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SUPERBAD

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the 2007 film by Greg Mottola. For other uses, see Superbad (disambiguation).

“McLovin” redirects here. For the band, see McLovins.

Superbad
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGreg Mottola
Written bySeth RogenEvan Goldberg
Produced byJudd ApatowShauna Robertson
StarringJonah HillMichael CeraSeth RogenBill Hader
CinematographyRuss Alsobrook
Edited byWilliam Kerr
Music byLyle Workman
Production
companies		Columbia PicturesThe Apatow Company
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release datesAugust 13, 2007 (Grauman’s Chinese Theatre[1])August 17, 2007 (United States)
Running time113 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17.5–20 million[3][4]
Box office$170.8 million[4]

Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and produced by Judd Apatow. It stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before graduating, the boys want to party and lose their virginity, but their plan proves harder than expected. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (in his film debut), Rogen, Bill Hader, Martha MacIsaac, and Emma Stone (in her film debut) provide supporting roles.

Rogen and Goldberg wrote the script during their teenage years. It is loosely based on their experience in Grade 12 at Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver during the 1990s. The main characters have the same given names as the two writers. Rogen was also initially intended to play Seth, but due to age and physical size this was changed, and Hill went on to portray Seth, while Rogen portrayed the irresponsible Officer Michaels, opposite Saturday Night Live star Hader as Officer Slater.

Superbad premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on August 13, 2007, and was theatrically released in the United States four days later on August 17, 2007. The film received positive reviews, with critics praising the dialogue and the chemistry between the two leads as well as the performances of the supporting cast. The film also proved financially successful, grossing $170.8 million on a $17.5–20 million budget. The film has since become a cult classic.

Plot

Seth and Evan are unpopular Nevada high school seniors who have been best friends since childhood, and hope to lose their virginities before going to different colleges. Jules, a girl Seth is attracted to, invites him to a party at her house. Seth and Evan’s friend Fogell has a fake ID, so Seth promises to buy Jules alcohol. Evan runs into Becca, with whom he is infatuated, and offers to get her alcohol as well.

Fogell attempts to buy the alcohol at a liquor store with his fake ID under the mononym “McLovin”. His attempt seems to work as the clerk accepts his fake ID and starts to ring up the transaction, but mid-transaction, Fogell is knocked down by a robber before he can purchase the alcohol. When police officers Slater and Michaels arrive, Seth and Evan, who are outside, believe that Fogell is being arrested. While waiting outside the liquor store, Seth is hit by a motorist. In exchange for their not reporting him, the motorist promises to take them to another party where they can get alcohol. Meanwhile, after getting his statement, the officers agree to drive Fogell to the party. Despite being on duty, they start drinking. Bonding with Fogell, they engage in various shenanigans.

At the party, Seth plans to steal alcohol while Evan is hesitant to stay. The motorist is kicked out by the party host and a fight ensues; Evan decides to leave despite Seth’s insistence he stay. Seth then dances with a drunk Jacinda, who stains his leg with menstrual blood. Seth is confronted by the party’s host for dancing with his fiancée, and a brawl ensues. The police are called, and Seth and Evan reunite outside and escape. Seth chastises Evan for bailing on him, reminding him that they had lifelong plans to attend college together. Evan retorts that Seth is selfish and holds him back. Evan shoves Seth, who is struck by the police cruiser driven by a distracted Slater. The officers plan to blame the crash on Seth and Evan, but as Fogell emerges from the car, all three flee. Reunited, the trio make their way to Jules’ party.

At the party, Fogell inadvertently reveals that he and Evan will be living together at college, upsetting Seth. He then delivers the alcohol to Jules and begins drinking heavily. Meanwhile, Becca attempts to seduce Evan to take her virginity, but he declines as she is drunk and may regret it. Meanwhile, Fogell impresses classmate Nicola, so she takes him upstairs to have sex. Seth drunkenly attempts to kiss Jules, but she declines because she does not want to kiss him while he is drunk. Believing he has ruined his chance, Seth becomes upset and falls down in a drunken stupor, accidentally headbutting Jules and giving her a black eye.

Slater and Michaels bust the party. Seth wakes up and escapes, carrying an intoxicated Evan away from the house. Slater busts in on Fogell and Nicola, causing her to run off. Slater and Michaels reveal they knew all along that Fogell was underage but played along, wanting to show him that cops can have fun too. To make it up to him, they make a fake spectacle of perp-walking him to their cruiser in front of his classmates. They then destroy the damaged police cruiser together.

Seth sleeps over at Evan’s, where he reveals he discovered weeks earlier that Evan and Fogell planned to live together at college. They apologize to each other and reconcile. The next day, Seth and Evan visit the mall and run into Jules and Becca. Becca and Seth apologize for their drunken behavior, and the boys head their separate ways with their respective love interests.

Cast

Production

Development

Superbad was written by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen during their teen years. It is loosely based on their own experience as seniors in Vancouver in the late 1990s, hence the character names Seth and Evan. Other characters and references were influenced by Goldberg and Rogen’s adolescence, such as Steven Glanzberg, their peer at Point Grey Secondary School, characterized in the film as a loner.[5] According to an interview at an event panel in 2009, Fogell was also a real friend of Rogen and Goldberg. Rogen was initially slated to play Jonah Hill’s character Seth. Still, due to his physical size and age, he played one of the police officers.[6] When asked where he wants to be dropped off, Fogell tells the officers to take him to 13th and Granville, a nod to Rogen and Goldberg’s favorite all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Vancouver.[7] Superbad took seven years to complete from early scripting in 2000 and filming from 2006 to 2007.[citation needed] Among the films that served as inspiration for Superbad were Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and American Graffiti.[6]

Filming

The film was primarily shot in Los Angeles in the fall of 2006.[8] Exterior shots of the high school were filmed at El Segundo High School.[9] The mall scenes were shot at the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City, California.[10]

Other filming locations include the convenience store at the beginning of the film, also in Culver City,[11] the liquor store where “McLovin” gets IDed in Glendale, California,[12] and the bar where the cops take McLovin for a drink is neighboring Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).[13] The scene where McLovin and the cops do donuts in the cop car was filmed in a parking lot on the California State University, Northridge campus.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse was 17 at the time of filming Superbad, and as a result, his mother was required to be present on set during the filming of his sex scene.[14][15]

Reception

Box office

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg at a Superbad panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2007

Superbad opened at number one at the United States box office, grossing US$33,052,411 in its opening weekend from 2,948 theaters for an average of US$11,212 per theater.[16] The film stayed at #1 the second week, grossing US$18,044,369.[16]

The film grossed US$121.5 million in the United States and Canada and US$48.4 million in other countries, for a total of US$169.9 million worldwide. Compared to the budget of $17.5–20 million, the film earned a huge financial profit,[3][4] making it the highest domestic grossing high school comedy at the time (it was surpassed by 21 Jump Street, a film also starring Hill, in 2012).[17]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 88% based on reviews from 207 critics, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The website’s summary reads: “Deftly balancing vulgarity and sincerity while placing its protagonists in excessive situations, Superbad is an authentic take on friendship and the overarching awkwardness of the high school experience.”[18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 76/100 based on 36 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.[19] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.[20][21]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it 2007’s most successful comedy.[22] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times had the headline of his review read “McLovin It”, and gave the film 31⁄2 out of 4 stars, and said: “The movie reminded me a little of National Lampoon’s Animal House, except that it’s more mature, as all movies are.”[23] Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times said: “Physically, Hill and Cera recall the classic comic duos—Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Aykroyd and Belushi. But they are contemporary kids, sophisticated and sensitive to nuance”; she added: “I hope it’s not damning the movie with the wrong kind of praise to say that for a film so deliriously smutty, Superbad is supercute.”[24] Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly said “2007: the year Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen saved movie comedy”, a reference to Knocked Up which was released in June.[25] Devin Gordon of Newsweek said: “As a Revenge of the Nerds redux, Superbad isn’t perfect. But it’s super close.”[26]

In a more critical vein, Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter, compared the film to other films with a single-day structure, such as American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, but said that Superbad “doesn’t have the smarts or the depths of those ensemble comedies.”[27] The Hollywood Reporter review was referenced in the film’s DVD audio commentary, particularly the review’s suggestion that the two main characters have a homoerotic experience similar to the film Y Tu Mamá También.[28] Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel called the film a “super-derivative, super-raunchy sack of laughs” and a “great vulgarian send-off to the summer of Knocked Up” that plays like “Freaks and Geeks: Uncensored.”[29] Moore concluded, “The energy flags as it overstays its welcome. The Apatow Rule, ‘If it gets a laugh, don’t cut it,’ doesn’t do movies under his banner any favors. Still, there are plenty of those laughs, from the ruder-than-rude opening to the ironic-sentimental ending.”[29] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe said the film “has a degree more sophistication than Revenge of the Nerds and American Pie, and less than the underrated House Party.” Morris also said, “the few smart observations could have come from an episode of one of Apatow’s TV shows” and “I wanted to find this as funny as audiences did.”[30]

Accolades

The film was listed as #487 on Empire‘s 500 Greatest films of all time.[31] In 2025, it ranked number 100 on The New York Times‘ list of “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century” and number 53 on the “Readers’ Choice” edition of the list.[32][33]

The film’s screenplay was also named the 88th greatest of the 21st century by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).[34][35] The WGA also named the script the 68th funniest ever written on their list of the “101 Funniest Screenplays”.[36]

YearAwardCategoryNomineeResultRef.
2007Austin Film Critics Association AwardsBreakthrough ArtistMichael CeraWon
Broadcast Film Critics Association AwardsBest Comedy MovieSuperbadNominated
Best Young ActorMichael CeraNominated
Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsMost Promising PerformerMichael CeraWon
Empire AwardsBest ComedySuperbadNominated
Teen Choice AwardsChoice Summer Movie – Comedy/MusicalSuperbadNominated
2008Canadian Comedy AwardsBest WritingSeth RogenWon
Best Male PerformanceMichael CeraWon
MTV Movie AwardsBest Comedic PerformanceJonah HillNominated
Best MovieSuperbadNominated
Breakthrough PerformanceMichael CeraNominated
Jonah HillNominated
Christopher Mintz-PlasseNominated
Peabody AwardsBest New Comedy PerformanceSuperbadNominated
Young Hollywood AwardsExciting New FaceEmma StoneWon

Home media

Superbad was released on DVD, UMD and Blu-ray on December 4, 2007, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[3][37] The special edition DVD sparked controversy in Hawaii due to the inclusion of a replica of the fake McLovin ID used in the film, which heavily resembled the state’s real-life driver’s license. This resulted in Walmart removing it from the shelves in the state.[38][39]

Legacy

Retrospectively since its release, it has garnered acclaim as one of the best comedies of the 2000s and as one of the best high school films of all time. It has been hailed as one of the defining films of the Millennial generation.[40][41]

Books

Two tie-in books to the film were published by Newmarket Press:

  • Superbad: The Illustrated Moviebook (ISBN 9781557047984) was published on December 4, 2007, to coincide with the release of the film on DVD. This official companion book includes an introduction by producer Judd Apatow; the complete script by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg; commentaries by Apatow, Rogen and Goldberg, and journalists from Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly; 56 film stills; “Mr. Vagtastic Guide to Buying Porn;” and 24 “phallographic” drawings by David Goldberg that viewers will recognize from the film’s end credits.
  • Superbad: The Drawings (ISBN 9781557048080) was published on February 14, 2008. This gift hardcover art book contains 82 “phallographic” drawings created by David Goldberg (Evan Goldberg‘s brother) for the film.

Soundtrack

Main article: Superbad (soundtrack)

References

  1.  Netburn, Deborah (August 14, 2007). “‘Superbad’ premiere chock-full of comedic superstars”. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  2.  “Superbad (15)”. British Board of Film Classification. July 5, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  3.  “Superbad (2007) – Financial Information”. The Numbers.
  4.  “Superbad (2007)”. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.
  5.  “Seth Rogen’s Vancouver high school misadventures hit the big screen”. CBC News. August 17, 2007.
  6.  Moore, Roger (August 17, 2007). “If you want to be ‘Superbad,’ you’d better learn from the best”. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  7.  Rogen, Seth [@Sethrogen] (June 24, 2019). “It’s also where the all you can eat sushi place that we used to go to all the time in high school was” (Tweet). Retrieved April 5, 2021 – via Twitter.
  8.  “Where was Superbad (2007) Filmed”. Wwifdb.com. August 17, 2007. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  9.  “Superbad (2007) – High School Exterior”. Wwifdb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  10.  “Superbad (2007) – The Mall”. Wwifdb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  11.  “Superbad (2007) – Convenience Store”. Wwifdb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  12.  “Superbad (2007) – McLovin get’s ID-ed”. Wwifdb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  13.  “Cops take McLovin to a bar”. Wwifdb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  14.  “Is this it?”. The Guardian. January 16, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  15.  Andrew Buss (August 17, 2022). “”It’s Either Going to Be Really Funny, or They’re Going to Be Horrified”: An Oral History of Superbad”. Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  16.  “Superbad (2007) – Weekend Box Office”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
  17.  “Charts – High School Comedy”. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  18.  “Superbad (2007)”. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  19.  “Superbad”. metacritic. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  20.  Gregg Kilday (August 21, 2007). “It’s all good for ‘Superbad’ as comedy beats estimate”. The Hollywood Reporter. The Associated Press. respondents awarded the film an A-minus overall.
  21.  “Cinemascore”. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  22.  LaSalle, Mick (August 16, 2007). “Review: Teens on a mission to buy booze in ‘Superbad'”. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  23.  Ebert, Roger (August 16, 2007). “Reviews :: Superbad”. RogerEbert.com.
  24.  Chocano, Carina (August 17, 2007). “‘Superbad’s’ teen raunch isn’t what’s shocking; it’s the love story”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved August 19, 2007.
  25.  Burns, Sean (August 15, 2007). “Geek Outlook”. Philadelphia Weekly.
  26.  Gordon, Devin (August 20, 2007). “Revenge of the Nerds”. Newsweek. Archived from the original on August 28, 2007.
  27.  Farber, Stephen (August 7, 2007). “Superbad”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
  28.  The DVD audio commentary on the Superbad: Unrated Extended Edition DVD.
  29.  Moore, Roger (August 17, 2007). “It’s like an uncensored version of Freaks & Geeks”. Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  30.  Morris, Wesley (August 17, 2007). “It’s a nerd, he’s in pain – it’s Superbad“. The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 29, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  31.  “500 Greatest films of all time”. Empire. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  32.  “The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”. June 23, 2025.
  33.  “Readers Choose Their Top Movies of the 21st Century”. The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  34.  101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far) Writers Guild of America. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  35.  Pedersen, Erik (December 6, 2021). “101 Greatest Screenplays Of The 21st Century: Horror Pic Tops Writers Guild’s List”. Deadline. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  36.  ‘Annie Hall’ Named Funniest Screenplay by WGA Members Variety via Internet Archive. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  37.  Fienberg, Daniel (December 4, 2007). “DVD Review: ‘Superbad'”. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  38.  Silva, Alexandre Da (December 6, 2007). “City seeks ban on ‘Superbad’ over bogus ‘McLovin’ ID”. starbulletin.com. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  39.  “Wal-Mart halts ‘Superbad’ gimmick in Hawaii”. Honolulu Advertiser.
  40.  Lu, Garry (July 30, 2021). “Why ‘Superbad’ Is The Greatest Millennial Comedy Of All Time”. Boss Hunting.
  41.  “Readers’ Poll: The 10 Funniest Movies of the 2000s”. Rolling Stone. July 30, 2014.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Superbad.

vteFilms directed by Greg Mottola
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