Jakob Davies

''Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by David Bowers in his live-action directorial debut and based on Jeff Kinney's 2008 book of the same name. It stars Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, and Peyton List. The film is the second installment in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series, following ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' (2010), and follows the relationship between seventh grader Greg Heffley (Gordon) and his titular older brother, Rodrick (Bostick).

Due to its success, a sequel to the original ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film was announced in May 2010. Thor Freudenthal, who directed the first film, was replaced by Bowers. Principal photography began in August 2010.

''Rodrick Rules'' was released on March 25, 2011, by 20th Century Fox. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $72.5 million worldwide. A sequel, titled '' Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days'', was released on August 3, 2012, and an animated adaptation of the book was released on December 2, 2022.

Plot

Three months after the events of the first film, parents Frank and Susan tell their sons Greg and Rodrick that they need to spend more time together. Susan incentivizes them with "mom bucks", redeemable for real money, as she is writing a parenting column in the local newspaper. Rodrick hopes a local talent show will be the big break for his band, Löded Diper. Rodrick stains Greg's pants with chocolate at church, causing a scuffle and harming Susan’s reputation.

Susan, Frank, and Manny go on a trip to a water park, leaving Greg and Rodrick home for the weekend to work on their differences with the instruction to not have any guests. Rodrick throws a party in which Greg and his friend Rowley Jefferson participate. The next morning, they receive a voicemail from Susan and Frank saying Manny is ill so they will be returning early. Greg and Rodrick find that someone has written "Rodrick Rules" on the bathroom door in permanent marker. They swap the door for the one from the basement, although that one has no lock.

Susan confronts Greg, who claims Rodrick only had people over for band practice. He begs Susan not to punish Rodrick, suggesting it would ruin their improving relationship. Rodrick, believing Greg kept their secret, gives Greg advice on school and girls.

Frank gives a slideshow of his civil war figurines to Susan’s editors but pictures of Rodrick's party come up. The editors refuse to continue editing Susan’s column. Frank and Susan punish Greg and Rodrick by making them spend the weekend with their grandfather at his retirement home and banning Rodrick from participating in the talent show. Learning that Greg had told Susan he had had people over, Rodrick tells Greg they may be brothers, but will never be friends. At the retirement home Greg runs into his classmate and crush Holly Hills, who is visiting her grandmother. Like him, she is the middle child between a malicious older sibling and spoiled younger one, and they become good friends.

The family goes to see the talent show, where Rodrick finds he has been kicked out of his own band by Bill Walter, a guitarist he recently recruited, while Rowley's magic act is in jeopardy due to his assistant's stage fright. Greg strikes a deal with Susan that he will stand in as Rowley's assistant if she lets Rodrick perform. "The Remarkable Rowley" and "Greg The Great" are praised by the audience, including Holly, believing the act is a comedy skit with intentional mistakes. The audience isn't as impressed by Löded Diper, until Susan starts dancing at the edge of the stage, prompting the crowd to join in. Frank secretly videos Susan dancing, Rodrick kicks Bill out of the band and reconciles with Greg.

In a mid-credit scene, Greg and Rowley upload to YouTube the video of Löded Diper being upstaged by Susan's dancing. It goes viral, angering Rodrick.

Cast

* Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, the middle son of Susan and Frank and the brother of Rodrick and Manny
* Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Greg and Manny's older brother and Susan and Frank's oldest son
* Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley, Rodrick, Greg, and Manny's mother
* Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson, Greg's best friend
* Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley, Rodrick, Greg, and Manny's father
* Fran Kranz as Bill Walter, a new member of Rodrick's band
* Peyton List as Holly Hills, Greg's love interest
* Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta, a friend of Greg's
* Grayson Russell as Fregley, Greg's classmate
* Laine MacNeil as Patty Farrell, Greg's arch-enemy since kindergarten
* Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny Heffley, Rodrick and Greg's younger brother and Susan and Frank's youngest son
* John Shaw as Mr. Draybick, Greg's history teacher
* Bryce Hodgson as Ben, one of Rodrick's friends
* Terence Kelly as Grandpa Heffley, Frank's father and Rodrick, Greg, and Manny's grandfather
* Belita Moreno as Mrs. Norton, a drama teacher at Greg's school
* Andrew McNee as Coach Malone, Greg's gym teacher
* Alfred E. Humphreys as Mr. Jefferson, Rowley's father who dislikes Greg
* Serge Houde as Mr. Salz, an editor for Susan's column
* Teryl Rothery as Mrs. Kohan, another editor for Susan's column
* Melissa Roxburgh as Rachel Lewis, one of the girls at Rodrick's house party
* Dalila Bela as Taylor Pringle, a girl who celebrated her birthday at the roller rink

Production

Talks of a sequel were announced after the release of the first, but was not officially announced until May 12, 2010, announcing that it would be released on March 25, 2011.

Brad Simpson stated he anticipated a sequel movie if the first film is a success. "Our writing staff are writing a sequel right now, "Rodrick Rules," which would be based on the second book"..."And, you know, we hope that the people to see a second movie, so that we are in position of going again right away and making another film. I certainly know that the fans would like to see all the books made into movies."

Fox 2000 greenlit the sequel with Zachary Gordon returning as Greg Heffley. Steve Zahn (Frank Heffley) and Rachael Harris (Susan Heffley) also returned. The film's screenplay was written by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah. Director Thor Freudenthal was replaced by director David Bowers (director of ''Flushed Away'' and ''Astro Boy''). A few new characters appeared in the film, including Peyton List as Holly Hills. The website created for the first was updated for the sequel featuring pictures of the cast and a short synopsis of the film.

Principal photography began in August 2010, with filming taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia and New Westminster, British Columbia from August 23 to October 27, 2010. The mall scene was filmed at Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver. The roller rink scene was filmed at the PNE Agrodome, due to Vancouver lacking a real roller rink.

Marketing and release

The trailer was shown with ''Gulliver's Travels'' on December 25, 2010. It was later online on January 3, 2011. A poster was released there after on January 14, 2011. In February 2011, an exclusive online-only trailer was released on the "Wimpy Kid Movie" YouTube channel, officialwimpmovie. Due to the success of the first film in Singapore, the film was released there eight days before the US release on March 17, 2011. It was released in Brazil on September 16, 2011. A TV spot of the movie was released in March 2011.

Home media

The film was released on a stand-alone DVD, a special edition double DVD pack, and a Blu-ray/DVD/digital copy combo pack on June 21, 2011. One of the bonus shorts was shown during ''iParty with Victorious'' on Nickelodeon at 8:00 PM on June 11, 2011.

Reception

Box office

The film made $7.3 million on its opening day, ranking #2 behind ''Sucker Punch''. It managed to rank #1 in the weekend box office. In the UK, it debuted at #3 in the weekend box office behind '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' and ''The Hangover Part II''.
The film eventually grossed $52,698,535 in the US and Canada and $19,718,859 in other countries for a worldwide total of $72,417,394.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 48% based on 99 reviews and an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Moderately witty and acceptably acted, ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2'' isn't much worse than the first installment." On Metacritic, it has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Robert Abele of the ''Los Angeles Times'' gave the film a positive review saying, "Director David Bowers keeps things peppy and brightly lighted, but its swiftest pleasures come from moment-seizing cast members." Richard Roeper of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave it a positive review saying, "A little less wimpy, gives value lessons to the watchers from the cast, and still pretty funny" and a B rating. Pete Hammond of ''Boxoffice'' magazine gave it a mixed review stating "Even better than the first edition, in its own sitcom-ish ways." However, Michael O'Sullivan of ''The Washington Post'' gave it a negative review, stating "You can't fault the filmmakers for reshaping a diary into a cohesive film. You can however, fault them for taking one of the great antiheroes in preteen literature and turning him into, well, an even wimpier kid."

Accolades

Sequel and animated adaptation

A sequel, titled '' Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days'', was released on August 3, 2012. The film concluded the trilogy.

On October 23, 2021, Jeff Kinney revealed that sequels to the 2021 ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' reboot film for Disney+ are already in development. On Disney+ Day 2021, Kinney revealed that the first sequel, based on ''Rodrick Rules'', is set to be released in 2022. A poster was released on September 12, 2022, announcing the film's release date of December 2, 2022.

References

External links

*
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*
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
' at the TCM Movie Database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film series)
2011 films
2010s English-language films
2010s children's comedy films
20th Century Fox films
American films with live action and animation
American children's comedy films
American sequel films
Dune Entertainment films
Films about brothers
Films about children
Films scored by Edward Shearmur
Films directed by David Bowers
Films shot in Vancouver
2011 comedy films
Middle school films
2010s American films
Films about dysfunctional families