Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Encyclopedia
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a 2008 romantic comedy film
written and directed by Kevin Smith
, distributed by The Weinstein Company
, and starring Seth Rogen
and Elizabeth Banks
. It is Smith's second film (after Jersey Girl
) not to be set within the View Askewniverse
and the first not set in New Jersey
. It was released on October 31, 2008. The poor box office performance of the film damaged Smith's relationship with producer Harvey Weinstein
after Smith blamed Weinstein for not spending enough to market the movie, an allegation Weinstein denies.
) and Miriam "Miri" Linky (Elizabeth Banks
) are roommates in Monroeville
, Pennsylvania
(a Pittsburgh suburb). They have been friends since the first grade
. Despite Miri working at the local shopping mall and Zack working at a coffee shop, they have not paid their utility bills in months, with Zack devoting much of his free time to a fanatic following of the Pittsburgh Penguins
and his status in the community amateur hockey team, the Monroeville Zombies. After work, their water gets turned off before they go to their high school reunion
.
At the reunion, Miri attempts to seduce her attractive former classmate Bobby Long (Brandon Routh
), while Zack strikes up a conversation with Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long
), who reveals that he is a gay porn star, and Bobby's boyfriend. After returning home from the reunion, the apartment's electricity is turned off. Inspired by a successful viral video
that was filmed by a pair of teenage boys as Miri changed in Zack's place of work for the reunion (revealing that she wore unattractive underwear, "granny panties"), and emboldened by the cultural mainstreaming of pornographic entertainment, Zack convinces Miri that they should film a pornographic movie to earn money.
Gathering a group of acquaintances and hired help as the cast and crew, they decide to film a pornographic Star Wars
parody
, entitled Star Whores. Delaney (Craig Robinson), the film's producer and Zack's coworker, rents film equipment and a building to use as a studio. When they return to the studio after the first night of filming, the building is being demolished, with all the equipment and costumes inside. They are told that the man that rented it to them had run off with the money. Later at the coffee shop where Zack works, he realizes that his boss threatened to install a hidden camera, which Zack finds, and decides to use it to replace their lost film equipment. Zack retools his film to take place in the coffee shop, revamping the film to one with a coffee shop motif, Swallow My Cockuccino, and the group shoots the film after hours.
Despite their insistence that they would not let sex with each other affect their friendship, Zack and Miri soon develop romantic feelings for each other. When it comes time for Zack and Miri to have sex on camera, they find that instead of the clinical sex enacted by the actors in the other scenes, their interlude is romantic and heartfelt. Later that evening, Zack and Miri are at home when suddenly their apartment's electricity and water service return. The rest of the actors and crew show up and reveal that they pooled their resources to pay one month of their bills, and have come over to throw them a party.
At the party, one of the other actresses, Stacey (Katie Morgan
) asks Miri if it is okay for her to ask Zack to have sex. Although Miri has realized that she has developed feelings for Zack, she tells her it is okay to ask him. When Stacey relates this to Zack, the two retreat to Zack's bedroom, much to Miri's dismay.
The next evening, Zack is preparing to film a scene between Stacey and another actor, Lester (Jason Mewes
), that was supposed to have been with Lester and Miri. Zack is dismayed when Miri shows up and insists on shooting the scene as originally planned. In the back room, an incredulous Zack asks if she is doing this as a form of retaliation, pointing out that Stacey told him that Miri did not mind her sleeping with Zack. Miri corrects him, clarifying that she did not mind that Stacey merely made the offer to sleep with him. Perceiving this to have been some type of test, Zack admits that during the sex scene they filmed together, they were actually making love and that there was an emotional connection between them, and that he loves Miri. When Miri does not reciprocate, Zack storms out of the coffee shop, quitting the film and his job, and moves out of the apartment.
Three months later, Delaney goes to see Zack, who has moved on to an exterior concessions job at Mellon Arena during Pittsburgh Penguins
games. Delaney convinces him to come to Delaney's home to see the unfinished movie and help complete it. Zack agrees, and as Delaney and the cameraman Deacon (Jeff Anderson
) explain, Zack learns that Miri never filmed her sex scene with Lester. Zack goes to Miri's apartment and reveals to her that he never slept with Stacey; instead, they talked about Miri all night. He pours his heart out to Miri, proclaiming his love for her, which she reciprocates.
In the epilogue, the audience learns that Zack and Miri are married, and with the help of Delaney and his worker's compensation settlement, they start their own video production
company, Zack and Miri Make Your Porno, which makes amateur videos for couples.
, The Weinstein Company
greenlit the project based solely on the title. Kevin Smith originally wrote the film to be set in Minnesota
, where he had previously shot Mallrats
, and where he had stated a desire to shoot again. However, for budgetary reasons, Smith opted to shoot in Pittsburgh, and re-wrote the script to take place in the Monroeville
suburb.
The female lead role was written for Rosario Dawson
, but Dawson was unable to accept the part, as she had just signed on to film Eagle Eye
, whose shooting schedule would have conflicted with Smith's. Smith wrote the role of Zack, however, with Seth Rogen in mind, based on his performance in The 40-Year-Old Virgin
. Shooting concluded on March 12, 2008.
There are numerous cultural references to Pittsburgh and the film's setting in the neighborhood of Monroeville and Pittsburgh throughout the film, including a drunken Steelers fan
, a Penguins
Stanley Cup
flag, Miri sleeping in a Penguins jersey and the cast drinking Iron City Beer throughout the film. One scene in the film was shot at the Monroeville Mall
, while another scene is featured outside Mellon Arena
during a hockey game. Also, during the scene of the goalie body checking the defender, that scene was filmed at the Rostraver Ice Garden with Ice Garden's own 'Bo' as the ref. Ice Garden is about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. One scene contains a cameo appearance by Tom Savini
. The mall was the setting of Dawn of the Dead, which was Savini's first film as an effects artist. About the scene Smith said, "We got to shoot at the Monroeville Mall, and for a movie buff, that's a very cool thing. We had Tom Savini [in cameo], we shot at the Monroeville Mall, it's as close to a zombie movie as I'll ever get." In the film, Zack plays hockey, and his team's name is the Monroeville Zombies, which is another reference to the George A. Romero
film. Even one of the main cast members has Pittsburgh-area roots: porn star
icon Traci Lords
(who played Bubbles in the film) is a native of Steubenville, Ohio
located about a half hour drive west of Pittsburgh.
, entitled "Hold Me Up", which Smith has said he has been trying to use for over 13 years, appears in an "emotional scene" with Zack and Miri. Smith made a statement about featuring the song in the film:
An original song by mc chris
called "Miri and Zack" was made especially for the film. An older song by mc chris, "Fett's Vette", was also used in the film, as well as "Sex and Candy
" by Marcy Playground
and Jermaine Stewart
's 1986 hit "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off
."
was originally set to distribute the film, The Weinstein Company
solely distributed the film after a deal between the two companies fell through. With the announcement came the removal of the MGM logo from the advertising for the film, which is the first Weinstein film to be released after the deal was abruptly ended before the scheduled January 2009 date.
initially gave the film an NC-17 rating for "some graphic sexuality". Smith submitted two additional cuts of the film with certain footage removed and was told the movie was getting much closer to an "R" rating, but that he should remove a small 14-frame shot first. Smith felt that the scene should stay in so he appeal
ed the rating and the film was viewed by the MPAA again. In an interview with MTV.com
, Seth Rogen commented "It's a really filthy movie. I hear they are having some problems getting an R rating from an NC-17 rating, which is never good." He continued, complaining that "They fight against sex stuff. Isn't that weird? It's really crazy to me that Hostel is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and shit like that... But you can't show two people having sex — that's too much". On August 5, the rating was successfully appealed to an R with no further cuts. It attained the rating for "strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language".
On May 30, 2008, the first teaser trailer
for the film was released on Smith's website, silentbobspeaks.com. The teaser depicts Rogen and Banks' characters as they hold auditions. In his online diary, Kevin Smith insisted it was strictly a teaser, mentioning, "There ain't a frame of footage in this puppy that's in the actual flick, so feel free to watch it without fear of 'spoilers'. This is just a little something to give you a bit of a feel for the flick." On July 21, however, the video was removed from the website following an order by the MPAA because it was designated a "teaser trailer" without passing through MPAA certification. On September 2, 2008, a red band trailer of the film was released at IGN
.
A poster for the film (pictured right) released in September 2008, which suggests the title characters are performing oral sex
on each other, was banned for use in US theaters by the MPAA. The poster used in the US lampoon
s the film's explicit subject matter by featuring stick figure
s, with the explanation in the poster's text this is the only image that can be shown.
Despite this restriction, many media outlets refused to run the poster, or any ad that includes the word "porno" in the title, including a number of newspapers, TV stations, cable channels, and city governments, some of which responded to complaints about the ads at baseball stadiums and city bus stops. Many theaters displayed the film's title on their marquee as merely Zack and Miri. Weinstein Company marketing head Gary Faber stated that the ad was accepted in most of the outlets that were offered it, but that the studio would consider variations of the title for outlets that rejected it, including one version of the poster without the title that bears the slogan, "Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so outrageous that we can't even tell you the title."
On November 10, 2008 The Weinstein Company announced that it would be re-launching the U.S. ad campaign for the film, with the main focus being a new poster that featured Rogen and Banks in a meadow with animals rendered in the style of children's animated cartoons. However, the new poster also took a jab at the controversy surrounding the image of the second poster—namely the controversy surrounding the use of the word "porno" in an image so seemingly kid-friendly—by including the statement "A poster for everyone who finds our movie title hard to swallow".
s called Money Shots, as well as other exclusive content; however, it contains no director commentary, the first of Smith's films not to include one. The DVD also features 94 minutes of deleted scene
s.
with $10,682,000 from 2,735 theaters with an average of $3,906. Both Smith and producer Scott Mosier
were disappointed by the film's poor box office performance; according to Smith:
and $5 million overseas. , the film had grossed almost $42 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo
.
Following the box office disappointment of the movie, his relationship with producer Harvey Weinstein
soured according to an associate of Smith's, "An associate says Smith bitterly blamed Harvey Weinstein for failing to spend enough to market the movie. Although Weinstein said he spent $30 million on marketing, Smith didn't believe he had followed through. Either way, the relationship between the two frayed."
reported that the film has a "fresh" rating of 65 percent and a mixed rating of 50% from "top" critics based on 34 reviews. Based on 31 reviews, Metacritic
gave a score of 56, which equates to a "Mixed or average reviews" rating. Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune
said the film, "pushes its R rating pretty hard, though as with most Smith characters this side of Silent Bob, there's a lot more raunch in the talk — the sheer, voluminous, often hilarious verbosity — than in the action." Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the movie 3 stars out of a possible 4 stars and stated that, "Somehow Kevin Smith's very excesses defuse the material. He's like the guy at a party who tells dirty jokes so fast, Dangerfield-style, that you laugh more at the performance than the material." In retrospect, Smith explained why the film never fully caught on with the public and felt so "second-hand" by saying that, "Zack and Miri [Make a Porno] is literally me adulterating my own story...the story of how I made Clerks, with porn."
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
written and directed by Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
, distributed by The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
, and starring Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
. It is Smith's second film (after Jersey Girl
Jersey Girl (2004 film)
Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith...
) not to be set within the View Askewniverse
View Askewniverse
The View Askewniverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Kevin Smith, featured in several films, comics and a television series; it is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media,...
and the first not set in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. It was released on October 31, 2008. The poor box office performance of the film damaged Smith's relationship with producer Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
after Smith blamed Weinstein for not spending enough to market the movie, an allegation Weinstein denies.
Plot
Zack Brown (Seth RogenSeth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
) and Miriam "Miri" Linky (Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
) are roommates in Monroeville
Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Monroeville is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located about east of the city of Pittsburgh, Monroeville is a bustling suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(a Pittsburgh suburb). They have been friends since the first grade
First grade
First grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States and English-speaking provinces of Canada. It is the first school year after kindergarten...
. Despite Miri working at the local shopping mall and Zack working at a coffee shop, they have not paid their utility bills in months, with Zack devoting much of his free time to a fanatic following of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
and his status in the community amateur hockey team, the Monroeville Zombies. After work, their water gets turned off before they go to their high school reunion
High School Reunion
High School Reunion may refer to:*"High School Reunion" *Romy and Michele's High School Reunion*High School Reunion *Class reunion...
.
At the reunion, Miri attempts to seduce her attractive former classmate Bobby Long (Brandon Routh
Brandon Routh
Brandon James Routh is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero...
), while Zack strikes up a conversation with Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
), who reveals that he is a gay porn star, and Bobby's boyfriend. After returning home from the reunion, the apartment's electricity is turned off. Inspired by a successful viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
that was filmed by a pair of teenage boys as Miri changed in Zack's place of work for the reunion (revealing that she wore unattractive underwear, "granny panties"), and emboldened by the cultural mainstreaming of pornographic entertainment, Zack convinces Miri that they should film a pornographic movie to earn money.
Gathering a group of acquaintances and hired help as the cast and crew, they decide to film a pornographic Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, entitled Star Whores. Delaney (Craig Robinson), the film's producer and Zack's coworker, rents film equipment and a building to use as a studio. When they return to the studio after the first night of filming, the building is being demolished, with all the equipment and costumes inside. They are told that the man that rented it to them had run off with the money. Later at the coffee shop where Zack works, he realizes that his boss threatened to install a hidden camera, which Zack finds, and decides to use it to replace their lost film equipment. Zack retools his film to take place in the coffee shop, revamping the film to one with a coffee shop motif, Swallow My Cockuccino, and the group shoots the film after hours.
Despite their insistence that they would not let sex with each other affect their friendship, Zack and Miri soon develop romantic feelings for each other. When it comes time for Zack and Miri to have sex on camera, they find that instead of the clinical sex enacted by the actors in the other scenes, their interlude is romantic and heartfelt. Later that evening, Zack and Miri are at home when suddenly their apartment's electricity and water service return. The rest of the actors and crew show up and reveal that they pooled their resources to pay one month of their bills, and have come over to throw them a party.
At the party, one of the other actresses, Stacey (Katie Morgan
Katie Morgan
Katie Morgan is a former American pornographic actress, model and radio talk-show host.- Career :...
) asks Miri if it is okay for her to ask Zack to have sex. Although Miri has realized that she has developed feelings for Zack, she tells her it is okay to ask him. When Stacey relates this to Zack, the two retreat to Zack's bedroom, much to Miri's dismay.
The next evening, Zack is preparing to film a scene between Stacey and another actor, Lester (Jason Mewes
Jason Mewes
Jason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
), that was supposed to have been with Lester and Miri. Zack is dismayed when Miri shows up and insists on shooting the scene as originally planned. In the back room, an incredulous Zack asks if she is doing this as a form of retaliation, pointing out that Stacey told him that Miri did not mind her sleeping with Zack. Miri corrects him, clarifying that she did not mind that Stacey merely made the offer to sleep with him. Perceiving this to have been some type of test, Zack admits that during the sex scene they filmed together, they were actually making love and that there was an emotional connection between them, and that he loves Miri. When Miri does not reciprocate, Zack storms out of the coffee shop, quitting the film and his job, and moves out of the apartment.
Three months later, Delaney goes to see Zack, who has moved on to an exterior concessions job at Mellon Arena during Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
games. Delaney convinces him to come to Delaney's home to see the unfinished movie and help complete it. Zack agrees, and as Delaney and the cameraman Deacon (Jeff Anderson
Jeff Anderson
Jeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
) explain, Zack learns that Miri never filmed her sex scene with Lester. Zack goes to Miri's apartment and reveals to her that he never slept with Stacey; instead, they talked about Miri all night. He pours his heart out to Miri, proclaiming his love for her, which she reciprocates.
In the epilogue, the audience learns that Zack and Miri are married, and with the help of Delaney and his worker's compensation settlement, they start their own video production
Video production
Video production is videography, the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media. The term includes methods of production and post-production...
company, Zack and Miri Make Your Porno, which makes amateur videos for couples.
Cast
- Seth RogenSeth RogenSeth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
as Zack Brown - Elizabeth BanksElizabeth BanksElizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
as Miriam "Miri" Linky - Craig Robinson as Delaney
- Jason MewesJason MewesJason Edward Mewes is an American television, film actor, and internet radio show host best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's films.-Early life:...
as Lester - Traci LordsTraci LordsTraci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
as Bubbles - Jeff AndersonJeff AndersonJeffrey Allan "Jeff" Anderson is an American film actor, film director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks and Clerks II...
as Deacon - Katie MorganKatie MorganKatie Morgan is a former American pornographic actress, model and radio talk-show host.- Career :...
as Stacey - Ricky MabeRicky MabeRichard "Ricky" Mabe is a Canadian actor.Mabe first voiced the character Willie in CINAR Animation's The Little Lulu Show and has subsequently starred frequently on various Canadian television series' and in feature films alongside Burt Reynolds, Ryan Gosling and Elisha Cuthbert.He was also the...
as Barry - Justin LongJustin LongJustin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
as Brandon St. Randy - Brandon RouthBrandon RouthBrandon James Routh is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on multiple television series throughout the early 2000s. In 2006, he gained greater recognition for his role as the titular hero...
as Bobby Long - Tyler LabineTyler LabineTyler Sean Labine is a Canadian actor. His brothers Kyle Labine and Cameron Labine also work in the entertainment industry.-Life and career:Labine was born in Brampton, Ontario...
as Drunk Customer - Tisha Campbell-MartinTisha Campbell-MartinTisha Michelle Campbell-Martin is an American actress and singer, known for her starring roles in television series Martin and My Wife and Kids and now is starring in the new television series The Protector...
as Delaney's wife - Tom SaviniTom SaviniThomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
as Jenkins - Jennifer SchwalbachJennifer Schwalbach SmithJennifer Schwalbach Smith , sometimes credited as Jennifer Schwalbach, is an American actress, former reporter for USA Today, digital broadcaster, and the wife of film director Kevin Smith.-Early life:...
as Betsy - Gerry BednobGerry Bednob-Career:Gerry currently appears as Bling Bling Shelton in Free Radio on Vh1. He had a role in the 2010 film Furry Vengeance, with Brendan Fraser and Brooke Shields, playing Mr. Gupta. He is also the uncle of Michelle Jhagroo.- Filmography :...
as Mr. Surya - Kenny HotzKenny HotzKenneth Joel "Kenny" Hotz is an award-winning Canadian writer, director, actor, producer and photographer. He is a former South Park consultant/writer, creator/director/co-star of the Showcase and Comedy Central television show Kenny vs...
as Zack II
Production
According to Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
greenlit the project based solely on the title. Kevin Smith originally wrote the film to be set in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where he had previously shot Mallrats
Mallrats
Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota...
, and where he had stated a desire to shoot again. However, for budgetary reasons, Smith opted to shoot in Pittsburgh, and re-wrote the script to take place in the Monroeville
Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Monroeville is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located about east of the city of Pittsburgh, Monroeville is a bustling suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments...
suburb.
The female lead role was written for Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
, but Dawson was unable to accept the part, as she had just signed on to film Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye
Eagle Eye is a 2008 thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The two portray a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out a plan by a possible terrorist organization...
, whose shooting schedule would have conflicted with Smith's. Smith wrote the role of Zack, however, with Seth Rogen in mind, based on his performance in The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American buddy comedy film about a middle-aged man's journey to finally have sex. The film was written and directed by Judd Apatow and co-written by its lead star, Steve Carell, though the film itself features a great deal of improvised dialogue...
. Shooting concluded on March 12, 2008.
There are numerous cultural references to Pittsburgh and the film's setting in the neighborhood of Monroeville and Pittsburgh throughout the film, including a drunken Steelers fan
Steeler Nation
Steeler Nation is the unofficial name of the fan base of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, coined by NFL Films narrator John Facenda in "Blueprint for Victory," the team's 1975 highlights film...
, a Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
flag, Miri sleeping in a Penguins jersey and the cast drinking Iron City Beer throughout the film. One scene in the film was shot at the Monroeville Mall
Monroeville Mall
Monroeville Mall is a two-level, enclosed shopping mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, eastof Pittsburgh. It is located near the junction of Interstate 376 and I-76...
, while another scene is featured outside Mellon Arena
Mellon Arena
Civic Arena is an indoor arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is currently undergoing demolition. It was the first retractable roof major sports venue in the world, covering 170,000 sq. feet and constructed with just shy of 3,000 tons of Pittsburgh steel...
during a hockey game. Also, during the scene of the goalie body checking the defender, that scene was filmed at the Rostraver Ice Garden with Ice Garden's own 'Bo' as the ref. Ice Garden is about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. One scene contains a cameo appearance by Tom Savini
Tom Savini
Thomas Vincent "Tom" Savini is an American actor, stuntman, director, award-winning special effects and makeup artist. He is known for his work on the Living Dead films directed by George A. Romero, as well as Creepshow, The Burning, Friday the 13th, The Prowler, and Maniac. He directed the 1990...
. The mall was the setting of Dawn of the Dead, which was Savini's first film as an effects artist. About the scene Smith said, "We got to shoot at the Monroeville Mall, and for a movie buff, that's a very cool thing. We had Tom Savini [in cameo], we shot at the Monroeville Mall, it's as close to a zombie movie as I'll ever get." In the film, Zack plays hockey, and his team's name is the Monroeville Zombies, which is another reference to the George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
film. Even one of the main cast members has Pittsburgh-area roots: porn star
Pornographic actor
A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
icon Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
(who played Bubbles in the film) is a native of Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville, Ohio
Steubenville is a city located along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio on the Ohio-West Virginia border in the United States. It is the political county seat of Jefferson County. It is also a principal city of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area...
located about a half hour drive west of Pittsburgh.
Music
A song by the band LiveLive (band)
Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....
, entitled "Hold Me Up", which Smith has said he has been trying to use for over 13 years, appears in an "emotional scene" with Zack and Miri. Smith made a statement about featuring the song in the film:
An original song by mc chris
Mc chris
mc chris is an American rapper, voice actor, writer and improvisational comedian....
called "Miri and Zack" was made especially for the film. An older song by mc chris, "Fett's Vette", was also used in the film, as well as "Sex and Candy
Sex and Candy
"Sex and Candy" is a 1997 single released by Marcy Playground from their self-titled debut album Marcy Playground. It was the band's breakthrough single....
" by Marcy Playground
Marcy Playground
Marcy Playground is an American alternative rock band consisting of three members: John Wozniak , Dylan Keefe , and Shlomi Lavie . The band is best known for their 1997 hit "Sex and Candy".-Early years:...
and Jermaine Stewart
Jermaine Stewart
William Jermaine Stewart was an American R&B singer best known for his Billboard hits "The Word Is Out" and "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" .-Early life and career:Born in Columbus, Ohio, to parents Ethel M...
's 1986 hit "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off
We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" is pop vocalist Jermaine Stewart's first of three singles from 1986. The song was included on Stewart's second album "Frantic Romantic"...
."
Distribution
While MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
was originally set to distribute the film, The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
solely distributed the film after a deal between the two companies fell through. With the announcement came the removal of the MGM logo from the advertising for the film, which is the first Weinstein film to be released after the deal was abruptly ended before the scheduled January 2009 date.
Rating
The Motion Picture Association of AmericaMotion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
initially gave the film an NC-17 rating for "some graphic sexuality". Smith submitted two additional cuts of the film with certain footage removed and was told the movie was getting much closer to an "R" rating, but that he should remove a small 14-frame shot first. Smith felt that the scene should stay in so he appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
ed the rating and the film was viewed by the MPAA again. In an interview with MTV.com
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Seth Rogen commented "It's a really filthy movie. I hear they are having some problems getting an R rating from an NC-17 rating, which is never good." He continued, complaining that "They fight against sex stuff. Isn't that weird? It's really crazy to me that Hostel is fine, with people gouging their eyes out and shit like that... But you can't show two people having sex — that's too much". On August 5, the rating was successfully appealed to an R with no further cuts. It attained the rating for "strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language".
Promotion
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
for the film was released on Smith's website, silentbobspeaks.com. The teaser depicts Rogen and Banks' characters as they hold auditions. In his online diary, Kevin Smith insisted it was strictly a teaser, mentioning, "There ain't a frame of footage in this puppy that's in the actual flick, so feel free to watch it without fear of 'spoilers'. This is just a little something to give you a bit of a feel for the flick." On July 21, however, the video was removed from the website following an order by the MPAA because it was designated a "teaser trailer" without passing through MPAA certification. On September 2, 2008, a red band trailer of the film was released at IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
A poster for the film (pictured right) released in September 2008, which suggests the title characters are performing oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on each other, was banned for use in US theaters by the MPAA. The poster used in the US lampoon
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s the film's explicit subject matter by featuring stick figure
Stick figure
A stick figure is a very simple type of drawing made of lines and dots, often of the human form or other animals. In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes, mouth or crudely scratched-out hair. The arms, legs and torso are all...
s, with the explanation in the poster's text this is the only image that can be shown.
Despite this restriction, many media outlets refused to run the poster, or any ad that includes the word "porno" in the title, including a number of newspapers, TV stations, cable channels, and city governments, some of which responded to complaints about the ads at baseball stadiums and city bus stops. Many theaters displayed the film's title on their marquee as merely Zack and Miri. Weinstein Company marketing head Gary Faber stated that the ad was accepted in most of the outlets that were offered it, but that the studio would consider variations of the title for outlets that rejected it, including one version of the poster without the title that bears the slogan, "Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks made a movie so outrageous that we can't even tell you the title."
On November 10, 2008 The Weinstein Company announced that it would be re-launching the U.S. ad campaign for the film, with the main focus being a new poster that featured Rogen and Banks in a meadow with animals rendered in the style of children's animated cartoons. However, the new poster also took a jab at the controversy surrounding the image of the second poster—namely the controversy surrounding the use of the word "porno" in an image so seemingly kid-friendly—by including the statement "A poster for everyone who finds our movie title hard to swallow".
Home media
Although some copies of the February 2009 "2-Disc Edition" DVD were originally released under its full intended title in the United States, the controversy continued as some DVDs continued to display the censored title used to originally promote the film (i.e. Zack and Miri). The cover uses neither of the previous poster images, but instead a photo montage of the principal actors in the film on a white background. The re-release includes a series of webisodeWebisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s called Money Shots, as well as other exclusive content; however, it contains no director commentary, the first of Smith's films not to include one. The DVD also features 94 minutes of deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s.
Box office
"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" was a box office "flop". The film opened #2 behind High School Musical 3: Senior YearHigh School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a 2008 American romantic musical film and the third and final installment in the High School Musical trilogy. Its theatrical release in the United States began on October 24, 2008...
with $10,682,000 from 2,735 theaters with an average of $3,906. Both Smith and producer Scott Mosier
Scott Mosier
Scott A Mosier is an American-Canadian film producer, editor, podcaster and actor best known for his work with director Kevin Smith, with whom he co-hosts the weekly podcast, Smodcast.-Early life:...
were disappointed by the film's poor box office performance; according to Smith:
The consistently bankable Rogen also experienced his "worst box-office opening ever". As of January 8, 2009, the film has grossed $31 million in North America
“That was supposed to be the one that punched us through to the next level. Everyone thought it would do $60 to $70 million, and it wound up doing Kevin Smith business. I was like, ‘I’m done.’ If I were to write at that point in my life, it would be about the poor fat kid whose movie didn’t make enough money."
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and $5 million overseas. , the film had grossed almost $42 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
.
Following the box office disappointment of the movie, his relationship with producer Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
soured according to an associate of Smith's, "An associate says Smith bitterly blamed Harvey Weinstein for failing to spend enough to market the movie. Although Weinstein said he spent $30 million on marketing, Smith didn't believe he had followed through. Either way, the relationship between the two frayed."
Critical reception
Based on 105 reviews, Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that the film has a "fresh" rating of 65 percent and a mixed rating of 50% from "top" critics based on 34 reviews. Based on 31 reviews, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave a score of 56, which equates to a "Mixed or average reviews" rating. Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
said the film, "pushes its R rating pretty hard, though as with most Smith characters this side of Silent Bob, there's a lot more raunch in the talk — the sheer, voluminous, often hilarious verbosity — than in the action." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the movie 3 stars out of a possible 4 stars and stated that, "Somehow Kevin Smith's very excesses defuse the material. He's like the guy at a party who tells dirty jokes so fast, Dangerfield-style, that you laugh more at the performance than the material." In retrospect, Smith explained why the film never fully caught on with the public and felt so "second-hand" by saying that, "Zack and Miri [Make a Porno] is literally me adulterating my own story...the story of how I made Clerks, with porn."