Mac & Devin Go to High School

This article is about the film. For the soundtrack, see Mac & Devin Go to High School (soundtrack).
Mac & Devin Go to High School

DVD/Blu-Ray cover
Directed by Dylan C. Brown
Produced by Dylan C. Brown
Lucy Brown
Screenplay by Herschel Faber
Jamieson Stern
Story by Jarrett Golding
Starring Snoop Dogg
Wiz Khalifa
Mike Epps
Teairra Marí
Andy Milonakis
Luenell
Music by Snoop Dogg
Wiz Khalifa
Cinematography Luis Panch Perez
Production
company
Yard Entertainment
Doggystyle Records
Distributed by Anchor Bay Films
Release dates
  • July 3, 2012
Running time
 75 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1,616,650[1]

Mac & Devin Go to High School is a 2012 American direct-to-DVD stoner film directed by Dylan Brown. The film stars rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa in the title roles, along with Mike Epps, Teairra Mari, Andy Milonakis, Luenell in supporting roles and the voice of Mystikal in a guest appearance. The story follows two high school students, geeky Devin, and badman Mac who is a stoner. He befriends Devin, and introduces him to cannabis. The high school's name "N.Hale" is based on Nate Dogg's real name Nathaniel Hale and is also a play on the word "inhale".

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 3, 2012. It marks the film debut of American rapper Wiz Khalifa. The soundtrack for the film was released on December 13, 2011, worldwide in stores.

Cast

Students

Hemptathalon

Release

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released on December 13, 2011. The soundtrack released under the title of Mac & Devin Go to High School by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. The album's song "Young, Wild & Free" featuring Bruno Mars turned out to be a huge success worldwide, and was the most popular song from the whole soundtrack.[2] In its first week, the track sold 159,000 digital copies,[3] debuting at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, and forty four on the Canadian Hot 100. Therefore, Snoop Dogg revealed in an interview that the soundtrack's success has given him the inspiration of coming up with a movie based on the song Young, Wild & Free. Soon enough, in March 2012, it was announced that Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa would star in the spin-off Mac & Devin Go to High School: The Movie. Production and filming began straight after the announcement of the film.

Announcement

Snoop Dogg announced plans for the release of a film, and soundtrack alongside with Wiz Khalifa in January 2011, with the release of the song "Dat Good", originally intended to be the soundtrack's lead single.[4] Wiz Khalifa spoke on the soundtrack saying "It's a real big deal because nobody's done it like that as far as a veteran in the game, an OG, a pioneer and then the newest, youngest, most exciting dude in rap coming through, and really just giving people a complete project," Wiz said. "I'm a fan of it, separate myself from making it, [I'm] a huge fan of it. Can't wait." As far as the musical vibe of the soundtrack, Snoop described it. "It's something to relax you and get you through the day; it's some real good music. The music is quality, I don't even have no title for it, as far as what kinda music is it, it's centric, it's ...," Snoop said searching for the right words before his partner-in-rhyme lent a hand.[5]

DVD release

The film was set for a straight-to-DVD release on April 20, 2012, however was then pushed back to July 3, 2012. The film has been seen by critics, and received mixed response from most critics who have already reviewed it.[6] As of August 2012, the DVD has sold 54,641 units in the United States.[1]

Location controversy

A controversy occurred during the filming process of Mac & Devin Go to High School involving the main location used for the fictitious "N. Hale High." Much of the film was shot at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California, after the Manhattan Beach Unified School District granted The Yard Entertainment a facilities use permit.[7] Two days of filming were finished over the weekend of May 7, 2011, but production was halted when it was reported that individuals (some involved with the film, some not) were smoking marijuana on school campus.[7] A student present at the shoot claimed to have seen "their entourage smoking blunts."[7] Theft of school classrooms was also reported by teachers once classes began the next week, and The Yard reportedly reimbursed them for this.[7]

The controversy was quelled quickly, as the school district reportedly revoked its facilities use permit.[7] The school board claimed at the time to have returned all revenue received for the use of its school and demanded that all footage be thrown out, but as the footage was eventually used an additional, unpublished agreement must have been reached.

Critical response

Mac & Devin Go to High School was met with negative reviews from critics. JP DelaCuesta of AllHipHop gave the film a 3/10, saying "There’s no other way to say this except Mac and Devin Go to High School is bad – plain and simple. The on-screen collaboration between these two Hip-Hop heavyweights is a joke, and for their sakes, hopefully a joke that they and everyone involved with Mac and Devin were in on. At the end of the day, the only thing that Mac and Devin Go to High School proves is that we need How High 2, and we need it bad!"[8] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the film a negative review, saying "The protégé completes his evolution when he uses his high-school valedictorian speech to perform “Young, Wild & Free,” the hit single from Mac & Devin Go To High School. “Young, Wild & Free” is everything Mac & Devin Go To High School should be but isn’t: fun, light, goofy, entertaining, and young. In moments like this, the movie possesses a strange, disarming innocence, but it forces audiences to endure a punishing gauntlet of misogyny and non-starting comedy to get to that middling moment of moderate enjoyment."[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mac & Devin Go To High School - DVD Sales - The Numbers
  2. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Young, Wild & Free (feat. Bruno Mars) - Single by Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa". Itunes.apple.com. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  3. ↑ "Adele Still Atop Hot 100, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa Debut". Billboard.com. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  4. ↑ "Snoop Lion & Wiz Khalifa – That Good". 2dopeboyz. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  5. ↑ "Wiz Khalifa, Snoop Lion's 'High School' Soundtrack A 'Big Deal' - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV.com. 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  6. ↑ Elias, Matt (2011-10-20). "Snoop Dogg And Wiz Khalifa Get 'Wild' On Video Set - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV.com. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 MBUSD cancels permit for filming of Snoop Dogg’s “High School” at Mira Costa due to content concerns | La Vista
  8. ↑ JP DelaCuesta (2012-07-03). "MOVIE REVIEW: Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa’s "Mac And Devin Go To High School"". AllHipHop.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  9. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (2013-02-05). "Mac & Devin Go To High School manages to give rapsploitation movies a bad name". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2014-04-05.

External links