On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 19/21 |
Jason Lee |
Did someone accidentally put a made-for-Disney-Channel movie on the big screen? |
Disney starlet Ashley Tisdale, looking to prove that the words “Disney starlet” can be applied to actresses other than Miley Cyrus, makes the feature jump in the family adventure They Came From Upstairs, from Fox and Regency. Tisdale became a household name off of the success of the unstoppable High School Musical franchise; whether or not her teenybopping legions will follow her to the box office remains to be seen.
The by-the-numbers plot concerns aliens in a Maine summer home (hanging out upstairs, as you may have guessed,) and the plucky teens who try to stop them. Robert Hoffman (She’s The Man, Step Up 2: The Streets) and Carter Jenkins (Keeping Up With the Steins) co-star, along with SNL alums Tim “I Was Totally in Mean Girls” Meadows and Kevin “Weeds is Still Doing Pretty Well” Nealon.
At the helm is John Schultz, most recently seen driving The Honeymooners straight into the ground. Schultz’s 2005 remake of the beloved show flopped hard, grossing a mere $12.8 million domestically off of a $27 million budget. Schultz saw modest successes with the kid flicks Like Mike and Drive Me Crazy, and was nominated for a Sundance Grand Jury Prize for his debut feature, Bandwagon, but he’s never had a true hit. Adam F. Goldberg (Fanboys) and Mark Burton co-write.
The reported budget is a somewhat surprising $60 Million. While Producer Barry Josephson has demonstrated with Enchanted that he can spin gold, Fox is almost certainly banking on pulling the High School Musical crowd in for this, Tisdale’s first starring feature (look for marketing to call it her feature debut, even though she had a small role in Donnie Darko and leant her voice to A Bug’s Life.) Live action family releases – especially fantasy – having been struggling recently (The Water Horse, anyone?) They Came From Upstairs could have a tough time making that budget back. (Sean Collier/BOP)
Vital statistics for Aliens in the Attic |
| Main Cast |
Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins |
| Supporting Cast |
Austin Butler, Ashley Boettcher, Henri Young, Regan Young, Tim Meadows, Gillian Vigman, Kevin Nealon |
| Director |
John Schultz |
| Screenwriter |
Mark Burton, Adam F. Goldberg |
| Distributor |
Twentieth Century Fox |
| Screen Count |
3,106 |
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Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
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