and add her to the hostages. Paul manages to subdue all of Veck's accomplices and attempts to rescue the hostages by pulling them up into the air vent. The plan fails when Leon does not fit. Veck enters the room, capturing Paul and forcing him to give up the codes recorded on his cell phone. Veck flees, taking Amy and Maya with him. As the SWAT team raids the mall, Paul borrows a display minivan with Kent, pursuing Veck to the airport, where he is attempting to escape to the Cayman Islands.

After a brief scuffle, Paul overpowers Veck and puts him in handcuffs. Kent pulls his gun on Paul, revealing that he was working with Veck. Kent demands the phone containing the codes from Paul, who instead destroys it. Before Kent can retaliate by shooting Paul, Chief Brooks of the mall security team arrives and shoots him in the arm. He and Veck are both arrested, and Amy and Maya are returned safely. For his bravery and assistance, Howard offers Paul a job with the New Jersey State Police. Paul declines, preferring to remain in mall security. Paul and Amy are eventually married in the mall, where they exchange vows on a set of black and white Segways.