This Is the End

This Is the End

Six worried-looking men stand on a suspended part of a street over a fiery pit. The primary cast members are listed across the top, and the tagline "Nothing ruins a party like the end of the world" is at the bottom.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Seth Rogen
  • Evan Goldberg
  • James Weaver
Screenplay by
  • Seth Rogen
  • Evan Goldberg
Based on Jay and Seth versus the Apocalypse 
by Jason Stone
Starring
Music by Henry Jackman
Cinematography Brandon Trost
Edited by Zene Baker
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • June 3, 2013 (Fox Village Theater)
  • June 12, 2013 (United States)
Running time
 106 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $32 million[2]
Box office $126 million[2]

This Is the End is a 2013 American disaster meta dark comedy film written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their directorial debut, and stars Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson and Michael Cera. The film centers around a group of real life actors playing versions of themselves which are to varying degrees fictional, in the aftermath of a global apocalypse. The film was released on June 12, 2013, and was a critical and commercial success. As a result, the film was re-released in theaters on September 6, 2013.[3]

Plot

Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles to visit with old friend and fellow actor Seth Rogen, who invites him to attend a housewarming party hosted by James Franco. At the raucous party, many celebrities drink, take drugs, and have sex. Jay is uncomfortable being around so many people that he hardly knows and leaves the party to buy some cigarettes, accompanied by Seth.

At a convenience store, beams of blue light come down from the sky and carry away numerous people. Seth and Jay flee to James' home amid explosions, vehicular crashes and mass chaos. A powerful earthquake occurs and the guests rush outside to find the Hollywood Hills on fire. A large crack opens in the earth and many celebrities fall into it and die. Seth, Jay, James, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson survive and run back into the house. Believing that they will soon be rescued, the five take inventory of the available supplies, including food and water, various drugs, and a pistol. They set up a ration system, board up the doors and windows and await help.

The next morning, Danny McBride, wakes up first. Unaware of the crisis, he wastes much of the supplies and disbelieves the others' accounts until a desperate outsider seeking aid is decapitated in their presence. The men pass the time by taking drugs and filming a homemade sequel to the film Pineapple Express. Tensions rise, however, due to various conflicts, including Jay and Seth's growing estrangement, and the others' skepticism of Jay's belief that the disaster might be the Apocalypse predicted in the Book of Revelation.

Later, Emma Watson, who also survived the party, returns to the house. However, after misunderstanding a conversation between the men, Emma believes that they plan to rape her and leaves, taking all of their drinks with her. Craig is chosen to travel outside to the basement for water, but finds the door locked and returns after an encounter with an unknown being.

Craig's experience with the creature causes him to believe Jay's theory of the Apocalypse. The group reaches the basement by digging through the floor and they find the water, but Danny wastes much of it out of spite. The group unanimously votes Danny out of the house. Franco gives him the revolver, which Danny attempts to use to kill the others, only to find out it's filled with blanks. Before leaving, Danny ridicules his friends, and reveals that Jay had been to Los Angeles in recent months, a fact which he concealed from Seth. Jonah gently chastises Jay, and Jay punches him in the face. Later that night, Jonah prays for Jay to die and is raped by a demon.

The next day, Craig volunteers to explore a neighboring home for supplies with Jay. Meanwhile, James and Seth find Jonah unconscious from what looks like an LBS episode, but he wakes up possessed. Jonah chases James and Seth while Craig and Jay flee a demonic bull at the neighbor's house. The group subdues Jonah and tie him up. Later, the lights go out and Jay gets an idea. During an exorcism attempt, Jay and Seth get into a fight and knock a candle over, engulfing Jonah and the house in flames.

When the remaining four flee outside, James suggests taking his Prius to his home in Malibu, but a winged demon has roosted on his garage and is fixated on them. Craig volunteers to sacrifice himself as a distraction. The plan succeeds and Craig is raptured. As the others escape, they realize that Craig was saved because he sacrificed himself and it means there is still hope for them to be redeemed. Suddenly, the car is t-boned by an armored motor home filled with cannibals, led by Danny. James volunteers to sacrifice himself in order to save the others from being eaten and get raptured. However, James starts swearing at Danny as he ascends into Heaven and is left back on Earth as a result. Danny and his cannibals eat James alive and then chase after Seth and Jay. When a colossal-sized Satan approaches them, Jay apologizes to Seth for ruining their friendship and the two embrace while preparing to die together. This results in Jay being raptured, but not Seth. Seth grabs onto Jay's hand while Jay is ascending into Heaven as Satan tries to kill them, but a force-field cuts him off. However, because Seth is unworthy, the two slow down and descend. Seth decides to let go in order to spare Jay, but as he falls, another blue beam appears and he also ascends to Heaven.The beam splits Satan down the middle in the process.

In Heaven, Jay and Seth reunite with Craig, who is now an angel and also makes Jay and Seth angels (by giving them halos). He tells the two that Heaven is a place where any desire comes true. After Seth wishes for a Segway, Jay wishes for the Backstreet Boys and the band performs "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" while everyone dances along.

Cast

Most of the film's cast portray fictional, exaggerated versions of themselves:[4]

Production

According to Rogen and Goldberg, "We always wanted to do a movie where people played themselves and something extraordinary happened; the initial version of the film was Seth Rogen and Busta Rhymes were filming a music video and a film respectively, on the Sony lot, and Antmen attacked from the center of the earth."[5] The film is also based on Jay and Seth versus the Apocalypse, a short film created by Stone and Goldberg in 2007.[6] In an interview with The Guardian, Goldberg commented on influences contributing to the film, saying "[i]f you drilled down to the core of what I do, it's just ripping off little bits of Charlie Kaufman. Seth and I always loved The Larry Sanders Show too. And the popularity of reality television now also feeds into that idea of whether what we're watching is actually real. We thought working with our friends in that situation would be awesome because they're all comedians willing to take stabs at themselves."[7] The actors play exaggerated versions of themselves, with only James Franco having no objections to doing what the script wanted him to do.[8]

While set in Los Angeles, principal photography was in New Orleans due to tax rebates that would keep the budget low. Filming rolled from February to early July 2012.[9] After filming wrapped, Rogen and Goldberg were displeased about the ending they had originally shot. They thought of putting Morgan Freeman in Heaven, but the actor declined.[10] Since "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" already played in a scene and the directors wanted to close on an over-the-top note, the directors decided to feature the Backstreet Boys in the scene instead.[11] During production, the film was titled The Apocalypse,[6] a name later changed to The End of the World.[6][12] The name changed to This Is the End on December 20, 2012, upon the release of its first trailer and poster.[13] This was done at the request of Rogen's Paul co-star Simon Pegg, who wrote to Rogen in concern that The End of the World was too similar a title to his comedy film The World's End, also released in the summer of 2013 and centered around an apocalypse with an ensemble cast. As The World's End was the name of a key location in that film, Pegg worried he could not change the name of his film.[14] Modus FX made 240 visual effects for the film, which include natural disasters, set extensions for the house that serves as a primary location, computer-generated demons, and the Rapture lights that raise people to Heaven.[15]

In March 2013, the release date was pushed forward two days to June 12, 2013.[16] On April 1, 2013, Sony released an April Fools' Day trailer for Pineapple Express 2, which was in fact a teaser trailer for This Is the End.[17] According to Rogen and Goldberg, however, the homemade Pineapple Express 2 film in This Is the End depicts what they envision for the actual sequel.[18]

Music

Soundtrack

This Is the End: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released June 11, 2013
Recorded 2013
Genre Film soundtrack
Length 48:43
Label RCA Records

This Is the End: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack of the film. It was released on June 11, 2013[19][20] by RCA Records.

No. TitlePerformer(s) Length
1. "Take Yo Panties Off"  Snoop Lion & Craig Robinson 5:06
2. "Step Into a World (Rapture's Delight)"  KRS-One 4:50
3. "Tipsy (Club Mix)"  J-Kwon 4:05
4. "A Joyful Process"  Funkadelic 6:17
5. "Love in the Old Days"  Daddy 4:18
6. "When the Shit Goes Down"  Cypress Hill 3:11
7. "Watchu Want"  Belief & Karniege 2:57
8. "Easy Fix"  K.Flay 3:36
9. "Spirit in the Sky"  Norman Greenbaum 3:58
10. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"  Backstreet Boys 3:45
11. "Please Save My Soul"  Church Friends Choir featuring Pamela Landrum 2:07
12. "I Will Always Love You"  Whitney Houston 4:33
Total length:
 48:43
Songs featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack

Score

The score by Henry Jackman, with additional material by Dominic Lewis and Matthew Margeson and conducted by Nick Glennie-Smith, was not officially released on its own, not even as bonus tracks on the CD or digital releases on RCA's album. Despite that, a promotional album for the score does exist, according to Soundtrack.net.[21]

No. Title Length
1. "Rapture on Melrose"   1:47
2. "Hills on Fire/The Sinkhole"   3:36
3. "Foreboding News Report"   0:22
4. "Can't Sleep"   0:43
5. "Head Guy"   0:30
6. "The Sinkhole Remains"   0:35
7. "This Shit is Biblical"   0:58
8. "Boredom Montage"   0:36
9. "Emma Returns"   0:15
10. "Drawing Matches Pt 1"   0:42
11. "Craig Gets the Water"   1:37
12. "Creepy Basement Memorabilia"   0:25
13. "The Devil Rapes Jonah"   1:17
14. "Drawing Matches Pt 2"   1:05
15. "Jay & Craig Go Outside"   1:22
16. "Something's Wrong with Jonah"   0:37
17. "Jonah is Possessed"   0:35
18. "Demonic Chase Sequence"   4:01
19. "Lights Out, Jay's Got a Plan"   0:22
20. "The Exorcism of Jonah Hill"   0:37
21. "Fire Chase"   1:12
22. "Craig's Last Stand"   2:15
23. "Franco's Demise"   1:31
24. "The Rapture of Seth & Jay"   2:25
Total length:
 29:30

Reception

Critical response

Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, and Jonah Hill at a screening for the film in June 2013

This Is the End received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 83%, based on 206 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's consensus reads, "Energetic, self-deprecating performances and enough guffaw-inducing humor make up for the flaws in This Is the End‍ '​s loosely written script."[22] On Metacritic, the film has an average rating of 67 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a letter grade of "A", saying, "You could sit through a year's worth of Hollywood comedies and still not see anything that's genuinely knock-your-socks-off audacious. But This Is the End (opening June 12) truly is. It's the wildest screen comedy in a long time and also the smartest, the most fearlessly inspired and the snort-out-loud funniest."[24]

Brian D. Johnson of Maclean's wrote, "There could be worse ways to experience the apocalypse than with a party of stoned celebrities at James Franco's house. For one thing, his epic art collection can be used to board up the cracking walls against demons and zombies. That's the screwball scenario of This Is the End...The film unfolds as a profanely funny showbiz parody. But with perfect timing, it also sends up a genre that has recently gone viral at the multiplex: the apoca-blockbuster."[25]

At the other end of the scale, Canada's The Globe and Mail compared the film to the interminable wait for a cancelled bus, giving it one and a half stars out of five. He referred to the actors in the film as "the lazy, the privileged and the mirthless".[26]

Box office

This Is the End was a box office success. In the United States, the film opened at number 2 in its first weekend with $20,719,162, only behind Man of Steel's $116.6 million. This Is the End grossed $101,470,202 in North America, and $24,571,120 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $126,041,322.[2][27]

Home media

This Is the End was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 1, 2013.[28]

Possible sequel

When asked if a sequel to the film was probable, director and co-writer Evan Goldberg said, "If you ask me, I'd say there's a pretty good chance of a sequel. If you ask Seth [Rogen], he'd say no." On June 26, 2013, Goldberg announced ideas for a sequel in which the apocalypse occurs at the premiere of This Is the End. "Seth’s a cokehead in this version, Michael Cera is a calm dude with a boyfriend, Rihanna and The Backstreet Boys are back," Goldberg said in an interview. “We have a lot of ideas: a heaven and hell, for example, and a garden of Eden version where Danny [McBride] is Adam.”[29]

Despite this, Goldberg has stated it would be difficult to re-create the casting conditions from the first film due to different schedules, believing them to be a stroke of luck, saying, "I honestly don't know if we could get the guys together [again]."

On May 29, 2014, Seth Rogen posted a status on Twitter saying, "I don't think we'll make a sequel to This Is the End, but if we did it would be called No, THIS Is the End.[30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "THIS IS THE END (15)". British Board of Film Classification. April 23, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "This is the End (2013)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Seth Rogen And Evan Goldberg's This Is The End Is Returning To Theaters". CinemaBlend.com. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  4. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (December 20, 2012). "First Red-Band Clip and Poster for Seth Rogen's THIS IS THE END Starring Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, and Many More". Collider. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ Rogen, Seth; Goldberg, Evan (June 14, 2013). "We are Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg - Ask Us Anything". Reddit. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chitwood, Adam (April 6, 2012). "Aziz Ansari Joins Seth Rogen in THE APOCALYPSE". Collider. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ Gilbey, Ryan (June 6, 2013). "This is the End: why actors love to play themselves". The Guardian. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ Good friends made 'This Is the End' into a real party, USA Today
  9. ↑ Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's New Orleans: 'This Is the End' co-directors dive stomach-first into city, Times-Picayune
  10. ↑ How This Is the End Was Originally Going to End, The Vulture
  11. ↑ Seth Rogen This Is The End Interview, Entertainment Weekly
  12. ↑ "Aziz Ansari Joins 'The Apocalypse'". Spill.com. April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  13. ↑ Lussier, Germain (December 20, 2012). "‘This Is The End’ Red-Band Teaser Clip and Poster: Seth Rogen's End Of The World Comedy Debuts, Before Possible End Of The World". /Film. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ Vineyard, Jennifer (2014-02-12). "Simon Pegg Didn’t Love Man of Steel’s Ending". Vulture. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  15. ↑ Modus FX Creates Monsters and Mayhem for 'This Is The End', Animation World Network
  16. ↑ Bettinger, Brendan (March 28, 2013). "Release Dates for Seth Rogen's THIS IS THE END and KON-TIKI; Tina Fey/Steve Carell Comedy MAIL-ORDER GROOM Delayed". Collider. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  17. ↑ "PINEAPPLE EXPRESS 2 – Official Trailer". YouTube. April 1, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  18. ↑ Rogen, Seth; Goldberg, Evan (June 14, 2013). "We are Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg - Ask Us Anything". Reddit. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  19. ↑ "This Is The End: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Explicit]: Various: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  20. ↑ "iTunes – Music – This Is the End (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Various Artists". iTunes Store. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  21. ↑ ""This Is the End" Original Score (Promotional Album) 2013 - Soundtrack.net". Soundtrack.net. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  22. ↑ This Is the End at Rotten Tomatoes Flixster. Retrieved July 6, 2013
  23. ↑ This Is the End at Metacritic CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 6, 2013
  24. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (June 8, 2013). "Movie Review: This Is the End". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  25. ↑ Johnson, Brian D. (June 7, 2013). "Was Armageddon always this complicated?". Maclean's. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  26. ↑ Groen, Rick D. "This Is the End leaves viewers asking: When will it be over?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  27. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for June 14-16, 2013". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. July 4, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  28. ↑ "This Is the End Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  29. ↑ http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/evan-goldberg-thinks-this-is-the-end-sequel-is-entirely-possible/
  30. ↑ http://twitter.com/sethrogen/status/472174283360567296

External links

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