At the start of This Is The End, directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg bring together all of their frequent co-stars and collaborators, from Jonah Hill to Danny McBride to Craig Robinson, together for a massive party at James Franco’s house. Sounds like a great time, right? Who wouldn’t want to spend a night hanging out with some of the biggest and funniest comedy stars in the entire world? As fun as it sounds, however, the enjoyment level probably does decrease quite a bit when you realize that outside of the house the entire world is falling apart as a result of the biblical apocalypse. Or perhaps it just ratchets the fun up another notch…
You saw and laughed at the amazing Red Band trailer that was released for the film back in December, but now Rogen and Goldberg are bringing the This Is The End experience to WonderCon. Follow our live-blog below to find out all about the new comedy, as well as details about the special footage their set to present!
3:55: Danny McBride! Craig Robinson! Seth Rogen! Evan Goldberg on stage! Rogen wears a Wolverine costume and is disappointed nobody else dressed as the X-men… but then Evan Goldberg comes dressed in an S&M costume
3:56: Time for the green band trailer!
4:00: The trailer will likely be online soon, but here’s a brief description: Jay Baruchel arrives at the airport, and meets Seth Rogen, who enthusiastically tells him that they’re going to a party at James Franco’s house. Around the party we see numerous celebrities, including Mindy Kailing, who is complaining about how much of an ass Michael Cera is being (we see Cera slap Rihanna on the ass only to get a huge slap across the face. After a few big quakes, we cut to outside where it is clear the world is ending. There’s a shot of Aziz Ansari gripping on to the side of a pit, begging for help. Craig Robinson just leaves him, but when he grabs Kevin Hart’s ankle, Hart begins to kick him in the face numerous times. Demons! Crashing cops cars! Emma Watson then bursts on to the scene and hits Seth Rogen in the face with an axe - then it cuts to Danny McBride talking into a camera saying that that she ended up stealing all of their stuff.
4:01: They chose James Franco’s house because he was the only one with a special house among the members of the cast. Craig Robinson says it wouldn’t have worked at his place because he’s in a one bedroom apartment.
4:02: Seth Rogen says that the number of celebrities who die is in the double digits – and in very graphic ways. They took particular pleasure in killing David Krumholtz and Martin Starr, though. They killed most of the people they wanted to see dead.
4:03: Now it’s time for a clip! Seth and Jay Baruchel are at James Franco’s house and the begin of the end of the world happens. Simple set up!
4:04: An extended version of the scene at the beginning of the trailer, the footage begins at the start of the apocalypse. After the house shakes, Franco tries to calm everyone down, thinking that there’s an earthquake. When the house shakes again everyone runs - but when they get outside they see that the hills are on fire and it becomes very clear that it's the end of the world. Everyone stops in their tracks. Paul Rudd comes running in from out of nowhere with a huge bottle of champagne. Completely oblivious to what's going on, Michael Cera addresses the crowd complaining that somebody stole his cellphone. Behind him we see a sink hole open up, but he doesn't seem to notice. The pit extends to a light pole behind him, and when it comes down it stabs through Cera's chest. As the blood pours out, the hole in the ground gets bigger and the pole starts to stand upright, taking Cera with it. Up on top of the pole, he reaches into his pocket and finds his phone, apologizing to everybody. The pit gets bigger and bigger and eventually Cera falls to hell, which leads to total panic! Rihanna falls! Jay Baruchel hangs on the edge! While running away Paul Rudd steps on a woman’s head, and completely crushes it in. Martin Starr, also clinging to the side of the pit, is hit by a rock and falls, followed by David Krumholtz. We then see the Aziz Ansari scene play out, only it ends with a zap of electricity cutting off his hand - which remains gripped around Kevin Hart's leg. After jumping around trying to shake it off he falls and the scene ends.
4:07: Danny McBride says that Jay Baruchel would be the most likely survivor because he doesn’t add much. Craig adds that he loves canned food and probably is already stocked up. Seth says he lives on cigarettes and Skittles.
4:08: Seth says that the movie reflects on life in a way because he has this friend, Jay Baruchel, from Canada, and that he doesn’t get along as well with Seth’s celebrity friends. And they need to sort out their issues during the apocalypse.
4:09: Evan says that The Avengers was helpful because it was at its best when it was the whole team together. Seth adds that if you liked The Avengers you’ll like this movie.
4:10: Danny McBride went around message boards to figure out flops and such to make fun of everyone with.
4:11: The rule of their comedy is “let them go.” At some point every actor said to Seth and Evan “I don’t want to be myself saying that because it’s despicable” - except for Michael Cera.
4:12: Michael Cera is the most out of character for himself – as he is a giant coke head.
4:13: Another clip! Seth Rogen says that Jonah Hill gets possessed by an evil spirit and has been tied to the bed. Starting with a title card that says,"The Exorcism of Jonah Hill" we see the group of friends enter into the bedroom, everyone holding candles with the exception of Jay who has a cross made out of kitchen utensils and a bible. After calling to Jonah, the demon says “Jonah Hill is no more.” Jay stars screaming, "The Power of Christ compels you," which only leads to mockery by Hill "Oh does it? Oh does it compel me?" Seth mocks Jay for just quoting The Exorcist, but Jay says that they must have done their research. Jay then gets on the bed and keeps it up, and Jonah starts to actually seem hurt. The room begins to shake, and Jonah is in more and more pain until Seth screams for Jay to stop and tackles him off the bed.
4:14: Time for some fan questions!
4:15: Thoughts on Edgar Wright’s The World’s End? Seth says that they don’t know much about the project. They talked about it a little bit, but there’s no real overlap between the projects.
4:16: Danny McBride confirms a new season of Eastbound and Down
4:17: How much improvisation is on set? Evan says that improv helps bad writing – Craig adds they were improving all the time as a result.
4:18: The movie wasn’t really a reaction to all the apocalyptic films that have come out recently, but instead a follow-up to the short Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse
4:22: Was there anything in the movie that went too far? Apparently it was a challenge to have everyone play themselves. Seth says it rubs people the wrong way in the studio world. They lied and said they would shoot in a way that would allow them to have the characters not play themselves – which was a total lie.
4:23: When it came to effects, the studio just gave them money and said good luck. But they did a few pre-vis mockups of the action scenes, and they went for it. They do eventually leave the house.
4:25: Is a Freaks and Geeks reunion in the cards? This movie is halfway there and they would love to do it, but nobody has called
4:26: Who was the most excited to play the exaggerated version of themselves? The group agrees that it was Michael Cera. The first scene he shot was Cera slapping Rihanna on the ass, and Cera getting slapped – and it was all real.
4:26: Last question! Was there a point where they realized that they realized they had the clout to get it made? Basically, they still had to struggle to get it made. Seth jokes that Green Hornet did well overseas.
4:23: That’s all she wrote!
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