WATCH: Celebrities face the apocalypse in the raunchy This Is The End trailer
The new horror-comedy features self-parodic versions of James Franco, Rihanna, and more, as they face the end of the world
The trailer: Most movie fans would jump at the chance to party with Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Mindy Kaling, and Rihanna — but it would probably be smart to pass on the shindig depicted in This Is The End, which quickly takes a grim (but hilarious) turn. The movie, co-written by Rogen and Superbad and Pineapple Express collaborator Evan Goldberg, features a wide range of celebrities playing exaggerated caricatures of themselves at a wild house party hosted by James Franco. When a massive, hellish sinkhole opens in Franco's yard, marking the beginning of the apocalypse, the squabbling stars begin dying off in wickedly humorous ways. Is this horror-comedy worth the price of admission? Judge for yourself (but be warned — this trailer contains strong language):
The reaction: "You'd expect a movie where everyone is playing themselves to be sort of annoying — but this looks anything but," says Evan Dickson at Bloody Disgusting, as a wide range of celebrities line up to offer "a nice send-up of their personas." But the focus isn't just on seeing celebrities, notes Jordan DeSaulnier at I Am Rogue — it's about "seeing celebrities dying" in bizarre (and often hilarious) ways. Do filmgoers really want to see a movie about celebrities partying — even if that partying is interrupted by the apocalypse? It's tough to say, says Drew McWeeny at HitFix, but "I am delighted that Universal was willing to spend their money on a film that seems so ridiculous when you describe it that it sounds like an April Fool's Day joke that got out of hand, with no one willing to admit that they were kidding all the way through the day of release." We'll see if audiences are similarly delighted when the movie hits theaters in June.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.