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== Plot ==
== Plot ==
[[Image:Aliens-in-the-attic.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Carter Jenkins]] as ''Tom'' with [[Austin Butler]] as ''Jake'' fighting with the aliens.]]
[[Image:Aliens-in-the-attic.png|thumb|right|250px|[[Carter Jenkins]] as ''Tom'' with [[Austin Butler]] as ''Jake'' fighting with the aliens.]]
After the Pearson family arrive at their dream house in Maine, they discover a friendly alien living in their house. However, he lives with three other aliens that are attempting to rule the universe. The plot mainly revolves around the children in the Pearson family having to defend their vacation house.
After the Pearson family arrive at their dream vacation house in Maine, the children discover a friendly alien living in their attic.However, he lives with three other aliens that are attempting to rule the universe. The plot mainly revolves around the children in the Pearson family having to defend their vacation house. Much of the comedy is derived from the aliens being able to occupy the minds of adults, and turn them into "space zombies". The kids, however, are immune. As Ricky has lied about his age, he quickly succumbs to the alien mind control, with predictably funny behaviour and actions.The kids must therefore forget their differences and start working together to defeat the aliens.

THEMES

----
Tom is anxious to cast off his "geeky" image, so much so he deliberately starts to fail at math, much to his Dad's chagrin. This causes them to clash often. Bethany is besotted with Ricky, who is a no- good womaniser, preying on younger girls. Tom and his cousin Jake could not be more different, but, by the end of the movie, they have both learned something from each other.



== Cast ==
== Cast ==

Revision as of 19:51, 2 September 2009

Aliens In The Attic
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Schultz
Written byMark Burton
Adam F. Goldberg
Produced byBarry Josephson
StarringRobert Hoffman
Ashley Tisdale
Carter Jenkins
Austin Butler
Edited byJohn Pace
Music byJohn Debney
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
July 31, 2009 (US)
August 12, 2009 (UK) September 3, 2009 (Australia)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[1]
Box office$32,821,596 (worldwide)[1]

Aliens in the Attic is a 2009 adventure family film produced by 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises and starring Carter Jenkins, Ashley Tisdale, Robert Hoffman, Henri Young, Regan Young and Austin Butler.[2] The plot mainly revolves around the children in the Pearson family having to defend their vacation house. The film was previously titled They Came from Upstairs, which is instead used as the film's tag line.

Plot

File:Aliens-in-the-attic.png
Carter Jenkins as Tom with Austin Butler as Jake fighting with the aliens.

After the Pearson family arrive at their dream vacation house in Maine, the children discover a friendly alien living in their attic.However, he lives with three other aliens that are attempting to rule the universe. The plot mainly revolves around the children in the Pearson family having to defend their vacation house. Much of the comedy is derived from the aliens being able to occupy the minds of adults, and turn them into "space zombies". The kids, however, are immune. As Ricky has lied about his age, he quickly succumbs to the alien mind control, with predictably funny behaviour and actions.The kids must therefore forget their differences and start working together to defeat the aliens.

THEMES 

Tom is anxious to cast off his "geeky" image, so much so he deliberately starts to fail at math, much to his Dad's chagrin. This causes them to clash often. Bethany is besotted with Ricky, who is a no- good womaniser, preying on younger girls. Tom and his cousin Jake could not be more different, but, by the end of the movie, they have both learned something from each other.


Cast

Production

Development

The script was written by Mark Burton and Adam F. Goldberg. The film is co-financed by Fox and Regency while being distributed by Fox.[3] [4] Fox snapped up the script in March, 2006.[4] Marc Resteghini was overseeing for Fox while Kara Francis Smith shepherds for Regency. Barry Josephson was confirmed as the main producer while Thor Freudenthal was hired to direct principal production.[5] The principal production began in March, 2007.[5] The film was originally titled They Came from Upstairs but later changed to Aliens in the Attic while the first title is instead used as the film's tag line.[4]

Ashley Tisdale's involvement in the film was confirmed in January 2008 as she was cast as Bethany Pearson.[3] Robert Hoffman, Carter Jenkins and Austin Butler were later cast in the film. Emmy-winner actress Doris Roberts has signed on to Aliens in the Attic in February, 2008.[6] MTV confirmed that Josh Peck joined the cast as the voice of the alien Sparks.[7] John Debney composed the original score for the film. Tisdale recorded a song titled "Switch" for the film, which is also included in her second album. The original motion picture soundtrack including the original score of the film was released in August 18, 2009.[8]

Filming

The filming began at the end of January 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand.[3][9] Auckland-based production company New Upstairs Productions said filming would run for 30–40 days from January 28 to April 18, 2008 with no filming in weekends.[10] The film was set in a rambling old villa transported from Remuera to a farm in North Auckland. The main set was an old manor and they spent $700,000 restoring the house.[10] The main shooting ended in mid-March 2008.[11] Tisdale, Butler and Jenkins went back to the set to shoot last-minutes scenes for the film on April 2009.[12]

Release

The film was released on July 30, 2009, in Russia and Malaysia; July 31, 2009 in United States, Canada and Bulgaria; August 12 in the United Kingdom; September 3, 2009 in Australia. The film's original release date was in January 2009 but it was been pushed back for unknown reasons.[13] The UK release also coincided with a charity auction for Save The Children which teamed up with ebay and Twentieth Century Fox where several actors from the movie sold items from their attics to raise money for the charity.[14]

Critical reception

The film has generated mixed to negative reviews from critics. As of August 14, 2009, the film has a 24% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 54 reviews.[15] Entertainment Weekly described the movie as a pointless and harmless family adventure that doesn't mentally assault the 12-and-over set and looks like a lot of fun[16] while San Francisco Chronicle has described the movie as being unoriginal and crowd pleasing.[17] Variety stated the film doubtless would appeal primarily to a more narrow demographic of tweens and pre-teens and despite Tisdale's presence, it’s difficult to imagine many ticket buyers between the ages of 12 and 18[18] while The New York Times described Jenkins and Butler as the actors with more personality and Hoffman as the actor who provides the film’s occasional funny moments.[19]

The Los Angeles Times said the film is a enjoyable kid-friendly film but not an out-of-this-world classic and also mentioned the movie belong to Hoffman[20] and Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said the director John Schultz played everything for laughs and earns a more than a few but tech effects deliver a fair number of those laughs and described the movie as an "amusing family comedy". [21] Radio Times gave the film a three out of five stars rating, saying that the film is "a thrilling children's yarn with enough pop-culture references to hold grown-ups' interest"[22] The Dove Foundation praised the film, saying it is "one of those movies that you find to be better than anticipated" and also said the film draws on realism in family dynamics.[23] Lara Martin of Digital Spy described the film as a "kid-friendly mix of Men In Black crossed with Gremlins with a healthy dose of Home Alone-style violence" and also mentioned that the one of the biggest disappointments in the movie is the lack of screen time given to Tisdale, billed as one of the leading actors and concluded saying it seems "a bizarre and sad waste of her obvious comedic talent".[24] However, The Miami Herald gave a mixed to negative review, saying the film is a "children's movie mix of live-action and animation, it has a few positive messages, a few laughs and a few comic throwdowns".[25]

Box office

The film was distributed by 3,106 theaters and grossed $2.9 million in its first day, in total grossing $8 million in its opening weekend and opened at number five in the box office.[1] The film has grossed $1.3 million in Russia and $4.7 million in United Kingdom, internationally grossing $32 million as of August 2009.[1][26][27]

Awards and nominations

  • Movie Star: Female - Ashley Tisdale (Nomination)[28]

Video game

A video game based on Aliens in the Attic was released August 4, 2009, developed by Revistronic and published by Playlogic. The game features the storyline of the film and is available for Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and Windows PC. The game also offers players two different gameplay perspectives depending upon which video game platform players choose.[29]

For Wii, PlayStation 2 and Windows PC players, the game allows players to assume the identity of one of four different alien explorers, featuring fifteen levels. For Nintendo DS, the game puts players in the shoes of the film's main characters and you play with their abilities to rid the planet from the invaders.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Box Office Mojo. Aliens in the Attic.
  2. ^ "Tisdale climbs to film in "Upstairs"". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  3. ^ a b c "Tisdale climbs to film in "Upstairs"". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  4. ^ a b c "Fox Heads 'Upstairs' With Burton". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  5. ^ a b "Freudenthal to Direct 'Upstairs'". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  6. ^ Doris Roberts Signs On 'They Came from Upstairs'. Variety.com.
  7. ^ Josh Peck Heads Out Of This World For Ashley Tisdale's Sci-Fi Flick 'Upstairs' MTV.com. Retrieved on 04-03-2009.
  8. ^ Aliens in the Attic: Soundtrack. Amazon.com.
  9. ^ "Tisdale set to join "They came from Upstairs"". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  10. ^ a b "Hollywood Movie Filming At Auckland Manor". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  11. ^ "NZ's Just What She's Been Looking For"". Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  12. ^ Back to 'Aliens in the Attic' Set. Ashleytisdale.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
  13. ^ Vena, Jocelyn.Ashley Tisdale Hones Alien-Fighting Skills In 'They Came From Upstairs'. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
  14. ^ Celebrities Raid Their Attics For The Children's Society Auction, Save The Children website, accessed 17/08/2009
  15. ^ "Aliens in the Attic Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  16. ^ Aliens in the Attic Review. Entertainment Weekly. Retrived on 2009-08-15.
  17. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/31/DDCJ192BNO.DTL&type=movies
  18. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Review. Variety.com. Author: Joe Leydon.
  19. ^ Aliens in the Attic. Movie Review. The New York Times.
  20. ^ Aliens in the Attic. Movie Review. The Los Angeles Times.
  21. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Review The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Movie Review. Radio Times.
  23. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Movie Review. The Dove Foundation.
  24. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Movie Review. Digital Spy.
  25. ^ Aliens in the Attic - Movie Review. The Miami Herald.
  26. ^ "Movie Aliens in the Attic - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information". The Numbers. 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2009-08-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=aliensintheattic.htm
  28. ^ Teen Choice Awards Nominees List of Nominees.
  29. ^ Aliens in the Attic Video Game
  30. ^ Aliens In the Attic - They Came from Upstairs Video game. KidsConfidence.
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