Neighborhood Watch (film)
Encyclopedia
Neighborhood Watch is an upcoming science fiction
comedy film
directed by Akiva Schaffer
and written by Seth Rogen
and Evan Goldberg
. It stars Ben Stiller
, Vince Vaughn
, Jonah Hill
, Richard Ayoade
, Rosemarie DeWitt
, and Nicholas Braun
. The film follows a suburban neighborhood watch group which is used as a front by its members to get away from their families. However, when they accidentally uncover an alien plot that threatens the world, they are forced into action.
and Will Ferrell
were in talks to direct and star respectively, with Dobkin's involvement progressing as far as him submitting revisions to Stern's script. However, by August the same year, both Dobkin and Ferrell had left the project.
In December 2009, Peter Segal
was in negotiations to direct the film, but by November 2010 the project had no director attached. In November 2010, Rogen and Goldberg were hired to perform a complete re-write of the script, aiming for an adult, R-rated film. By June 2011, Schaffer was given the option to direct.
, with filming occurring in Atlanta, including Inman Park
, and several areas in Cobb County
including the Oakleigh, Echo Mill, and Amberton subdivisions in the city of Powder Springs
. Filming also took place at the Marietta Square
in the city of Marietta
, where businesses were renamed and an alleyway behind Hemingway's Bar & Grill was treated to artificially age the buildings. One of the Marietta scenes filmed involved a young boy on a skateboard being abducted by aliens. Scenes were also lensed in the Brookhaven
community. On October 25, 2011, a casting call was made for extras to fill the football stadium during two nights of filming between November 2-3 at Campbell High School
in Smyrna, Georgia
. On November 23, 2011, a minor, walk-on role in the film was auctioned off to benefit the Stiller Foundation charity; the auctioned closed at $23,000 to an undisclosed bidder. In late November, 2011, the site of a former BJ's Wholesale Club
in Norcross, Georgia
was converted in appearance to that of a Costco
for shooting.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Akiva Schaffer
Akiva Schaffer
Akiva Schaffer is an American writer for Saturday Night Live, a film director, songwriter, and a member of The Lonely Island, a sketch-comedy troupe that first found success on the Internet, which includes SNL cast member Andy Samberg and SNL writer Jorma Taccone...
and written by Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg is a Canadian film screenwriter and producer. Goldberg attended Point Grey Secondary School and McGill University before joining the staff of Da Ali G Show along with his childhood friend and comedy partner Seth Rogen. Rogen and Goldberg collaborated the films Knocked Up, Superbad,...
. It stars Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...
, Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill Feldstein , known professionally as Jonah Hill, is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. Hill is best known roles for his roles in Superbad, Knocked Up, and Get Him to the Greek. He made his theatrical debut in I Heart Huckabees, alongside Jason Schwartzman and Dustin...
, Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...
, Rosemarie DeWitt
Rosemarie DeWitt
Rosemarie DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff, co-starring her now husband Ron Livingston, from 2006 through 2007, and played Charmaine Craine on Showtime's acclaimed original series, United States of Tara...
, and Nicholas Braun
Nicholas Braun
Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Braun is an American actor.-Life and career:Braun was born in Bethpage, New York, the son of Elizabeth Lyle and actor Craig Braun...
. The film follows a suburban neighborhood watch group which is used as a front by its members to get away from their families. However, when they accidentally uncover an alien plot that threatens the world, they are forced into action.
Premise
A group of friends (Stiller, Vaughn, Hill, and Ayoade) form a neighborhood watch group for their suburb to allow them time to bond and escape from their families. However, when the group discovers a plot that threatens the entire world, they are forced to confront it head on.Cast
- Ben StillerBen StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
as Evan Trautwig, a new suburban resident who joins the neighborhood watch. - Vince VaughnVince VaughnVincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...
as Bob Finnerty, a resident who uses the watch to spy on his teenage daughter's dating life. Vaughn entered negotiations to star in June 2011. - Jonah HillJonah HillJonah Hill Feldstein , known professionally as Jonah Hill, is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. Hill is best known roles for his roles in Superbad, Knocked Up, and Get Him to the Greek. He made his theatrical debut in I Heart Huckabees, alongside Jason Schwartzman and Dustin...
Hill's involvement was confirmed in August 2011. - Richard AyoadeRichard AyoadeRichard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...
as Jamarcus. Chris TuckerChris TuckerChristopher "Chris" Tucker is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour film series.-Early life:...
was considered for the role before Ayoade was signed. - Rosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff, co-starring her now husband Ron Livingston, from 2006 through 2007, and played Charmaine Craine on Showtime's acclaimed original series, United States of Tara...
as Evan's wife, who forces them to move to the suburbs. - Nicholas BraunNicholas BraunNicholas Joseph "Nick" Braun is an American actor.-Life and career:Braun was born in Bethpage, New York, the son of Elizabeth Lyle and actor Craig Braun...
- Will ForteWill ForteOrville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
as Sergeant Bressman - Erin Moriarty as Bob's daughter.
- Billy CrudupBilly CrudupWilliam Gaither "Billy" Crudup is an American actor of film and stage. He is well known for his roles as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. He also starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dedication, alongside Mandy Moore...
was reported as being in negotiations for a role as a "creepy neighbor" on October 4, 2011. - Doug JonesDoug Jones (actor)Doug Jones is an American film and television actor best known to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans for his various roles playing non-human characters, often in heavy makeup, in films and television series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: Rise...
as an alien.
Development
The film entered development as early as 2008, with Levy developing the project over three years based on an idea by 20th Century Fox executive John Fox. Levy described his original vision as a "PG-13 kind of Ghostbusters-y thing." The original screenplay was written by Jared Stern. In May 2009, David DobkinDavid Dobkin (director)
David Dobkin is an American film director, producer and former screenwriter best known for directing Clay Pigeons, Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers, Fred Claus and The Change-Up.-Early life and education:...
and Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
were in talks to direct and star respectively, with Dobkin's involvement progressing as far as him submitting revisions to Stern's script. However, by August the same year, both Dobkin and Ferrell had left the project.
In December 2009, Peter Segal
Peter Segal
Peter Segal is an American film director, with credits in producing, writing, and acting. He has had general success in the comedy film genre.-Filmography:*Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult *Tommy Boy...
was in negotiations to direct the film, but by November 2010 the project had no director attached. In November 2010, Rogen and Goldberg were hired to perform a complete re-write of the script, aiming for an adult, R-rated film. By June 2011, Schaffer was given the option to direct.
Filming
Principal photography began in October 2011 in GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, with filming occurring in Atlanta, including Inman Park
Inman Park
Inman Park was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who intended to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first of Atlanta's electric streetcar lines. The East Atlanta Land Company acquired and developed more than 130 acres east of the city...
, and several areas in Cobb County
Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...
including the Oakleigh, Echo Mill, and Amberton subdivisions in the city of Powder Springs
Powder Springs, Georgia
Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census.- History :The town of Powder Springs was incorporated as Springville in 1838 in the lands of two Cherokee Indian chiefs, Chief Nose and Chief Ana Kanasta . Gold had been discovered in...
. Filming also took place at the Marietta Square
Marietta Square
Marietta Square, also called Glover Park, is a park and traditional city center in Marietta, Georgia.-History:When the Cobb County courthouse burned in 1848, Mayor John Glover donated the land to the city on the condition that it would stay a park or return to its heirs...
in the city of Marietta
Marietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...
, where businesses were renamed and an alleyway behind Hemingway's Bar & Grill was treated to artificially age the buildings. One of the Marietta scenes filmed involved a young boy on a skateboard being abducted by aliens. Scenes were also lensed in the Brookhaven
Brookhaven, Georgia
Brookhaven is an unincorporated community located on the western edge of DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, directly northeast of Atlanta. Most of the area was formerly incorporated as the city of North Atlanta, which disincorporated during the 1960s...
community. On October 25, 2011, a casting call was made for extras to fill the football stadium during two nights of filming between November 2-3 at Campbell High School
Campbell High School (Smyrna, Georgia)
Campbell High School is one of sixteen public high schools in the Cobb County School District. Located on its rectangular campus in Smyrna, a suburb of Atlanta, United States, there are currently over 2200 pupils and nearly 250 staff members....
in Smyrna, Georgia
Smyrna, Georgia
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,999 people, 18,372 households, and 9,498 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,949.9 people per square mile . There were 19,633 housing units at an average density of 1,412.6 per square mile...
. On November 23, 2011, a minor, walk-on role in the film was auctioned off to benefit the Stiller Foundation charity; the auctioned closed at $23,000 to an undisclosed bidder. In late November, 2011, the site of a former BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. , commonly referred to simply as BJ's, is a membership-only warehouse club chain operating on the United States East Coast, as well as in the state of Ohio...
in Norcross, Georgia
Norcross, Georgia
As of 2010 Norcross had a population of 9,116. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 40.8% white , 19.8% black or African American , 0.7% Native American, 2.1% Asian Indian, 10.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 21.5% from some other race and 4.3% reporting two or more races...
was converted in appearance to that of a Costco
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...
for shooting.