| Aliens in the Attic | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | John Schultz |
| Produced by | Barry Josephson |
| Written by | Mark Burton Adam F. Goldberg |
| Starring | Carter Jenkins Ashley Tisdale Austin Butler Robert Hoffman Kevin Nealon Doris Roberts Tim Meadows Voices: Josh Peck J. K. Simmons Kari Wahlgren Thomas Haden Church |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | Don Burgess |
| Editing by | John Pace |
| Studio | Regency Enterprises |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | July 31, 2009 |
| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million[1] |
| Box office | $57,881,056[1] |
Aliens in the Attic is a 2009 American family science fiction comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises and starring Carter Jenkins, Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Henri Young, Regan Young and Austin Butler.[2] The plot revolves around the children in the Pearson family having to defend their vacation house. The film was previously titled They Came from Upstairs, which is instead used as the film's tag line. A video game of the same name was released as well.
Contents |
The film opens as a meteor shower rockets across the dark galaxy. Four glowing pods sparkle and crackle while hiding behind the meteor shower. A mysterious force (that was left unidentified) makes the meteor shower turn a hard right towards a bright blue ball in the distance - planet Earth.
In a comfortable Michigan suburb, Stuart Pearson (Kevin Nealon) and his wife Nina (Gillian Vigman) head a family that includes adorable seven-year-old Hannah (Ashley Boettcher); 15-year-old Tom (Carter Jenkins), a techno-geek whose grades have gone south; and older sister Bethany (Ashley Tisdale), who's just returned from a secret outing with boyfriend Ricky Dillman (Robert Hoffman). Deciding the family needs some good old-fashioned togetherness, Stuart packs up the clan and heads to a three-story holiday house in the middle of nowhere. Joining them is Uncle Nate (Andy Richter), Nate's son Jake (Austin Butler), Nana Rose (Doris Roberts), and identical 11-year-old twins Art (Henri Young) and Lee (Regan Young). An unexpected arrival is Ricky, who wrangles an overnight visit with the extended family.
As day turns to night, dark storm clouds start swirling around the house. Suddenly, four glowing objects shoot toward the roof. The alien crew inside the objects is made up of Skip (J. K. Simmons), the tough commander, Tazer (Kari Wahlgren), a muscle-bound dude armed to the teeth, Razor (Thomas Haden Church), a lethal female alien soldier; and Sparks (Josh Peck), a four-armed techie, who is the only non-threatening alien intruder. Ricky and Tom are sent to fix the satellite for the TV because the aliens crashed into it. Ricky then reveals to Tom that he lied about everything he said to his family, like his car broke down, his parents own a lake house, he's 18. Ricky is actually in college, and he's at least five years older than Bethany. Ricky reveals to Tom that he's merely playing his father so that he can get whatever he wants. Both Jake and Tom are sent up, but find the satellite is beyond repair, because the entire thing has been demolished. Investigating the problem, they find what has caused this: aliens. Skip tries to lull Tom and Jake into a false sense of security, but fails when he is unable to state even the more simple human terms. Ricky is placed under the control of the aliens, courtesy of a high-tech mind-control device and plug implanted into the base of his skull; Ricky's mind and actions now belong to the alien crew. The aliens, called "Zirkonians", via Ricky, lay claim to the planet (when asked why they didn't just say it themselves Skip responds, "This way is more fun.") Like a puppet/robot/zombie, Ricky moves towards the boys - but Tom and Jake break free.
It isn't long before all five kids see the strange new arrivals. Tom takes charge and the kids come to realize the alien mind control device only works on grownups, giving them a fighting chance against the invaders, and the responsibility to protect the adults by keeping the aliens' existence a secret. Left to their own devices, the kids unleash their imaginations, creating makeshift weapons, like piping ingeniously rigged as a home made potato spud gun. They even learn to use the mind controller. Their first order of business is to take control of Ricky and turn his actions against himself and the aliens.
The adults remain oblivious to the alien presence, and insist that the youngsters partake in a fishing expedition. Meanwhile, a friendship is struck between Hannah and Sparks, the friendly alien with four arms and hands. Unlike his alien cohorts, Sparks has no stomach for battle; he just wants to return home to his own Zirkonian family. As the aliens attack for their mission to invade, Their actions begin to raise the DEFCON level of the kids & pushes them towards the retaliation that will start the Galactic War. Meanwhile, trying to destroy the aliens Jake gets captured by the Zirkonians and is tied up and dragged into the basement. Nana Rose comes under the control of the alien mind control device, which gives her super-human strength and agility. Under the control of the kids, she comes to their rescue and has to fight off Ricky, who is again under alien control. Nana gives Ricky a huge jolt causing the alien plug to dislodge and Ricky breaks up with Bethany because in his opinion she talks about feelings and family all the time. The kids reveal to Bethany what's going on, and Sparks helps by making weapons so the kids can fight on, The aliens close in & force the levels of defense to DEFCON 1. Sparks reveals that what the aliens want from their planet is a device under the basement which makes them giant. After rescuing Jake, the kids defeat Skip, Tazer, and Razor. Sparks calls off the invasion and returns home. The rest of the vacation goes back to normal, except the kids grew closer to each other during their adventure.In the credits scene,Bethany with Tom takes revenge on Ricky by fooling him in front of a girl, Bethany comments "I am so keeping this".
The script was written by Mark Burton and Adam F. Goldberg. The film is co-financed by Fox and Regency while being distributed by Fox.[2][3] Fox snapped up the script in March 2006.[3] Marc Resteghini was overseeing for Fox while Kara Francis Smith shepherds for Regency. Barry Josephson was confirmed as the main producer while Thor Freudenthal was hired to direct principal production.[4] The principal production began in March, 2007.[4] The film was originally titled They Came from Upstairs but later changed to Aliens in the Attic while the first title is instead used as the film's tag line.[3] Ashley Tisdale's involvement in the film was confirmed in January 2008 as she was cast as Bethany Pearson.[2] Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins and Austin Butler were later cast in the film. Doris Roberts was signed on to the film in February 2008.[5] MTV confirmed that Josh Peck joined the cast as the voice of the alien Sparks.[6] John Debney composed the original score for the film. Tisdale recorded a song titled "Switch" for the film, which is also included in her second album, Guilty Pleasure. The original motion picture soundtrack was released on August 18, 2009.[7]
Principal photography began at the end of January 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand.[2][8] Auckland-based production company New Upstairs Productions said filming would run for 30–40 days from January 28 to April 18, 2008 with no filming in weekends.[9] The film was set in a rambling old villa transported from Remuera to a farm in North Auckland. The main set was an old manor and they spent $700,000 restoring the house.[9] The main shooting ended in mid-March 2008.[10] Tisdale, Butler and Jenkins went back to the set to shoot last-minutes scenes for the film on April 2009.[11]
The film was released on July 30, 2009, in Russia and Malaysia; July 31, 2009 in United States, Canada, and Bulgaria; August 12 in the United Kingdom; September 3, 2009 in Australia. The film's original release date was in January 2009 but it was pushed back for unknown reasons.[12] The UK release also coincided with a charity auction for Save The Children which teamed up with eBay and 20th Century Fox where various celebrities, including several actors from the movie, sold items from their attics to raise money for the charity.[13]
The film has received mixed reviews from critics; as of August 25, 2011, the film holds a 30% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 69 reviews with 48 being negative, with the consensus stating "Inoffensive and kid-friendly, this mundane family comedy is light on imagination."[14]
Entertainment Weekly described the film as "a pointless and harmless family adventure that doesn't mentally assault the 12-and-over set and looks like a lot of fun",[15] while San Francisco Chronicle has described the movie as being unoriginal and crowd pleasing.[16]
Variety stated the film doubtless would appeal primarily to a more narrow demographic of tweens and pre-teens and despite Tisdale's presence, it’s difficult to imagine many ticket buyers between the ages of 12 and 18[17] while The New York Times described Jenkins and Butler as the actors with more personality and Hoffman as the actor who provides the film’s occasional funny moments.[18]
The Los Angeles Times said the film is "an enjoyable kid-friendly film but not an out-of-this-world classic" and also mentioned the film belonged to Hoffman[19] and Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said the director John Schultz played everything for laughs and earns a more than a few but tech effects deliver a fair number of those laughs and described the film as an "amusing family comedy".[20] Radio Times gave the film a three out of five stars rating, saying that the film is "a thrilling children's yarn with enough pop-culture references to hold grown-ups' interest".[21]
The Dove Foundation praised the film, saying it is "one of those movies that you find to be better than anticipated" and also said the film draws on realism in family dynamics.[22] Lara Martin of Digital Spy described the film as a "kid-friendly mix of Men In Black crossed with Gremlins with a healthy dose of Home Alone-style violence" and also mentioned that one of the biggest disappointments in the movie is the lack of screen time given to Tisdale, billed as one of the leading actors and concluded saying it seems "a bizarre and sad waste of her obvious comedic talent".[23] However, The Miami Herald gave a mixed to negative review, saying the film is a "children's movie mix of live-action and animation, it has a few positive messages, a few laughs and a few comic throwdowns".[24]
In the US, the film was distributed by 3,106 theaters, but grossed a disappointing $2.9 million on its first day, and $8 million its opening weekend, resulting in #5 in the box office.[1] The film has grossed the equivalent of US $1.3 million in Russia, US $10 million in United Kingdom, and a total of US$57 million worldwide total.[1][25]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 3, 2009.
A video game based on the film was released August 4, 2009, developed by Revistronic and published by Playlogic. The game features the storyline of the film and is available for Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and Windows PC. The game also offers players two different gameplay perspectives depending upon which video game platform players choose.[28] For Wii, PlayStation 2 and Windows PC players, the game allows players to assume the identity of one of four different alien explorers, featuring fifteen levels. For Nintendo DS, the game puts players in the shoes of the film's main characters and you play with their abilities to rid the planet from the invaders.[29]
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