Taglines: What doesn’t kill you… is going to marry your brother.
As a teenager Marni was the kind of girl no guy would go near and would be tormented by the mean girls, and no one was meaner to her than Joana the head cheerleader. Years later, she’s a successful woman with a good job. When she goes home for her brother’s wedding she discovers that her brother is marrying Joana. And he doesn’t know what she did to Marni.
When they meet she wants Joana to apologize for the way she treated her but Joana feigns ignorance. When Marni tells her mother, Gail about her and Joana, Gail tells her to try and put it behind her. But when Gail meets Joana’s aunt Mona, it turns that she’s her old friend Ramona who was her friend in high school whom she had falling out with with years ago, and Gail is unaware what caused it. Gail feels like Mona is trying to thumb her success in her face. When Marni learns that Joana does remember her she sets to expose her to her brother.
You Again is a 2010 American comedy film produced by John J. Strauss and Eric Tannenbaum and directed by Andy Fickman with music by Nathan Wang and written by Moe Jelline. The film stars Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, James Wolk, Victor Garber, Billy Unger, Kyle Bornheimer, Kristin Chenoweth, and Betty White. The film opened at the box office at No. 5 with $8,407,513 and would go on to gross a domestic total of $25,702,053; with an international gross of $6,303,195, You Again grossed $32,005,248 worldwide; against a $20 million production budget.
The film was released on September 24, 2010 by Touchstone Pictures to negative reviews from critics and it earned $32 million[3] against a production budget of $20 million.[2] It was the last solo Touchstone Pictures project before working on subsequent films in association with Miramax, DreamWorks, and Lucasfilm. As a result of this, Touchstone signed a deal with DreamWorks Pictures in 2011 starting with I Am Number Four.
About the Production
First-time screenwriter Moe Jelline wrote “You Again” four years ago from an idea she had based upon her own life experience. Jelline reveals, “I’ve always been fascinated how high school is a blip in your life—four years—and yet somehow the emotional ups and downs can stay with some people for the rest of their lives. Anyone who’s ever thought twice about going to their high school reunion knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
She continues, “I have an adorable brother and, at the same time I was playing with this script idea, many of my friends were calling me, asking if he was single, could they be set up, et cetera. And that thought was slightly horrifying—I mean, my brother dating one of my friends? Um, NO …”
Jelline considers, “Then it occurred to me that it’s better that he wind up with someone that I like versus someone I don’t, and from that concept, another idea gelled that incorporated my high school experiences.” And so, “You Again” was born.
Producer Eric Tannenbaum was the first to read it. He remembers, “Moe worked for me for many years, and she came to me one day and asked me to read this screenplay that she wrote based upon her high school experiences and her family.” He continues, “There was something special in the script, so I decided to show it to my friend John Strauss. He, too, thought there was something there.”
Producer John J. Strauss, screenwriter of the mega-hit “There’s Something About Mary” as well as Disney’s “The Santa Clause 2” and “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” offers, “I’ve always been interested in producing or writing comedy with heart that is grounded in believable story-telling. I like a relatable story that has people behaving in ways that we wish we could in real life but don’t quite. This script had those elements.”
Producer Strauss continues, “I have a very long relationship with Disney, and when the VP of Creative, Louanne Brickhouse, said that they were looking for family comedies that reached all ages, I immediately thought of Moe’s script. It seemed to be a perfect Disney project.”
As can happen in Hollywood, things moved fast at that point. “What if your greatest nightmare came back to haunt you in a very permanent way? What if your high school nemesis was marrying your brother?” proposes Jelline.
Producer Strauss recounts, “Disney loved Moe’s writing and the concept. In a relatively short time, the script was in development—just a period of a few months—and before we knew it, we had Andy Fickman as our director and we were going out to cast.” He smiles, “It was a matter of perfect timing.”
Producer Eric Tannenbaum remembers, “Andy Fickman had just finished ‘Race to Witch Mountain,’ which had a great opening weekend for Disney. It was suggested that he be attached as director, so when he read it and liked it, things came together even more quickly.” Director and Producer Andy Fickman, who jokingly likes to refer to himself as “Herr Direktor” during principal photography, offers, “I loved the universal appeal of the script. Everyone has someone from their past that made their life less than wonderful.”
He proposes, “In high school, those arch enemies can have an even more profound power on your daily existence. I found the more people I spoke with, the more everyone had a ‘You Again’ person from their past, regardless of age or gender.”
As for helming Moe Jelline’s script, Fickman admits, “Exploring this theme was very exciting and a perfect place to breed comedy.” With such an exuberant director, filming was fun for everyone. Regarding Director Andy Fickman’s set etiquette, Producer Strauss comments, “Andy is one of those rare individuals who can just light up the room. He has this infectious energy that just makes you want to work hard for him. He really sets the tone for the set more than any other person I’ve met so that it becomes a family within days of working together.
Producer Tannenbaum agrees, “Andy knows how to create a ‘family’ environment. Most of these people, our actors, never worked together before, yet he makes a creative, fun, warm environment, so everyone felt extremely comfortable.”
Tannenbaum adds, “With Andy, from the very beginning throughout development, casting and filming, it’s not been about ego. It’s been about ‘How do we make the best movie?’”
What more can you ask from a director—especially for a movie that is about laughter and entertainment?
Director / Producer Andy Fickman and Kristen Bell have had a long-standing friendship since 2001. He is the one responsible for nicknaming her K-Bell, a moniker that she happily responds to.
Fickman reveals, “I first met K-Bell when she was a student at NYU, and I cast her as the lead in ‘Reefer Madness: The Musical.’ We went through the highs and lows of rehearsing and opening during the tragic events of 9/11 since our theater, Variety Arts, was located behind the red zone. Because we were in the heart of the incident, it bonded all of us further.”
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
You Again (2010)
Directed by: Andy Fickman
Starring: Kristen Bell, Odette Yustman, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis, Betty White, Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber, Kyle Bornheimer, Meagan Holder, Christine Lakin, Anna A. White
Screenplay by: Moe Jelline
Production Design by: Craig Stearns
Cinematography by: David Hennings
Film Editing by: Keith Brachmann, David Rennie
Costume Design by: Genevieve Tyrrell
Set Decoration by: Jan Pascale
Art Direction by: Charlie Daboub
MPAA Rating: PG for brief mild language and rude behavior.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: September 24, 2010