This Is the End

This Is the End
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg
Produced by	Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg James Weaver
Screenplay by	Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg
Based on	Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse by Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Jason Stone
Starring	James Franco Jonah Hill Seth Rogen Jay Baruchel Danny McBride Craig Robinson Michael Cera Emma Watson
Music by	Henry Jackman
Cinematography	Brandon Trost
Edited by	Zene Baker
Production company	Mandate Pictures Point Grey Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 3, 2013 (2013-06-03) (Fox Village Theater) June 14, 2013 (2013-06-14) (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 fantasy disaster comedy-horror film directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and stars Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera and Emma Watson. The film centers around a group of real life actors playing fictionalized versions of themselves in the aftermath of a global biblical apocalypse. The film premiered at the Fox Village Theater on June 3, 2013 and was released on June 14, 2013 by Columbia Pictures, with a re-release on September 6, 2013.^[3] The film grossed $126 million on a $32 million budget.^[2]

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. Baruchel is uncomfortable being around so many people he hardly knows, so Rogen accompanies him to a convenience store for cigarettes. There, beams of blue light come down and suck numerous people into the sky. Rogen and Baruchel flee back to Franco's house, where an earthquake strikes and the partygoers rush outside. A large hole opens in Franco's yard, swallowing several partygoers (such as Michael Cera, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Jason Segel, Aziz Ansari, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Martin Starr, Kevin Hart and David Krumholtz). Rogen, Baruchel, Franco, Jonah Hill and Craig Robinson survive and run back inside the house. They take inventory of their supplies, set up a ration system, and await help.

The next morning, Danny McBride, also in the house and unaware of the crisis, wastes much of their food. The others tell him of the previous night's events, which he initially does not believe until a man outside is decapitated in front of them. Tensions rise due to various conflicts, including Baruchel and Rogen's growing estrangement, and the others' skepticism of Baruchel's belief that the disaster might be the Apocalypse predicted in the Book of Revelation. Later, Emma Watson, another survivor of the party, returns. However, due to a misunderstanding, she believes the group is planning to rape her and leaves, taking the group's remaining drinks with her. Robinson is chosen to travel outside to the basement for water, but finds the door is locked and returns after an encounter with an unknown being.

The experience causes Robinson to believe Baruchel's theory that the Apocalypse has arrived. The guys reach the basement by digging through the floor, and find the water, but McBride ends up wasting most of it out of spite, prompting him to be kicked out of the house. Before he leaves, McBride reveals that Baruchel was in town two months prior but stayed at a hotel, instead of at Rogen's house, because of their strained friendship. Hill makes a remark that annoys Baruchel, causing him to punch Hill. Later that night, Hill prays for Baruchel to die, but is possessed by a demon shortly after. The next day, Baruchel and Robinson go to a neighboring home for supplies, and escape a demonic bull. Meanwhile, Rogen and Franco are attacked by the possessed Hill. The group subdues Hill, but during an exorcism attempt, Baruchel and Rogen get into a fight and knock a candle over. A fire starts, engulfing Hill and the house in flames and forcing the others outside.

Franco suggests taking his car to his home in Malibu, but finds the car guarded by a demon. Robinson volunteers to sacrifice himself. The plan succeeds and Robinson is raptured, leading the others to realize they can be saved if they do a selfless act. They are then captured by cannibals led by McBride. Franco volunteers to sacrifice himself to save the others, but taunts McBride as he ascends to Heaven, causing his beam to vanish. Franco is then eaten alive by McBride and his cannibals. Rogen and Baruchel escape, but they encounter a gigantic satanic being. Baruchel apologizes to Seth for his actions as the being attempts to eat them. A beam strikes Baruchel, and he begins to ascend while Rogen does not. Baruchel grabs Rogen's hand, but Rogen's presence prevents him from ascending into Heaven. As a result, Rogen lets him go; he is promptly saved by another beam, which also kills the being.

In Heaven Rogen and Baruchel meet Robinson, who tells them that Heaven is a place where any desire comes true. Baruchel wishes for the Backstreet Boys and the band performs "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" as everyone dances.

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] 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.^[10] In March 2013, the release date was pushed forward two days to June 12, 2013.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.^[13]

During production, the film was titled The Apocalypse,^[6] a name later changed to The End of the World.^[6][14] The name changed to This Is the End on December 20, 2012, upon the release of its first trailer and poster.^[15] 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.^[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 is the soundtrack of the film. It was released on June 11, 2013^[19][20] by RCA Records.

Songs featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack

• "Gangnam Style" by Psy
• "Rapture" by Blondie
• "Hole in the Earth" by Deftones
• "Disco 2000" by Pulp
• "Spiteful Intervention" by Of Montreal
• "Paper Planes" by M.I.A.
• "End of the Beginning" and "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath
• "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre.

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]

Reception

Critical response

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

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 83%, based on 212 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] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.^[24]

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."^[25] 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."^[26] At the other end of the spectrum, 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. The critic referred to the actors in the film as "the lazy, the privileged and the mirthless".^[27]

Box office

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][28]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 1, 2013.^[29] It was the last movie to be officially rented by Blockbuster video before they went out of business at 11pm November 9, 2013..

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." In June 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."^[30] 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]." In May 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.^[31]

Attraction

This Is The End was later adapted into a 3D maze entitled This Is The End: 3D at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2015. The maze served as the event's first comedy-horror based attraction.^[32]

See also

• It's a Disaster – a 2012 black comedy in which couples at a brunch realize that the world is ending
• The World's End – another 2013 apocalyptic comedy film
• Rapture-Palooza – another 2013 apocalypse-themed comedy which also featured Craig Robinson

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: This Is the End

• Official website
• This Is the End at the Internet Movie Database
• This Is the End at Box Office Mojo
• This Is the End at Rotten Tomatoes
• This Is the End at Metacritic