The Hangover 2
Encyclopedia
The Hangover Part II is a 2011 American comedy film
produced by Legendary Pictures
and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
, and a sequel to 2009's The Hangover
. Todd Phillips
directed the film in addition to co-authoring the script with Craig Mazin
, and Scott Armstrong
. The film stars Bradley Cooper
, Ed Helms
, and Zach Galifianakis
. The Hangover Part II tells the story of Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug as they travel to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu takes no chances and opts for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things do not go as planned.
Development of The Hangover Part II began in April 2009, two months before The Hangover was released. The principal actors were cast in March 2010 to reprise their roles from the first film. Production began in October 2010, in Ontario, California before moving on location in Thailand. The film was released on May 26, 2011 and, despite receiving negative reviews from critics, became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.
to celebrate Stu's impending wedding to Lauren. Much to Alan's dismay, they are joined by Lauren's younger brother, Teddy. During Lauren's father's toast, he shows his disapproval of Stu by comparing him to rice porridge
. At the end of the night, Stu hesitantly joins Phil, Doug, Alan and Teddy for a beer. Sitting at a campfire and roasting marshmallows, the group toast to Stu and Lauren's future happiness.
The following morning, Phil, Stu and Alan, along with gangster Leslie Chow - whom Alan befriended after Las Vegas - and a chain-smoking capuchin monkey
, awaken in a dirty hotel room in Bangkok
. Stu has a face tattoo (a copy of Mike Tyson's tattoo), and Alan's head is completely shaved. However, they cannot find Teddy, only discovering his severed finger. Chow begins recalling the events of the prior night, but he dies after snorting a line of cocaine. Panicked, the trio dispose of Chow's body in an ice machine.
Through a tip from Doug who is still at the resort, they go to a prison to pick up Teddy but are given a wheelchair-bound elderly Buddhist
monk, who knows more about what happened, but does not reveal anything: he has taken a vow of silence
, and rejects also an alternative such as writing something down. After finding a business card, they travel to a neighborhood smouldering in ruins. They enter a nearby tattoo parlor where Stu got his tattoo, and they learn that they had started a fight that escalated into a riot. The trio then return the monk to his Buddhist temple, where they are encouraged by the head monk to meditate. Alan is able to recall a strip club that they had gone to. There, they learn that Stu had engaged in sex
with a kathoey
prostitute. Upon exiting, the trio is attacked by two Russian mobsters from whom they had stolen the monkey, and Phil is shot in the arm.
After Phil is treated at a clinic, Alan confesses that he had drugged some of the marshmallows from the previous night with muscle relaxants and ADHD medication in order to sedate Teddy but accidentally mixed up the bags. After noticing an address and time point for a meeting written on Alan's stomach, the trio meet up with another gangster, Kingsley, who demands Chow's bank account code and password by the next morning in exchange for Teddy. They return to the hotel to try to find Chow's password, only to discover that he is still alive. They steal the monkey (who had the code inside his jacket) back from the Russian mobsters through a violent car chase, during which the monkey is shot and injured. After taking the code and leaving the monkey at a veterinary clinic, the group complete the deal with Kingsley. Suddenly, Interpol
agents appear and arrest Chow. Kingsley turns out to be an undercover agent, who tells the trio that the police have searched all day for Teddy but were unable to find him.
Desperate and out of clues, Phil once again calls Doug's wife Tracy. Stu then has an epiphany and the trio rushes back to the hotel and find Teddy in the elevator unharmed (albeit still missing a finger). Teddy had woken up in the middle of the night to get more ice for his severed finger (after the first bucket of ice had melted) but became trapped after the power went out. The four use Chow's speedboat, the keys for which were in Teddy's pocket, to travel back to the wedding reception. Arriving on land just as Lauren's father is about to cancel the wedding, Stu makes a defiant speech where he rejects being boring and instead states that he is in fact quite wild. Impressed, Lauren's father gives the couple his blessing. After the wedding continues on, Alan presents Stu with a special gift at the post-reception dance: a musical guest performance by Mike Tyson
. Teddy later discovers that he had taken many pictures during the night on his mobile phone. The group, along with Tyson, agree to look at the pictures together once before erasing the evidence of their exploits once again.
Cooper, Helms, Galifianakis, Bartha, Jeong, Barrese, Vigman and Tambor reprise their roles from the first film. Mike Tyson
also reprises his role as himself and sings a cover of the 1984 Murray Head
song "One Night in Bangkok
" for the movie. The film is the Hollywood debut of Mason Lee, son of director Ang Lee
. Nick Cassavetes has a cameo appearance
as a Bangkok tattoo artist. Liam Neeson
was initially cast in that role, which was originally envisioned for Mel Gibson
.
with Scot Armstrong. The dealmaking came two months before The Hangover was released on June 5, 2009. While studios often wait to see box office results before committing to a sequel, The Hangover tested strongly, and a trailer brought down the house at ShoWest.
Variety
reported in July 2009, that production on The Hangover 2 would begin in October 2010, for a Memorial Day
2011 release, following the same production schedule used for the first film. Also in July, Zach Galifianakis
stated in an interview with Latino Review that the film will be set in Thailand
, "Well, I think we're going to Thailand. The problem with 'Hangover 2' is that we have to live up to what we did which is very difficult. So we get, I think, kind of kidnapped. It has nothing to do with the bachelor party. We're definitely not doing that again but we do end up in an exotic location. That's all I know".
In January 2010, director Todd Phillips dismissed rumors that Zac Efron
would join the cast of The Hangover 2, though actor Ed Helms stated Efron would be a welcomed addition, commenting, "I love that guy. He's actually really funny".
In March 2010, Todd Phillips denied reports that the film would take place in Mexico
or Thailand stating, "I don't know. There's a lot of rumors. There was rumor also that it was going to Mexico or something and neither are true". Also in March, it was reported that Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper
, Ed Helms
and Justin Bartha
had all completed talks and were ready to sign deals to reprise their roles in the sequel. Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms will each reportedly be paid in the vicinity of $5 million against 4 percent of first dollar gross. Director/producer Todd Phillips will reportedly be paid around $10 million against 10 percent. Phillips was also offered escalators and bonuses to ensure that if the sequel does anywhere close to the original's $467 million worldwide gross, then he would not make less than his income on the original.
Bradley Cooper stated that "we made [the] decision early on" to keep the same plot structure. "I remember we did this photo shoot for Vanity Fair
and that was when we first talked about a sequel in a realistic way; and we were all in the room together afterwards and we were saying 'here's the choice: do we stray from the structure or do we run straight for it?' And we all agreed, no question about it, we hadn't earned the ability to take these 3 guys out and put them in a new structure. There needs to be a ticking clock, there needs to be a missed night and there needs to be someone who's gone and a woman who is waiting to get married and a guy who needs to get married."
In June 2010, before accepting the Guy Movie of the Year award on the Spike Guys Choice Awards, director Todd Phillips announced that there would be a Hangover 2 and that they were hoping to begin filming around October 15, 2010, for a July 4, 2011 weekend release.
In July 2010, it was confirmed that film would indeed be set in Thailand and earlier comments made by Todd Phillips denying such reports were a deliberate case of misdirection. The following month Bradley Cooper stated he believed the rumors to be true and was looking forward to filming The Hangover 2 in Thailand.
In October 2010, Director Todd Phillips confirmed that the film would take place in Bangkok
and Los Angeles and that Galifianakis, Cooper, Helms and Jeong
would be returning.
began on October 8, 2010, in Ontario, California
with the first images of production being released a few days later. It was also reported in October that actress Heather Graham
would not be reprising her role as Jade from the first film. Later in the same month it was reported that Mel Gibson
would have a cameo appearance
in the film as a Bangkok tattoo artist. Four days later Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Todd Phillips confirmed that Gibson would not be appearing in the film. Phillips stated: "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of [WB president] Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew." Liam Neeson
stepped in to replace Mel Gibson after he was invited to take the cameo role via his A-Team
co-star Bradley Cooper. Neeson, a fan of the first film stated, "I just got a call to do a one day shoot on 'Hangover 2' as a tattooist in Thailand, and that's all I know about it". Gibson was reportedly furious over the decision. A source close to Gibson stated, "He doesn't understand why Mike Tyson
, a drug user who turned his life around, was given a chance while Mel was kicked to the curb. Everybody deserves a second chance".
In November 2010, it was reported that Jamie Chung
had been cast in the film as Stu's fiancée as well as it being renamed, The Hangover Part II. In an interview director Todd Phillips revealed that Mike Tyson
would be back in the sequel. Also in November, it was reported that Paul Giamatti
had joined the cast. The next day it was reported that former U.S. President
Bill Clinton
filmed a cameo appearance for the film in Bangkok while he was in the city to deliver a speech on clean energy. However Ed Helms clarified that Clinton merely visited the set and would be surprised if he appeared in the film.
In December 2010, it was reported that Bryan Callen
, who played the owner of the wedding chapel in The Hangover, is working again in The Hangover Part II, as "a smarmy strip club owner in Bangkok". Also in December, Australian stuntman Scott McLean was seriously injured in a traffic accident while filming a stunt sequence near Bangkok. Warner Bros. issued a statement stating McLean was put into a medically induced coma but is expected to recover.
Bradley Cooper said that "logistically, to get from point A to point B [was] incredibly difficult and the bureaucracy and getting things done. There are always tons of people around the set and Todd loves a lean set and it was always the opposite, so watching a director deal with that – especially when it was Todd Phillips – was interesting." He then went on to say, in a later part of the interview, that "it was the hardest shoot that I had ever done, that Zach had ever done, that Ed had ever done and that Todd had ever done."
would be reteaming with director Todd Phillips to score
the film. The project marks the fourth collaboration between Beck and Philips, who also worked together on School for Scoundrels
, The Hangover and Due Date
.
In April 2011, Variety
reported that Liam Neeson's cameo as a Bangkok tattoo artist had been cut and Nick Cassavetes has been re-cast in the role. While editing, Phillips cut the scene that immediately followed Neeson's cameo, meaning it no longer had the information necessary to logically get the main characters to the situation in the next scene. Three weeks later, Phillips decided to reshoot the scene, but with Neeson in London filming Wrath of the Titans
, the actor was no longer available. Phillips explained, "We were in a complete time crunch so I called up Nick and asked if he would do the part. He came in and crushed it and that is the scene that you will ultimately see in the film. [I'm excited for everyone] to see the film. It turned out great".
on May 19, 2011, at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.
pulled the trailer from theaters for violating an MPAA rule stating that films can only trailer before similarly rated movies. The trailer for the R-rated comedy was being promoted at screenings for the PG-13-rated Source Code
against MPAA regulations. Warner Bros. released a statement saying, "In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens".
to stop the release of the film, because, on balance, that rejection was "in the public interest". In the event that Warner Bros. and Whitmill did not come to an agreement, the former party aimed to digitally modify the tattoo from Helms' face for the home video release. In June 2011, Warner Bros. settled the lawsuit with Whitmill; the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
and Blu-ray on December 6, 2011 in the United States by Warner Home Media, on December the 5th in the UK and on November 30 in the Netherlands. The film will be available in 3 formats: DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray Combo pack which includes both high and standard-definition iteration of the film and an UltraViolet digital copy of the film.
($170.9 million). On the weekend of June 17–19, 2011, it out-grossed its predecessor in worldwide earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.
United States and Canada
The film was released on Thursday, May 26, 2011, in North America, coinciding with the U.S. Memorial Day
weekend. During launch midnight showings in 2,600 theaters, the film earned $10.4 million, breaking the record for the biggest midnight opening for an R-rated film, replacing Paranormal Activity
(2007) with $6.3 million. The film opened in a further 1,015 theaters during the launch day for a total of 3,615 – becoming the widest opening ever for an R-rated film – and earned a further $21.2 million to accrue a launch day total of $31.6 million; nearly doubling The Hangovers Friday launch opening ($16.7 million). This amount broke two further records; the highest-grossing opening day for a live-action comedy and the highest-grossing opening day for an R-rated comedy film, replacing Sex and the City (2008) with $26.7 million. According to exit poll
ing, the launch day audience was 51 percent female and 41 percent were aged between 18 and 24. On May 27, the film took an additional $30.0 million, dropping only 5 percent from the takings of the previous day and becoming the highest-grossing Friday for a live-action comedy. The three-day (Friday-Sunday) opening weekend accumulated $85,946,294 – an average of $23,923 per theater – becoming the highest grossing opening weekend for a comedy film, replacing The Simpsons Movie
($74 million), the highest-grossing opening weekend for a live-action comedy, replacing Austin Powers in Goldmember
($73 million), the highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated comedy, replacing Sex and the City ($79 million) and the second-highest grossing opening weekend of all time for an R-rated film, behind The Matrix Reloaded
($91.7 million). For the Memorial Day four-day weekend, the film amassed $103.4 million to become the fourth highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening. However, in its second weekend the film gross dropped 64 percent from the previous weekend – while the original film dropped only 27 percent during its second weekend – and grossed $31.4 million.
The film ended its Box Office run on September 15, 2011, on 113th day of its release.
International market
The Hangover Part II debuted in 40 countries internationally over the weekend of May 26–29, 2011, across 5,170 screens. In total, the film accrued $60.3 million from its Friday-through-Monday opening weekend, more than tripling the international gross of The Hangovers debut in the same territories. The highest weekend gross came from the United Kingdom
where the film earned £10,409,017 from 920 screens, breaking the record for the highest grossing opening for a US comedy, but this record was overtaken by The Inbetweeners Movie (£13,216,736). Australia accrued a gross of $12.1 million to replace Sex and the City in the country as the highest grossing opening for an MA-rated film – no-one under the age of 15 permitted. The film took $6.2 million in France and $3.1 million in Italy ($4.6 million with previews); a five-fold increase over the opening weekend gross of The Hangover. On its second weekend, the film accrued $63.8 million from 53 territories, placing it second behind Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; the film having earned 79 percent of its predecessor's entire overseas run. On the weekend of June 10–12, 2011, it surpassed its predecessor and Something About Mary in overseas earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy overseas.
, gives the film a score of 36% based on 219 reviews from critics with a rating average of 5.0 out of 10. The website's critical consensus is that the film is "a crueler, darker, raunchier carbon copy of the first installment" and "lacks the element of surprise – and most of the joy – that helped make the original a hit." Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 44 based on 40 reviews. CinemaScore
polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a A- on an A+ to F scale.
Andrew Barker of Variety
gave the film a negative review, stating, "The stock dismissal 'more of the same' has rarely been more accurately applied to a sequel than to The Hangover Part II, which ranks as little more than a faded copy of its predecessor superimposed on a more brightly colored background". Christy Lemire
of the Associated Press
said, "Giving the people what they want is one thing. Making nearly the exact same movie a second time, but shifting the setting to Thailand, is just ... what, lazy? Arrogant? Maybe a combination of the two". Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
also gave the film an average review stating, "The Hangover Part II plays like a challenge to the audience's capacity for raunchiness. It gets laughs, but some of them are in disbelief".
Conversely, Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
gave The Hangover Part II a positive review remarking, "What happens in Bangkok isn't as much fun as when it happened in Vegas, but it's still worth the trip". Lou Lumenick
of the New York Post
said, "There are definitely laughs to be had, even if the three leads often seem to be going through the motions".
, a capuchin monkey
who also appeared in the Night at the Museum
films, portrays the drug dealing monkey. Director Todd Philips raised concerns after he joked that Crystal had become addicted to cigarettes after learning to smoke them for the film. Philips later explained that Crystal never actually held a lit cigarette on the film's set and the smoke was added digitally in post-production. Despite this, PETA
protested about Crystal's appearance in the film for use of exotic animals for entertainment purposes and the film does not carry the American Humane Association
's disclaimer that "no animals were harmed" since the group was denied set visits.
In an interview with New York
magazine, Ken Jeong responded to criticisms of the character Mr. Chow as an offensive caricature and stated doing the character was "very cathartic" for him and said the character "has the inflections of Vietnamese, with kind of the anger of my own Korean nature" although "it's definitely not about an accent, or a stereotype."
, who co-wrote the The Hangover Part II, entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.
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...
produced by Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures is an American film production company, whose parent company, Legendary Entertainment, is based in Burbank, California and was founded by Thomas Tull in 2004...
and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, and a sequel to 2009's The Hangover
The Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
. Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips
Todd Phillips is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover, and Due Date.-Early life:...
directed the film in addition to co-authoring the script with Craig Mazin
Craig Mazin
Craig Mazin is an American screenwriter and director.Mazin was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Marlboro Township, New Jersey when he was a teen and attended Freehold High School which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology from...
, and Scott Armstrong
Scott Armstrong
Joseph James, Jr. is a retired American professional wrestler and referee better known as Scott Armstrong. He is currently under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment. He is the oldest son of Bob Armstrong and has three brothers that wrestle, Brad, Steve and Brian.-Early career:James started...
. The film stars Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
, and Zach Galifianakis
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
. The Hangover Part II tells the story of Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug as they travel to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. After the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu takes no chances and opts for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. However, things do not go as planned.
Development of The Hangover Part II began in April 2009, two months before The Hangover was released. The principal actors were cast in March 2010 to reprise their roles from the first film. Production began in October 2010, in Ontario, California before moving on location in Thailand. The film was released on May 26, 2011 and, despite receiving negative reviews from critics, became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.
Plot
Two years after their escapade in Las Vegas, Stuart "Stu" Price, Phil Wenneck, Doug Billings, and Alan Garner travel to ThailandThailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to celebrate Stu's impending wedding to Lauren. Much to Alan's dismay, they are joined by Lauren's younger brother, Teddy. During Lauren's father's toast, he shows his disapproval of Stu by comparing him to rice porridge
Congee
Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...
. At the end of the night, Stu hesitantly joins Phil, Doug, Alan and Teddy for a beer. Sitting at a campfire and roasting marshmallows, the group toast to Stu and Lauren's future happiness.
The following morning, Phil, Stu and Alan, along with gangster Leslie Chow - whom Alan befriended after Las Vegas - and a chain-smoking capuchin monkey
Capuchin monkey
The capuchins are New World monkeys of the genus Cebus. The range of capuchin monkeys includes Central America and South America as far south as northern Argentina...
, awaken in a dirty hotel room in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. Stu has a face tattoo (a copy of Mike Tyson's tattoo), and Alan's head is completely shaved. However, they cannot find Teddy, only discovering his severed finger. Chow begins recalling the events of the prior night, but he dies after snorting a line of cocaine. Panicked, the trio dispose of Chow's body in an ice machine.
Through a tip from Doug who is still at the resort, they go to a prison to pick up Teddy but are given a wheelchair-bound elderly Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monk, who knows more about what happened, but does not reveal anything: he has taken a vow of silence
Vow of silence
A vow of silence is a religious vow, usually taken in a monastic context, to maintain silence. Known as Mauna in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, the practice is integral to Christian and Islamic traditions as well...
, and rejects also an alternative such as writing something down. After finding a business card, they travel to a neighborhood smouldering in ruins. They enter a nearby tattoo parlor where Stu got his tattoo, and they learn that they had started a fight that escalated into a riot. The trio then return the monk to his Buddhist temple, where they are encouraged by the head monk to meditate. Alan is able to recall a strip club that they had gone to. There, they learn that Stu had engaged in sex
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
with a kathoey
Kathoey
Kathoey or katoey is a male-to-female transgender person or an effeminate gay male in Thailand. Related phrases include sao praphet song , or phet thi sam . The word kathoey is thought to be of Khmer origin...
prostitute. Upon exiting, the trio is attacked by two Russian mobsters from whom they had stolen the monkey, and Phil is shot in the arm.
After Phil is treated at a clinic, Alan confesses that he had drugged some of the marshmallows from the previous night with muscle relaxants and ADHD medication in order to sedate Teddy but accidentally mixed up the bags. After noticing an address and time point for a meeting written on Alan's stomach, the trio meet up with another gangster, Kingsley, who demands Chow's bank account code and password by the next morning in exchange for Teddy. They return to the hotel to try to find Chow's password, only to discover that he is still alive. They steal the monkey (who had the code inside his jacket) back from the Russian mobsters through a violent car chase, during which the monkey is shot and injured. After taking the code and leaving the monkey at a veterinary clinic, the group complete the deal with Kingsley. Suddenly, Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agents appear and arrest Chow. Kingsley turns out to be an undercover agent, who tells the trio that the police have searched all day for Teddy but were unable to find him.
Desperate and out of clues, Phil once again calls Doug's wife Tracy. Stu then has an epiphany and the trio rushes back to the hotel and find Teddy in the elevator unharmed (albeit still missing a finger). Teddy had woken up in the middle of the night to get more ice for his severed finger (after the first bucket of ice had melted) but became trapped after the power went out. The four use Chow's speedboat, the keys for which were in Teddy's pocket, to travel back to the wedding reception. Arriving on land just as Lauren's father is about to cancel the wedding, Stu makes a defiant speech where he rejects being boring and instead states that he is in fact quite wild. Impressed, Lauren's father gives the couple his blessing. After the wedding continues on, Alan presents Stu with a special gift at the post-reception dance: a musical guest performance by Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
. Teddy later discovers that he had taken many pictures during the night on his mobile phone. The group, along with Tyson, agree to look at the pictures together once before erasing the evidence of their exploits once again.
Cast
- Bradley CooperBradley CooperBradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
as Phil Wenneck - Ed HelmsEd HelmsEdward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
as Dr. Stuart "Stu" Price - Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
as Alan Garner - Justin BarthaJustin BarthaJustin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
as Doug Billings - Ken JeongKen JeongKendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...
as Leslie Chow - Jeffrey TamborJeffrey TamborJeffrey Michael Tambor is an American actor, perhaps best known for his roles as George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development and Hank Kingsley on The Larry Sanders Show.-Early life:...
as Sid Garner - Jamie ChungJamie ChungJamie Jilynn Chung is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now...
as Lauren, Stu's fiancée - Bryan CallenBryan CallenBryan Christopher Callen is an American actor. Callen is notable for being one of the original cast of comedians on the sketch comedy series MADtv.-Early life:...
as Samir, a smarmy strip club owner in Bangkok - Mason Lee as Teddy, Lauren's brother
- Paul GiamattiPaul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
as Kingsley, an undercover InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agent - Sasha BarreseSasha BarreseAlexandra "Sasha" Barrese is an American actress known for her roles in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
as Tracy Billings, Doug's wife - Gillian VigmanGillian VigmanGillian Vigman is an American comic actress. Vigman is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv. She also starred in the ABC comedy, Sons & Daughters. Vigman plays a supporting role on The Defenders.-Biography:Vigman started her professional...
as Stephanie Wenneck, Phil's wife - Yasmin LeeYasmin LeeYasmin Lee is an American transsexual pornographic film actress and model.She is of Thai, Cambodian, Chinese, and Brazilian heritage. Her family moved from Thailand to the Philippines before finally settling down in Orange County, California. She joined the U.S...
as Kimmy - Nirut SirijanyaNirut SirijanyaNirut Sirijanya is a Thai actor. He is best known for his role as Lauren's father Fong in the 2011 sequel The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
as Lauren's father
Cooper, Helms, Galifianakis, Bartha, Jeong, Barrese, Vigman and Tambor reprise their roles from the first film. Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
also reprises his role as himself and sings a cover of the 1984 Murray Head
Murray Head
Murray Seafield Saint-George Head is a British actor and singer, most recognised for his international hit songs "Superstar" and "One Night in Bangkok" and his album Say It Ain't So...
song "One Night in Bangkok
One Night in Bangkok
"One Night in Bangkok" is the title of a song originally sung by the British actor and Pop-dance singer Murray Head on the 1984 concept album for the musical Chess...
" for the movie. The film is the Hollywood debut of Mason Lee, son of director Ang Lee
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
. Nick Cassavetes has a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as a Bangkok tattoo artist. Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
was initially cast in that role, which was originally envisioned for Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
.
Development and pre-production
In April 2009, Warner Bros. set director Todd Phillips to write a sequel to The HangoverThe Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
with Scot Armstrong. The dealmaking came two months before The Hangover was released on June 5, 2009. While studios often wait to see box office results before committing to a sequel, The Hangover tested strongly, and a trailer brought down the house at ShoWest.
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported in July 2009, that production on The Hangover 2 would begin in October 2010, for a Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
2011 release, following the same production schedule used for the first film. Also in July, Zach Galifianakis
Zach Galifianakis
Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
stated in an interview with Latino Review that the film will be set in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, "Well, I think we're going to Thailand. The problem with 'Hangover 2' is that we have to live up to what we did which is very difficult. So we get, I think, kind of kidnapped. It has nothing to do with the bachelor party. We're definitely not doing that again but we do end up in an exotic location. That's all I know".
In January 2010, director Todd Phillips dismissed rumors that Zac Efron
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
would join the cast of The Hangover 2, though actor Ed Helms stated Efron would be a welcomed addition, commenting, "I love that guy. He's actually really funny".
In March 2010, Todd Phillips denied reports that the film would take place in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
or Thailand stating, "I don't know. There's a lot of rumors. There was rumor also that it was going to Mexico or something and neither are true". Also in March, it was reported that Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
, Ed Helms
Ed Helms
Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised...
and Justin Bartha
Justin Bartha
Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor, known for his co-starring role as Riley Poole in the National Treasure films and as Doug Billings in The Hangover and The Hangover Part II.-Early life:...
had all completed talks and were ready to sign deals to reprise their roles in the sequel. Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms will each reportedly be paid in the vicinity of $5 million against 4 percent of first dollar gross. Director/producer Todd Phillips will reportedly be paid around $10 million against 10 percent. Phillips was also offered escalators and bonuses to ensure that if the sequel does anywhere close to the original's $467 million worldwide gross, then he would not make less than his income on the original.
Bradley Cooper stated that "we made [the] decision early on" to keep the same plot structure. "I remember we did this photo shoot for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
and that was when we first talked about a sequel in a realistic way; and we were all in the room together afterwards and we were saying 'here's the choice: do we stray from the structure or do we run straight for it?' And we all agreed, no question about it, we hadn't earned the ability to take these 3 guys out and put them in a new structure. There needs to be a ticking clock, there needs to be a missed night and there needs to be someone who's gone and a woman who is waiting to get married and a guy who needs to get married."
In June 2010, before accepting the Guy Movie of the Year award on the Spike Guys Choice Awards, director Todd Phillips announced that there would be a Hangover 2 and that they were hoping to begin filming around October 15, 2010, for a July 4, 2011 weekend release.
In July 2010, it was confirmed that film would indeed be set in Thailand and earlier comments made by Todd Phillips denying such reports were a deliberate case of misdirection. The following month Bradley Cooper stated he believed the rumors to be true and was looking forward to filming The Hangover 2 in Thailand.
In October 2010, Director Todd Phillips confirmed that the film would take place in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
and Los Angeles and that Galifianakis, Cooper, Helms and Jeong
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:...
would be returning.
Filming
On a budget of $80 million, principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began on October 8, 2010, in Ontario, California
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
with the first images of production being released a few days later. It was also reported in October that actress Heather Graham
Heather Graham
Heather Joan Graham is an American actress. She has appeared in such films as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Lost in Space, Bowfinger, From Hell, Anger Management, and The Hangover...
would not be reprising her role as Jade from the first film. Later in the same month it was reported that Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
would have a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the film as a Bangkok tattoo artist. Four days later Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and director Todd Phillips confirmed that Gibson would not be appearing in the film. Phillips stated: "I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of [WB president] Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew." Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
stepped in to replace Mel Gibson after he was invited to take the cameo role via his A-Team
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
co-star Bradley Cooper. Neeson, a fan of the first film stated, "I just got a call to do a one day shoot on 'Hangover 2' as a tattooist in Thailand, and that's all I know about it". Gibson was reportedly furious over the decision. A source close to Gibson stated, "He doesn't understand why Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
, a drug user who turned his life around, was given a chance while Mel was kicked to the curb. Everybody deserves a second chance".
In November 2010, it was reported that Jamie Chung
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now...
had been cast in the film as Stu's fiancée as well as it being renamed, The Hangover Part II. In an interview director Todd Phillips revealed that Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
would be back in the sequel. Also in November, it was reported that Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
had joined the cast. The next day it was reported that former U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
filmed a cameo appearance for the film in Bangkok while he was in the city to deliver a speech on clean energy. However Ed Helms clarified that Clinton merely visited the set and would be surprised if he appeared in the film.
In December 2010, it was reported that Bryan Callen
Bryan Callen
Bryan Christopher Callen is an American actor. Callen is notable for being one of the original cast of comedians on the sketch comedy series MADtv.-Early life:...
, who played the owner of the wedding chapel in The Hangover, is working again in The Hangover Part II, as "a smarmy strip club owner in Bangkok". Also in December, Australian stuntman Scott McLean was seriously injured in a traffic accident while filming a stunt sequence near Bangkok. Warner Bros. issued a statement stating McLean was put into a medically induced coma but is expected to recover.
Bradley Cooper said that "logistically, to get from point A to point B [was] incredibly difficult and the bureaucracy and getting things done. There are always tons of people around the set and Todd loves a lean set and it was always the opposite, so watching a director deal with that – especially when it was Todd Phillips – was interesting." He then went on to say, in a later part of the interview, that "it was the hardest shoot that I had ever done, that Zach had ever done, that Ed had ever done and that Todd had ever done."
Post-production
In February 2011, it was reported that Christophe BeckChristophe Beck
Christophe Beck , also credited as Chris Beck, is a Canadian television and film score composer....
would be reteaming with director Todd Phillips to score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
the film. The project marks the fourth collaboration between Beck and Philips, who also worked together on School for Scoundrels
School for Scoundrels (2006 film)
School for Scoundrels is a 2006 American comedy film, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder, and directed by Todd Phillips. The film is based on the 1960 British film of the same name...
, The Hangover and Due Date
Due Date
Due Date is a 2010 American comedy road film directed by Todd Phillips, co-written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, and Adam Sztykiel, and starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The film was released on November 5, 2010...
.
In April 2011, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported that Liam Neeson's cameo as a Bangkok tattoo artist had been cut and Nick Cassavetes has been re-cast in the role. While editing, Phillips cut the scene that immediately followed Neeson's cameo, meaning it no longer had the information necessary to logically get the main characters to the situation in the next scene. Three weeks later, Phillips decided to reshoot the scene, but with Neeson in London filming Wrath of the Titans
Wrath of the Titans
Wrath of the Titans is an upcoming fantasy film and sequel to the 2010 film, Clash of the Titans. The film stars Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, Édgar Ramírez, Bill Nighy, Toby Kebbell and Rosamund Pike with Jonathan Liebesman directing a screenplay by Dan Mazeau, David...
, the actor was no longer available. Phillips explained, "We were in a complete time crunch so I called up Nick and asked if he would do the part. He came in and crushed it and that is the scene that you will ultimately see in the film. [I'm excited for everyone] to see the film. It turned out great".
Soundtrack
The Hangover Part II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 23, 2011, by WaterTower Music.Release
The Hangover Part II held its premierePremiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
on May 19, 2011, at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California.
Marketing
The first teaser trailer was released online in February 2011. The first full trailer was released in April 2011. Later in the same month Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
pulled the trailer from theaters for violating an MPAA rule stating that films can only trailer before similarly rated movies. The trailer for the R-rated comedy was being promoted at screenings for the PG-13-rated Source Code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
against MPAA regulations. Warner Bros. released a statement saying, "In our haste to meet the placement schedule for this trailer, we failed to properly vet the final version with the MPAA. We acted immediately to correct the mistake and removed the trailer from screens".
Tattoo lawsuit
In April 2011, tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. In the film, Stu wakes up with a copy of Mike Tyson's tattoo. Whitmill, who designed the tattoo for Tyson claims it as a copyrighted work and asked a judge to stop Warner Bros. Entertainment from using the tattoo in its posters or in the movie, which would amount to stopping the film from being released, as well as to demand monetary damages for what he calls "reckless copyright infringement" by the studio. Warner Bros. responded in a brief to Judge Catherine D. Perry, stating that any delay in releasing the film would have huge economic costs. It also argued that there was no legal precedent for Mr. Whitmill's assertion of copyright, saying he had put forward a "radical claim that he is entitled, under the Copyright Act, to control the use of a tattoo that he created on the face of another human being". The Judge allowed the case to go forward, stating that Mr. Whitmill had a "strong likelihood of prevailing on the merits for copyright infringement" and that most of the arguments put forward by Warner Bros. were "just silly," but rejected Whitmill's request for a preliminary injunctionPreliminary injunction
A preliminary injunction, in equity, is an injunction entered by a court prior to a final determination of the merits of a legal case, in order to restrain a party from going forward with a course of conduct or compelling a party to continue with a course of conduct until the case has been decided...
to stop the release of the film, because, on balance, that rejection was "in the public interest". In the event that Warner Bros. and Whitmill did not come to an agreement, the former party aimed to digitally modify the tattoo from Helms' face for the home video release. In June 2011, Warner Bros. settled the lawsuit with Whitmill; the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Home media
The Hangover Part II is set to be released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray on December 6, 2011 in the United States by Warner Home Media, on December the 5th in the UK and on November 30 in the Netherlands. The film will be available in 3 formats: DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray Combo pack which includes both high and standard-definition iteration of the film and an UltraViolet digital copy of the film.
Box office
The Hangover Part II has grossed $254,464,305 in the US and Canada, and $327,000,000 elsewhere, for a worldwide gross of $581,464,305. On its opening weekend, it earned $177.8 million, which was the highest-grossing worldwide opening for a comedy film, taking the record from The Simpsons MovieThe Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
($170.9 million). On the weekend of June 17–19, 2011, it out-grossed its predecessor in worldwide earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.
United States and Canada
The film was released on Thursday, May 26, 2011, in North America, coinciding with the U.S. Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
weekend. During launch midnight showings in 2,600 theaters, the film earned $10.4 million, breaking the record for the biggest midnight opening for an R-rated film, replacing Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity (film)
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Oren Peli. The film centers on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home...
(2007) with $6.3 million. The film opened in a further 1,015 theaters during the launch day for a total of 3,615 – becoming the widest opening ever for an R-rated film – and earned a further $21.2 million to accrue a launch day total of $31.6 million; nearly doubling The Hangovers Friday launch opening ($16.7 million). This amount broke two further records; the highest-grossing opening day for a live-action comedy and the highest-grossing opening day for an R-rated comedy film, replacing Sex and the City (2008) with $26.7 million. According to exit poll
Exit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for. A similar poll conducted before actual...
ing, the launch day audience was 51 percent female and 41 percent were aged between 18 and 24. On May 27, the film took an additional $30.0 million, dropping only 5 percent from the takings of the previous day and becoming the highest-grossing Friday for a live-action comedy. The three-day (Friday-Sunday) opening weekend accumulated $85,946,294 – an average of $23,923 per theater – becoming the highest grossing opening weekend for a comedy film, replacing The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
($74 million), the highest-grossing opening weekend for a live-action comedy, replacing Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...
($73 million), the highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated comedy, replacing Sex and the City ($79 million) and the second-highest grossing opening weekend of all time for an R-rated film, behind The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
($91.7 million). For the Memorial Day four-day weekend, the film amassed $103.4 million to become the fourth highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend opening. However, in its second weekend the film gross dropped 64 percent from the previous weekend – while the original film dropped only 27 percent during its second weekend – and grossed $31.4 million.
The film ended its Box Office run on September 15, 2011, on 113th day of its release.
International market
The Hangover Part II debuted in 40 countries internationally over the weekend of May 26–29, 2011, across 5,170 screens. In total, the film accrued $60.3 million from its Friday-through-Monday opening weekend, more than tripling the international gross of The Hangovers debut in the same territories. The highest weekend gross came from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where the film earned £10,409,017 from 920 screens, breaking the record for the highest grossing opening for a US comedy, but this record was overtaken by The Inbetweeners Movie (£13,216,736). Australia accrued a gross of $12.1 million to replace Sex and the City in the country as the highest grossing opening for an MA-rated film – no-one under the age of 15 permitted. The film took $6.2 million in France and $3.1 million in Italy ($4.6 million with previews); a five-fold increase over the opening weekend gross of The Hangover. On its second weekend, the film accrued $63.8 million from 53 territories, placing it second behind Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; the film having earned 79 percent of its predecessor's entire overseas run. On the weekend of June 10–12, 2011, it surpassed its predecessor and Something About Mary in overseas earnings to become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy overseas.
Critical reception
The Hangover Part II received mostly negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator, Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, gives the film a score of 36% based on 219 reviews from critics with a rating average of 5.0 out of 10. The website's critical consensus is that the film is "a crueler, darker, raunchier carbon copy of the first installment" and "lacks the element of surprise – and most of the joy – that helped make the original a hit." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 44 based on 40 reviews. CinemaScore
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.-Background:...
polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a A- on an A+ to F scale.
Andrew Barker of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave the film a negative review, stating, "The stock dismissal 'more of the same' has rarely been more accurately applied to a sequel than to The Hangover Part II, which ranks as little more than a faded copy of its predecessor superimposed on a more brightly colored background". Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire is the film critic for The Associated Press and co-host of Ebert Presents at the Movies with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. She also co-hosts the weekly online movie review show, What The Flick?!....
of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
said, "Giving the people what they want is one thing. Making nearly the exact same movie a second time, but shifting the setting to Thailand, is just ... what, lazy? Arrogant? Maybe a combination of the two". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
also gave the film an average review stating, "The Hangover Part II plays like a challenge to the audience's capacity for raunchiness. It gets laughs, but some of them are in disbelief".
Conversely, Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
gave The Hangover Part II a positive review remarking, "What happens in Bangkok isn't as much fun as when it happened in Vegas, but it's still worth the trip". Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
Louis J. "Lou" Lumenick is an American film critic. He is the chief film critic and a blogger for the New York Post and has reviewed films there since 1999.-Life and career:Lumenick was born and raised in Astoria, Queens...
of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
said, "There are definitely laughs to be had, even if the three leads often seem to be going through the motions".
Criticism
CrystalCrystal the Monkey
Crystal is a female capuchin monkey and animal actor. She portrayed the irritating monkey Dexter in the 2006 film Night at the Museum and the 2009 sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian...
, a capuchin monkey
Capuchin monkey
The capuchins are New World monkeys of the genus Cebus. The range of capuchin monkeys includes Central America and South America as far south as northern Argentina...
who also appeared in the Night at the Museum
Night at the Museum
Night at the Museum is a 2006 fantasy adventure-comedy film based on the 1993 children's book The Night at the Museum by Milan Trenc. It follows a divorced father trying to settle down, impress his son, and find his destiny...
films, portrays the drug dealing monkey. Director Todd Philips raised concerns after he joked that Crystal had become addicted to cigarettes after learning to smoke them for the film. Philips later explained that Crystal never actually held a lit cigarette on the film's set and the smoke was added digitally in post-production. Despite this, PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
protested about Crystal's appearance in the film for use of exotic animals for entertainment purposes and the film does not carry the American Humane Association
American Humane Association
The American Humane Association is an organization founded in 1877 dedicated to the welfare of animals and children.The AHA's Film and Television Unit has monitored the welfare of animals during the production of films and television programs since 1940. They are the source of the familiar...
's disclaimer that "no animals were harmed" since the group was denied set visits.
In an interview with New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
magazine, Ken Jeong responded to criticisms of the character Mr. Chow as an offensive caricature and stated doing the character was "very cathartic" for him and said the character "has the inflections of Vietnamese, with kind of the anger of my own Korean nature" although "it's definitely not about an accent, or a stereotype."
Accolades
| Group | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Teen Choice Awards 2011 Teen Choice Awards The 2011 Teen Choice Awards hosted by Kaley Cuoco aired live on August 7, 2011 at 8/7c on Fox. This was the first time that the ceremonies were aired live since the 2007 show... |
Choice Movie Actor – Comedy | Ed Helms Ed Helms Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised... |
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| Choice Movie Actor – Comedy | Zach Galifianakis Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special... |
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| Choice Movie Chemistry | Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:... , Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis |
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| Choice Movie – Hissy Fit | Ed Helms Ed Helms Edward Paul "Ed" Helms is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.- Early life :Helms was born and raised... |
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| Choice Movie – Male Scene Stealer | Ken Jeong Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong , also known as "Dr. Ken," is an American comedian, actor, and physician. Currently, he appears as Ben Chang on the NBC comedy series Community.-Early life and medical career:... |
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| Choice Movie – Female Scene Stealer | Crystal the Monkey Crystal the Monkey Crystal is a female capuchin monkey and animal actor. She portrayed the irritating monkey Dexter in the 2006 film Night at the Museum and the 2009 sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian... |
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| 2012 People's Choice Awards 38th People's Choice Awards The 38th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2011, will be held on January 11, 2012 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and were broadcast live on CBS at 9:00 pm ET.On November 8, the nominees were announced... |
Favorite Comedy Movie | ||
| Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast | |||
| Favorite Comedic Movie Actor | Bradley Cooper |
Sequel
In May 2011, director Todd Phillips said that "there already are plans for a third film but no script or start date". About the possibility of a Hangover Part III, Phillips stated, "If we were to do a third one, if the audience, if the desire was there, I think we have a very clear idea where that would head. It's certainly not in the same template that you've seen these movies. The third would be very much a finale and an ending. The most I could say about it, what's in my head, and I haven't discussed it with these actors, is that it is not following that template but very much a new idea. As far as where it takes place, I said I'm very open." During May, Craig MazinCraig Mazin
Craig Mazin is an American screenwriter and director.Mazin was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Marlboro Township, New Jersey when he was a teen and attended Freehold High School which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2010. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in psychology from...
, who co-wrote the The Hangover Part II, entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.