Pineapple Express | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Gordon Green |
Screenplay by | |
Story by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Tim Orr |
Edited by | Craig Alpert |
Music by | Graeme Revell |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $26 million [1] |
Box office | $102.4 million [1] |
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American buddy stoner action comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco alongside Gary Cole, Rosie Perez and Danny McBride. The plot centers on a process server and his marijuana dealer as they are forced to flee from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing them commit a murder. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad , assisted in developing the story.
Columbia Pictures released the film on August 6, 2008, and grossed $102 million worldwide on a $26 million budget. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has since developed a cult following. Franco was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance.
Dale Denton, a process server and marijuana enthusiast, visits his drug dealer, Saul Silver. Dale and Saul smoke the rare "Pineapple Express" strain together before Dale leaves to resume working. He arrives at the home of Ted Jones and witnesses Ted and police officer Carol Brazier shoot and kill a rival Korean gangster. While fleeing the scene, Dale causes a commotion and throws his roach containing Pineapple Express. Ted identifies the strain and sends his henchmen Budlofsky and Matheson to Red, a drug dealer who tells them about Saul.
Back at Saul's apartment, Dale learns Ted is a local drug lord and could trace the roach as only Red and Saul have the Pineapple Express strain. Dale and Saul decide they must flee the city. They attempt to hide in the woods where Dale's car battery dies. Dale and Saul visit Red, who after a fight, reveals that Ted knows who they are and intends to kill them. Budlofsky and Matheson torture Red for information and both shoot him in the abdomen. Believing Dale's high-schooler girlfriend Angie to be in danger, he and Saul travel to her home where they are removed at gunpoint by her father. Budlofsky and Matheson arrive at the house but Dale and Saul depart before they can be captured and Angie's family goes to a hotel.
Dale and Saul then sell Pineapple Express to raise bus fare but Dale is arrested by police officer Bobbra. Dale tells Bobbra that he witnessed Brazier and Ted murder a man. Bobbra believes him as she has long been suspicious of Brazier's corruption and says she will investigate; Saul, thinking he is rescuing Dale, hijacks the police car. Brazier hears on the police radio of Dale's arrest and pursues Dale and Saul in a high-speed chase but they escape. After Dale and Saul argue and split up, Saul is kidnapped and held in Ted's lair. Dale breaks up with Angie over the phone after she talks about marriage. Dale then enlists an injured Red to help to rescue Saul but Red backs out at the last minute and Dale is captured. While Dale and Saul are waiting to be killed, they reconcile their friendship and plan an escape.
Ted's rivals, a Korean drug gang, attack the lair to avenge their fellow gangster's death. Dale and Saul free themselves but are caught by Matheson. A brawl and shootout ensues; Matheson kills Budlofsky for refusing to kill Saul. Red reappears and drives his car through the barn, killing Matheson and saving Saul but is shot by Brazier. A member of the Korean gang sets off a bomb killing Ted and setting fire to the barn. Red's car explodes and lands on Brazier, killing her. Dale carries Saul from the burning lair and Red, severely wounded, also escapes and reconciles with them. They talk about their adventure over breakfast at a diner before Saul's grandmother picks them up and takes them to the hospital.
The inspiration for making Pineapple Express, according to producer Judd Apatow, was Brad Pitt's character in True Romance , a stoner named Floyd. Apatow "thought it would be funny to make a movie in which you follow that character out of his apartment and watch him get chased by bad guys". [2] According to Rogen, the ideal production budget was $40 million, but due to the subject matter—"because it's a weed movie", as he described it—Sony Pictures allotted $25 million. [3] The film inspired the name for a real cannabis strain called Pineapple Express. [4]
David Gordon Green met with Apatow, Rogen, and Goldberg on the set of Knocked Up and later on the set of Superbad to discuss the project. [5] Green cited The Blues Brothers , Midnight Run , Running Scared , The Gravy Train and Stir Crazy as sources of inspiration and influence on directing the film. [5] One particular aspect of the film that has been almost universally praised is the cinematography; Rogen even joked on the commentary that "even people who hate the movie admit that it's shot well".
Rogen was originally going to play Saul, but Apatow suggested that Franco should play the role instead. After a table read, Rogen agreed, thus casting himself in the role of Dale Denton. [6]
Seth Rogen spoke with musician Huey Lewis about writing and performing the film's theme song in November 2007. [7]
Sony released the film on Wednesday, August 6, 2008, and it grossed $12.1 million on its first day. Over the weekend, it opened at number two behind The Dark Knight with $23.2 million, a five-day total of $41.3 million. The film went on to gross $87.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and $14.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $101.5 million. [1]
A red-band trailer for the film, featuring the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., [8] leaked in February 2008. [9] Sony Pictures had the video removed from YouTube within a few days of its posting. [10] Patrick Goldstein's Summer Movie Posse of the Los Angeles Times described its incorporation as "the most impressive use of M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes' ever". [11] The film's makers had been keen on including the song in the film's main trailer and approached M.I.A.'s U.S. label Interscope Records for permission. She added "Interscope asked me and I was, like, well, since it's just the trailer, that's cool. I didn't really think twice about it" stating she would have thought more carefully about permitting the song's use if it was in the main film, "scrutinizing what scene they were using it in and stuff like that". [12] Pineapple Express had an advance screening at the Just for Laughs Film Festival on July 19, 2008. [13] The film was released on August 6, 2008. [14] Cable network FX pre-bought exclusive rights to air the film after its theatrical run. [15]
There was a sneak peek of the film attached to the Superbad DVD, released on December 4, 2007.[ citation needed ]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 6, 2009. Both rated and unrated versions of the film are available. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on December 31, 2008. Both the Blu-ray and 2-disc DVD versions of the film come with a digital copy of the unrated film. It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 1, 2016.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Pineapple Express holds an approval rating of 68% based on 203 reviews and an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Both funny and scattershot, this loose-knit action/buddy/stoner comedy bridges genres and keeps a steady tempo of lowball laughs." [16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [18]
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune praised the film's script, noting that it "recalls what made Superbad worth seeing: the sidewinding conversational riffs, the why-am-I-laughing? wordplay." However, he was critical of the second half of the film and felt that the violence in contrast to the comedy of the first half was jarring and gratuitous. [19] Kelly Vance of East Bay Express enjoyed Franco's performance, stating that he "steals the movie easily", as well as the authenticity of the film's sets. [20]
The original motion picture soundtrack to the film was released on August 5, 2008. [21] Although featured in the trailer for the film, [22] the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. is not used in the film or included on its soundtrack. Following the trailer's release, "Paper Planes" gained massive airplay and reached the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Also featured in the film but absent from the soundtrack album are Grace Jones' Sly and Robbie produced cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", the former of which can be found on her 1998 compilation Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions .
Due to the film's financial success and cult following, Rogen, Goldberg, and Apatow were interested in producing a second film. The project never came to fruition, with Rogen saying "I think we probably wanted too much money" (Apatow had placed the necessary cost of a sequel at $50 million, with Sony capping it at $45 million). [23] In order to promote Rogen's 2013 film This Is the End , which also starred Franco, Robinson, and McBride, Sony released a fake trailer for Pineapple Express 2 as an April Fool's Day prank. [24] According to Rogen and Goldberg, the homemade Pineapple Express 2 film in This Is the End depicts what they envision for the actual sequel. [25]
After the 2014 Sony hack, emails were leaked confirming the budget disagreement. [26] [27] Rogen also confirmed this in a 2020 interview. [28]
Seth Aaron Rogen is a Canadian actor, comedian and filmmaker. Originally a stand-up comedian in Vancouver, he moved to Los Angeles for a part in Judd Apatow's series Freaks and Geeks in 1999, and got a part on Apatow's sitcom Undeclared in 2001, which also hired him as a writer. Rogen landed a job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show (2004), for which the writing team was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. Apatow subsequently guided him toward a film career.
Judd Apatow is an American director, producer, screenwriter and comedian, best known for his work in comedy films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Funny People (2009), This Is 40 (2012), Trainwreck (2015), The King of Staten Island (2020), and The Bubble (2022).
Knocked Up is a 2007 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, and starring Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and Martin Starr. It follows the repercussions of a drunken one-night stand between a slacker and a recently promoted media personality that results in an unintended pregnancy.
Jonah Hill is an American actor. The accolades he has received include nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and produced by Judd Apatow. It stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before graduating, the boys want to party and lose their virginity, but their plan proves harder than expected. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rogen, Bill Hader, Martha MacIsaac, and Emma Stone provide supporting roles.
Evan D. Goldberg is a Canadian filmmaker. He has collaborated with his childhood friend Seth Rogen on a variety of films, including Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is the End, The Interview, Sausage Party, Good Boys and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Goldberg and Rogen launched the cannabis company Houseplant in Canada in 2019.
The Apatow Company, doing business as Apatow Productions, is an American film and television production company founded by Judd Apatow in 1999.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a 2008 American sex comedy film written, directed and edited by Kevin Smith and starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. It was released on October 31, 2008. The film follows the lives of friends Zack and Miri, who are facing financial troubles and decide to make an adult film to solve their problems. The film was produced by Scott Mosier and was released by The Weinstein Company. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse is a 2007 American apocalyptic science fiction action comedy short film written and directed by Jason Stone and co-written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The film, a 10-minute short, stars actors Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel. Initially an 85-second trailer was uploaded to YouTube containing some lines of dialogue that were not included in the full 10-minute short later uploaded to YouTube. It was later adapted into a theatrical feature-length film titled This Is the End (2013) and fully released on its full-length counterpart's Blu-ray release.
Funny People is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann, with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman in supporting roles. The film follows a famous comedian who is diagnosed with a terminal disease and tries to fix the relationships in his life while befriending an aspiring comedian.
"Homer the Whopper" is the twenty-first season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009.
This Is the End is a 2013 American apocalyptic fantasy comedy film written, directed and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their directorial debuts. It is a feature-length film adaptation of Rogen and Goldberg's short film Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse (2007), which was directed by Jason Stone, who serves as an executive producer on the film. Starring an ensemble cast including James Franco, Jonah Hill, Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera and Emma Watson, the film centers on fictionalized versions of its cast in the wake of a global biblical apocalypse in Los Angeles.
Point Grey (PGP) is a Canadian-American film and television production company, founded in 2011 by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The company is named after Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver, where they met.
The Interview is a 2014 American political satire action comedy film produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following This Is the End (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterling, which he based on a story he co-wrote with Rogen and Goldberg. The film stars Rogen and James Franco as journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park, only to then be recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
Sausage Party is a 2016 adult animated comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, written by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and based on a story by Rogen, Goldberg and Jonah Hill. The film stars the voices of Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, and Salma Hayek. A parody of Disney and Pixar films, the film follows an anthropomorphic sausage who lives in a supermarket and goes on a journey with his friends to escape their fate as groceries while also facing a malicious douche out for revenge on him.
The Night Before is a 2015 American Christmas comedy stoner film directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Levine, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as three childhood friends who annually reunite on Christmas Eve in search of the best party in New York City. Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Mindy Kaling, and Michael Shannon also star.
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by Stoller, Andrew J. Cohen, Brendan O'Brien, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. A sequel to Neighbors (2014), the plot follows the Radners having to outwit a new sorority led by Shelby, living next door to sell their house currently in escrow. Zac Efron, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jerrod Carmichael, Ike Barinholtz, Carla Gallo, Hannibal Buress, and Lisa Kudrow reprise their roles from the first film; it was Rogen's first live-action sequel. The film premiered on April 26, 2016, in Berlin and was released on May 20, 2016, in the United States, receiving mostly positive reviews and grossed $108 million worldwide.
"Pilot" is the series premiere of the supernatural drama television series Preacher, which originally aired on AMC in the United States on May 22, 2016. The episode was written by the creators of the television adaptation, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin; with both Rogen and Goldberg directing. The pilot encore was followed by Talking Preacher, AMC's after-show hosted by Chris Hardwick.
An American Pickle is a 2020 American comedy-drama film directed by Brandon Trost and written by Simon Rich, based on his 2013 short story "Sell Out". The film stars Seth Rogen as an Eastern European Jewish immigrant who gets preserved in a vat of pickles and wakes up a century later in modern-day New York City, attempting to fit in with the assistance of his last remaining descendant.