Fred: The Movie should not be confused with Fred (2014 film).
| Image Upright: | 1.0 |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Based On: | Characters by Lucas Cruikshank |
| Screenplay: | David A. Goodman |
| Director: | Clay Weiner |
| Starring: | |
| Music: | Roddy Bottum |
| Country: | United States |
| Editor: | Ned Bastille |
| Cinematography: | Scott Henriksen |
| Runtime: | 83 minutes |
| Company: |
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| Budget: | $4 million (approx) |
| Network: | Nickelodeon |
Fred: The Movie (stylized as FЯED: THE MOVIE) is a 2010 American comedy film written by David A. Goodman, directed by Clay Weiner and produced by Brian Robbins. The film is based on the adventures of Fred Figglehorn, a character created and played by Lucas Cruikshank for Cruikshank's YouTube channel, and it is the first film in the Fred trilogy. The film casts Siobhan Fallon Hogan and John Cena as Fred's parents and pop singer and actress Pixie Lott as Fred's crush Judy. First optioned as a theatrical release, the film instead premiered on children's TV channel Nickelodeon in the United States on September 18, 2010.[1] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film was released theatrically on December 17, 2010. This film was the debut of Pixie Lott as an actress.
The film was unanimously panned by critics and has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2]
Fred Figglehorn is an unpopular and hyperactive 15-year-old who believes himself to be cool and a good singer. He has a crush on a girl named Judy, and is devastated to see her performing a romantic duet with his rival and bully Kevin during a music class at school. Fred aspires to one day sing with Judy, but after several failed attempts to visit her at her house, he is told by his mother that she has moved, thus, he embarks on a journey to find Judy's new house and sing with her there.
During his quest, Fred encounters many friends and foes, including a neighborhood girl named Bertha, a Hispanic man who can't speak English, two eccentric pet shop owners, a talking deer in the forest, and a bedraggled childhood friend named Evan who had gotten lost in said forest years ago. Fred eventually arrives at Judy's home, and he discovers that she is hosting a party to which he was not invited. Fred is bullied by Judy's guests, and Kevin then shoves a pizza onto Fred's shirt, causing him to unintentionally vomit on Judy's party dress. An embarrassed Fred runs home and later finds out that Kevin posted the video of him vomiting on Judy on YouTube. In an attempt to get revenge, Fred decides to throw his own party in which no one will be invited, but he invites a sympathetic Bertha over, and the two put a bunch of mannequins in different costumes and film themselves partying. The next day, Fred edits and posts the video online and his peers, believing it to be real, are jealous that they weren't invited, making Fred popular amongst them. Judy goes to Fred's house to apologize, and offers to sing with him, which he gleefully accepts.
Huffington Post author Greg Mitchell made note of the film's production when noting the proliferation of web comedy and dramatic series as a perceived threat to network television. The project performed casting and entered principal photography in November 2009, and completed filming on December 20. After filming wrapped, a yard sale was held in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, to sell props, set dressing and costumes from the shoot.[3]
Brian Robbins originally optioned "Fred" as a feature film, but decided to bypass the studio system and provided major funding for the project himself. After filming was completed, excerpts were shown to Nickelodeon head Cyma Zarghami, who began negotiations to acquire the film. Zarghami stated that airing on Nickelodeon would give the film a large audience base and allow him to target a sequel for a theatrical release. The film debuted on Nickelodeon on September 18;[1] however, it was released in British and Irish cinemas on December 17.
The movie was distributed by Lionsgate And produced by Varsity Pictures and The Collective.
According to the director's commentary on the film, found on the DVD, there was much conflict between screenwriter David Goodman and director Clay Weiner creatively. This includes the cutting of certain references and callbacks to Fred and other related works that Goodman had written in.
Fred: The Movie was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 0% based on 13 reviews and an average rating of 2.46/10.[4]
In a review of the film on BBC Radio 5 Live, Mark Kermode gave the film a negative review, a large part of which he spent imitating the character Fred's distinctive scream, leading to his microphone being taken away by co-caster Simon Mayo. He paired it with notoriously controversial European horror film A Serbian Film as his least favorite viewing experiences of the year.
Despite the negative response, it was the second highest viewed TV cable movie of 2010 across all networks. In the UK, it opened in the No. 8 spot, taking in £257,133 in the first week. Additionally, the premiere of Fred: The Movie drew an audience of 7.6 million total viewers.[5]
A sequel titled premiered on October 22, 2011.[6] A teaser trailer was broadcast during a commercial break of iCarly. Daniella Monet replaced Jennette McCurdy in the role of Bertha and Modern Family star Ariel Winter also joined the cast. In addition, the character of Judy was written out. Another sequel was released called .
Fred: The Movie was released on DVD on October 5, 2010. It was also released in a triple pack box set along with Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred and Fred 3: Camp Fred on December 4, 2012. On the DVD for 'Fred: The Movie', a full length director's commentary is found, recorded by director Clay Weiner, David Goodman, and star Lucas Cruikshank.[7]