Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler's The House gets a red band trailer, proving that every summer sees a handful of star-driven R-rated comedy titles sneaking onto the slate to offer a little alternative to the endless barrage of big-budget effects-driven blockbusters. In past years, movies like The Hangover, Wedding Crashers and Knocked Up filled the need for adults to get a few laughs while sending the kids off to see their superhero flicks and talking animal movies, and more than just offering counter-programming, became huge hits in their own right.
This summer a few R-rated comedy titles are vying to be the next Hangover. Snatched, starring Amy Schumer (who had a big summer comedy hit a few years ago with Trainwreck) and Goldie Hawn has already hit theaters to only modest box office returns. Later this summer, Scarlett Johansson will tread on Schumer's turf when she stars alongside Kate McKinnon in the R-rated Rough Night.
Another movie hoping to sneak in and poach a few blockbuster-weary viewers is The House, a comedy starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler as a suburban couple who accidentally blow their daughter's college fund and try to earn it back by opening an illegal casino. As the red band trailer for The House from Warner Bros. shows, running an illegal casino is a recipe for all sorts of comedic mayhem (a previous trailer gave us a more toned-down look at the comedy).
In one particularly graphic segment, Ferrell and Poehler's attempt to intimidate a guy caught cheating in their casino turns into a bloody horror show when the man's finger is severed with an ax. The premise about a couple of normal people finding themselves knee-deep in trouble feels very reminiscent of The Hangover, and the tone of the trailer definitely seems to suggest a Hangover-type over-the-top romp (at one point Ferrell and Poehler are literally hungover and have to go shopping, a situation many in the target audience can relate to).
The House was written and directed by Andrew Jay Cohen, the man who wrote the summer comedy hit Neighbors with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. Cohen's comedy resume also includes producing the The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the Will Ferrell vehicle Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Funny People.
Despite being a huge comedy star, Will Ferrell has never been a big player during the summer season. The one time Ferrell's name was attached to a big-budget summer movie it was Land of the Lost, an action-comedy that totally tanked. With a June 30 release date, Ferrell and The House will be going up against Despicable Me 3, The Beguiled, and Amityville: The Awakening.
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Source: Warner Bros.