John Tucker Must Die
Short description
John Tucker Must Die centres on a high school basketball captain who dates several girls at once without any of them knowing. When Heather, the head cheerleader, Beth, a committed vegetarian activist, and Carrie, an aspiring journalist, compare notes and realise they share the same boyfriend, the three popular students from rival cliques put aside their differences and plot revenge. Their early attempts to embarrass him only make him more popular, so they change tactics and go after his heart instead. They recruit Kate, a newcomer to the school, as bait, and she agrees to take part. Her involvement complicates the scheme as it unfolds.
Betty Thomas directed the film, which came after I Spy in her filmography and before Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Jeff Lowell wrote the screenplay, and Michael Birnbaum and Bob Cooper produced. Jesse Metcalfe plays John Tucker, with Brittany Snow as Kate, Ashanti as Heather, Sophia Bush as Beth, Arielle Kebbel as Carrie and Penn Badgley as Scott.
Released in July 2006, the comedy runs 87 minutes and was made for about 18 million US dollars, going on to take roughly 69 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.7 out of 10 from around 92,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.1 from a much smaller body of voters. A critics' rating of 4.5 out of 10 from 93 reviews places it below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Since filming took place in a regular school during the school year, the film crew asked students for permission to rent some lockers and re-label them for the duration of the shoot.
- Initially, Kate was supposed to make John Tucker shave his head. However, during filming, it was decided to replace the head shaving with a try-on of thong underwear and public ridicule.
- During the filming of the scene where John is publicly ridiculed in thong underwear in the hotel corridor, many extras actually photographed the naked actor, which was not in the script. However, Betty Thomas—the film's director—decided to include the filmed footage and photos in the finished version of the film.
- During the scene where Scott (Penn Badgley) and Kate (Brittany Snow) meet, they hum the song "I want you to want me" by Cheap Trick. At the end of the film, we can hear a modern rendition of this song.
- Filming was complicated by some difficulties due to the busy schedules of the lead actresses. Ashanti had a contract with a record label for five concerts to support her new single, and Sophia Bush continued filming on "One Tree Hill".
- Initially, the school basketball team didn't have a specific name in the script. During filming, director Betty Thomas gave the team the name – "The Kodiaks".
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