Sneak peek: 'Wimpy Kid' hits the road for 'Long Haul' hijinks
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie series is hitting the road for eventful mishaps and a cinematic refresh.
Directed by David Bowers, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (in theaters May 19) features an all-new bunch of actors who take the Heffley clan on a trip that veers out of control into various family-friendly hijinks.
“As much as I love the original cast, it’s fun to see somebody new stepping into the cartoons’ shoes,” says executive producer Jeff Kinney, the author of the Wimpy Kid illustrated novels.
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The first three movies — dating back to 2010’s original Wimpy Kid — revolved around the daily life of mischievous middle-schooler Greg Heffley. But because Kinney wants to cover childhood from all different angles, The Long Haul finds the Heffleys on a trip to Meemaw’s 90th birthday party, though Greg (Jason Drucker) and his older teenage brother Rodrick (Charlie Wright) scheme to use the journey as a way to go off-course to a video-game convention and get famous.
Suffice it to say, mom Susan (Alicia Silverstone) and dad Frank (Tom Everett Scott) aren’t pleased when they learn of the boys’ shenanigans.
“The road trip is really a rite of passage, and it’s something that brings a lot of fun to the table,” says Kinney.
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Many of the set pieces in The Long Haul are inspired by Kinney’s experiences growing up in Maryland in the 1970s and '80s. The time his family’s weekly trips to buy live crabs ended up with crustaceans escaping their bags became a big-screen sequence with a flock of seagulls invading the Heffleys’ vehicle.
“I actually felt bad for the actors,” Kinney says. “One day they’re covered in mud, and the next day, it’s cinnamon roll dough and then it's seagull droppings and then it’s exploded toiletries."
In casting a new Greg and Roderick, the most important aspect wasn’t the young actors’ looks but that they captured the spirit of the cartoon characters from the books, according to Kinney.
Drucker was “a total pro,” the author says. "That was important because when you have pigs and 3-year-olds in half your movie, the margin for error is very small.” Wright gives a “rock star” attitude to rebellious Rodrick, while Silverstone and Scott “bring a lot of warmth to their roles.”
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And because young actors grow up, there’s an understanding that making more movies means switching out cast members, Kinney adds. “Real human beings and middle-schoolers especially seem to get older whereas my cartoon characters are frozen in amber.”
The 2014 Long Haul novel was the first Kinney wrote where he had the movie in mind and started learning from the early film adaptations — mainly that having an emotional payoff was just as important as writing good jokes.
“The books are getting stronger as I go along,” says Kinney, whose 12th as-yet-untitled Wimpy Kid book is out in November and revolves around the Heffley family skipping Christmas and instead enjoying a resort getaway.
“I was never that concerned with traditional narrative beats, but now by learning about moviemaking, I’ve learned a lot about how to tell a good story.”