The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2 NEW MOVIES FEATURE YOUNG LOCAL STARS
In between the first two Atlanta-filmed box-office blockbusters of the year (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “The Fate of the Furious”) and our first Georgia-produced popcorn flick of the summer (“Baywatch,” due out May 25) come two movies with local ties and talented young stars.
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” hits theaters on Friday. It’s the fourth movie to be adapted from author Jeff Kinney’s best-selling series, but the first to film here.
“This one was really different,” Kinney said during a Sunday morning interview. “The first three filmed in Vancouver. We needed a different landscape. Georgia was really perfect.”
The movie, as with the books, revolves around Greg Heffley (played by Jason Drucker) and his family. This time, the Heffleys set out on a road trip where various high jinks quickly ensue. The crosscountry drive to grandma’s 90th birthday party somehow involves a piglet, assorted bugs and rodents and a flock of seagulls, not to mention lots of bathroom humor. One scene takes place at a country fair, where attractions include both deep-fried sticks of butter and herky-jerky carnival rides. The ensuing vomit bit is pretty much a given.
“I think this movie is the most faithful to the books,” Kinney said. “It was the first book I wrote to be adapted to a film.”
The movie stars Alicia Silverstone as Greg’s humorless and overbearing mom, Tom Everett Scott as his doofus dad, Charlie Wright as his alternately clueless and conniving big brother Rodrick and 4-year-old twins Dylan and Wyatt Walters as his baby brother Manny .It filmed at a fair in Griffin, Stone Mountain Park, a private home in Roswell and the Georgia International Convention Center, among other local spots.
Drucker, Wright, Kinney and the twins turned out for a red carpet screening of the movie Sunday afternoon at Atlantic Station. The event was hosted by Atlanta Hawks player Dwight Howard in conjunction with his D12 Foundation, which works with kids. (Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, Howard revealed the surprise gift he had arranged for mom Sheryl Howard, who also attended. They’re headed to Australia.)
“Everything, Everything,” also due for a Friday release, wasn’t filmed in Atlanta but did have a wellattended advance screening, luncheon and panel discussion here recently. Its star Amandla Stenberg has been in Atlanta lately filming a different movie, “The Darkest Minds.” So we’re claiming it.
“This is kind of like my first leading role,” she said during the screening event, held at SCADShow in Midtown and the W hotel across the street. “It feels really powerful and appropriate.”
She stars as Maddy ,a teen forced to spend her entire life inside. A rare disease she was diagnosed with as a baby has rendered her immune system powerless to fight off even the tiniest germ, so she dares never to step outside. Then a handsome guy moves in next door.
The movie is poignant, thought-provoking and brilliantly directed, with a smart use of technology offering an experience that feels immersive and authentic. Joining Stenberg at the SCADShow event were Anika Noni Rose, who plays Maddy’s mother, a physician obsessed with protecting her daughter, and director Stella Meghie.
“I think it’s going to be something you haven’t seen before,” Rose said. “Ultimately it’s about love, how love can heal us, how love can hurt us, how love can move us.”