Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christopher B. Landon
Produced by	Todd Garner Andy Fickman
Screenplay by	Carrie Evans Emi Mochizuki Christopher B. Landon
Story by	Carrie Evans Emi Mochizuki Lona Williams
Starring	Tye Sheridan Logan Miller Joey Morgan Sarah Dumont David Koechner
Music by	Matthew Margeson
Cinematography	Brandon Trost
Edited by	Jim Page
Production company	Broken Road Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	October 30, 2015 (2015-10-30)
Running time	92 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million[2]
Box office	$14.9 million[3]

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a 2015 American horror comedy film directed by Christopher B. Landon and co-written by Carrie Evans, Emi Mochizuki, Lona Williams, and Landon. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont, and David Koechner. The film's make-up and animatronic effects were designed and created by Tony Gardner and his company, Alterian, Inc. The film was released on October 30, 2015 by Paramount Pictures.

Plot

Three high school sophomores, Ben, Carter, and Augie, are trying to recruit new members for their scout group, led by their Scout Leader Rogers. While Augie has always been happy about being a scout, Ben and Carter have second thoughts. Carter tries convincing Ben to quit but he can't as Augie is about to get his Condor Patch. Their conversation of quitting is cut short when Ben accidentally hits a deer. They manage to get help from Carter's sister, Kendall, and her friends. Ben, who's had a crush on Kendall, gets some advice from her and they all see that the dead deer has vanished. Before they leave, the two are invited to the "Secret Seniors Party" and Carter is given the address. When they go to get alcohol for the party, they meet Denise, a cocktail waitress that works at a strip club. She and Ben hit it off and she agrees to buy the alcohol for them. The two then meet up with Augie in the woods so they can set up their campsite. That night, still concerned about the disappearance of Scout Leader Rogers, the trio talk about how great their friendship has been before heading to sleep. Before the night is out, Carter wakes Ben so they can attend the party. Augie catches up, however, and is disappointed by their choice. The two drive into town to find that the bouncer for the strip club is no longer there and they sneak in. The two are immediately attacked by a zombie bouncer and stripper before being saved by a shotgun wielding Denise. Augie goes to Scout Leader Rogers' house to find him, only to be attacked by Scout Leader Rogers as a zombie. Augie manages to deter him, and flee the scene.

Ben, Carter, and Denise go to the police station to discover that the town has been evacuated, before they are chased by a zombie horde into a holding cell. They wait for hours when the zombies hear music from outside and leave. Augie, seeing Ben's car, runs in and unlocks the cell, freeing them. They all escape and make their way down the freeway. After walking for a bit, the four are picked up by Corporal Reeves. They drive to the party to see if anyone is evacuated, only to find that the address that was sent to Carter was fake. When the group start to argue, Reeves is bitten and turned into a zombie. Denise kills him and they try to get a signal on his radio. They hear information about bombing the town and start panicking. Carter then remembers his sister's diary has the party information in it. The four take the vehicle and drive to Carter's house. Once there, they manage to get the diary. But, more zombies arrive, and proceed to chase after the trio. They manage to escape using a trampoline to get to the neighbor, Ms. Fielder's house. From there, they take her car and head off down the road. The four find a dirt bike down the road and Denise takes it so she can get the military. Now left by themselves, Ben, Carter, and Augie weapon up at a hardware store and head to the party.

The zombies find the party, and proceed to attack the partygoers, until the trio turns up, armed with weapons and they proceed to kill the zombies. Once they run out of ammo, they lock themselves in the building and the zombies follow them upstairs. Ben and Carter barricade the door when Augie reveals that he's built a bomb that was hidden in Ben's backpack. He manages to light the fuse when the zombies burst in and the three escape through a garbage chute just as it explodes, killing all the zombies. Denise and the military arrive at the scene, setting up medical tents and helping the survivors while the scouts reconcile their friendship and Ben and Kendall kiss.

As the credits roll, we are shown a series of photos. Augie finally gets his Condor badge and the trio's heroics allow them to recruit heavily for their struggling scout troop. Denise is still friends with the group, and Kendall and Ben continue to be a happy couple.

In a mid-credits scene, Scout Leader Rogers is still alive, only his head and gets hit by bird poop and turns to the audiences and says the end.

Cast

Production

On May 30, 2014, Paramount Pictures set the film for a March 13, 2015 release date.^[4] On October 14, 2014, the film was pushed back^[5] to a new release date, October 30, 2015.^[6]

Filming

Principal photography began on May 8, 2014 in Los Angeles.^[7][8]

Release

In July 2015, Paramount announced that it had struck a deal with AMC Entertainment and Cineplex Entertainment to make Scouts Guide and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension available digitally, 17 days after they drop below 300 theaters, as part of a larger experiment, and asked other theaters to join in. In return, Paramount will share an undisclosed portion of proceeds of the VOD revenues.^[9] Per industry sources, Paramount is giving participating exhibitors an estimated 2-4% share of their digital revenue made between the time the film drops below 300 theaters and 90 days after its opening date.^[10] Those agreeing to Paramount's formula includes AMC, Canada's Cineplex, National Amusements, and Alamo Drafthouse. But many circuits including Regal Cinema, Cinemark, and Carmike have rejected Paramount's offer to release in VOD.^[9][10] This would mean that both films will only go out in roughly 1,350 North American theaters when opening on October 23 and 30—compared to 2,883 theaters for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones and well north of 3,000 theaters for each of the previous three PA installments.^[9] The reason why Paramount is carrying out this approach and experimenting with these two-younger demographic genre movies—which many believe to be a box office failure—is because of the theatrical failure of MGM's Hot Tub Time Machine 2.^[10] Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures said, "There is no question that we are going to do less theatrically, but I believe we will make it up digitally. This is about the long-term health of the business, so there is not this long period of time when a consumer can't watch a movie."^[9]

Box office

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse grossed $3,703,046 in North America and $11,157,720 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $14,860,766, against a budget of $15 million.^[3]

The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside Burnt, Secret in Their Eyes, and Our Brand Is Crisis. The film was initially projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,509 theaters in its opening weekend. The film grossed $1.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing 12th at the box office.^[11]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 75 reviews and an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's consensus reads, "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse fails to live up to its intriguingly wacky title, instead delivering yet another zombie comedy-thriller with a tired T&A twist."^[12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[13] CinemaScore polled audiences as giving the film an average grade of "B–", on an A+ to F scale.^[11] Katie Rife from The A.V. Club gave the film a C− grade, commenting that "If Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is the future, maybe the world should end."^[14] Tim Janson from the SciFi Movie Page rated the film 41% out of 100% saying, "This zombie comedy is short on laughs." ^[15]

Home media

The film was released on December 8, 2015 onto Digital HD and On Demand, and on DVD and Blu-ray on January 5, 2016.^[16]

Sequel

In an interview, stars Miller, Morgan, and Dumont stated if the film is a box office hit, there could be potential sequels.^[17]

References

External links

• Official website
• Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse at the Internet Movie Database
• Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse at Box Office Mojo
• Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse at Rotten Tomatoes
• Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse at Metacritic