R-Rated Raunchy Teen Comedy Classic Tearing Up The Charts On Hulu
The year was 2007. Everyone was carrying around an iPod Shuffle in the pockets of their low-rise jeans, while big, neon sunglasses sat atop hair colored with chunky highlights. At the time, very few of us knew the names Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, but that would soon change with the arrival of a little film called Superbad. Now, the raunchy comedy flick that captured the hearts of so many Millennials and kicked off several careers is climbing up Hulu’s most-watched chart, currently seated in the #14 position.
One Wild Night
Paying homage to the teenage years now in the rearview mirror, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg penned Superbad as an ode to their senior year of high school, even going so far as to give their names to the main characters. The feature centers on Jonah Hill’s Seth and Michael Cera’s Evan, two young men who don’t want to walk across the stage at graduation until they lose their virginity. Hoping to pull off their plan on one specific evening, the wild night out will push the boys’ long-standing friendship to the limits while they face one problem after another.
A Career-Making Movie
At this point in their careers, both Michael Cera and Jonah Hill had already been familiar faces, with the former holding down the unforgettable role as George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development and the latter appearing alongside Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But, after the gargantuan success of Superbad, Cera and Hill were fully thrown into the limelight. The movie would also act as a launching pad for Academy Award-winner Emma Stone, who appears as Seth’s crush, Jules.
McLovin
And while, yes, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera’s performances in Superbad are legendary, there’s no one more synonymous with the film than Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who played Fogell, aka McLovin. Hoping to impress their crushes, Evan and Seth need to get their hands on some liquor, and, with a terribly crafted fake ID that puts his name as McLovin, Fogell is the pair’s go-to guy and truly the heartbeat driving the story. The movie also features Seth Rogen and Bill Hader as two police officers who take pity on Fogell and ensure that he has the night of his life.
Judd Apatow Adjacent
Before lending his vision to Superbad, the movie’s director, Greg Mottola, helmed the indie comedy-drama Daytrippers and also worked with his frequent collaborator, Judd Apatow, on Apataow’s TV series Undeclared.
Superbad served as a reunion between Mottola and Cera, who had previously shared a set when the former swung by Arrested Development to direct a handful of episodes. Leaning into the tone that he’s known for, Mottola has also stood behind other feature-length titles, including Adventureland, Paul, and Keeping Up with the Joneses.
Streaming On Hulu
If you weren’t of a certain age at the time of Superbad’s cinematic arrival, it’s hard to fully grasp how much of a hold the movie had on young people. The title came out two years before the first installment in The Hangover trilogy and ushered in a new type of outrageous buddy comedy for young Millennials.
At the box office, the movie earned an impressive $170.8 million against its $17.5 – 20 million production budget, sending a message to the big studios that the genre was here to stay.
Although some may never fully understand it, Superbad is still one of the most classic comedies of the early aughts. Now that it’s streaming on Hulu, it’s the perfect time to find out why.
