| Pineapple Express | |
|---|---|
| File:Pineapple express.jpg Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | David Gordon Green |
| Written by | Screenplay: Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Story: Judd Apatow Seth Rogan Evan Goldberg |
| Produced by | Judd Apatow Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Shauna Robertson |
| Starring | Seth Rogen James Franco Danny R McBride Amber Heard Rosie Perez Gary Cole Craig Robinson Kevin Corrigan Bill Hader |
| Cinematography | Tim Orr |
| Edited by | Craig Alpert |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | August 8, 2008 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
Pineapple Express is an upcoming Stoner-action-comedy film expected to be released on August 8, 2008. The movie stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, and is produced by Judd Apatow. The film was directed by David Gordon Green with a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and story by Apatow, Rogen and Goldberg.
The movie finished production in May of 2007, and is currently in a post-production status. On December 6, 2007, the MPAA rated the film with an R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references, and violence. Major parts of the movie were filmed at the Daily Breeze Newspaper in Torrance, California.
A "red-band" trailer for the film leaked in February 2008. It features the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A..
Plot
Lazy stoner and process server Dale Denton (Rogen) has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver (Franco): to purchase cannabis, specifically, a rare new strain called Pineapple Express that is hot on the drug market. Saul genuinely wants to befriend him, but the selfish Dale is only interested in gaining access to the weed. When he becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop (Rosie Perez) and the city's most dangerous drug lord (Gary Cole), he panics and dumps his roach of Pineapple Express at the crime scene. Dale now has another reason to visit Saul: to find out if the weed is so rare that it can be traced back to him, which it really is. As Dale and Saul run for their lives, they quickly discover that they’re not suffering from weed-fueled paranoia; incredibly, the bad guys really are hot on their trail and trying to figure out the fastest way to kill them both.
Cast
- Seth Rogen as Dale Denton
- James Franco as Saul Silver
- Amber Heard as Angie Anderson
- Rosie Perez as Officer Carol Brazier
- Gary Cole as Ted Jones
- Craig Robinson as Matheson
- Kevin Corrigan as Budlofsky
- Danny R. McBride as Red
- Ed Begley Jr. as Robert Anderson
- Nora Dunn as Shannon Anderson
- Bill Hader as Private Greg B. Miller
- James Remar as General Brat
- Joe Lo Truglio as Mr. Edwards
- Ken Jeong as Ken
Production
After Judd Apatow came up with the idea of making a "weed action movie," he had writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg write the screenplay. Rogen initially considered playing Saul with James Franco as Dale, but after the first table read, Rogen determined Franco would be funnier playing Saul. Rogen and Franco had originally acted together 9 years previous in the Apatow-produced television series Freaks and Geeks.
Seth Rogen also sat down with 1980s musician Huey Lewis, of Huey Lewis & The News, possibly discussing Lewis writing and performing the theme song for the movie.
There was an exclusive sneak peek of the film attached to Superbad's DVD, which was released on December 4, 2007.
Rogen has stated in interview with Rolling Stone for the April 17th issue that he had hoped for a larger budget, but the producers were only able to secure $25 million due to the drug-heavy subject matter.
Rogen and Franco were presenters at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards for Best Summer Movie So Far, promoting their film. They promoted the film by showing a bag of 'fake' marijuana and smoking a rolled joint. Most of the audience were shocked, including Robert Downey Jr., who was known for his drug addiction. Rogen and Franco had admitted to the audience that they are not drug users and not possessing any actual marijuana, but this has not been proven. In the backstage, Franco has repeatedly told the reporters that MTV has told them to pretend to promote drug use but Franco and Rogen were confused about the materials given for the presentation.