Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010 film)

Plot

Preteen Greg Heffley illustrates his daily life in a diary for when he is "rich and famous". On Greg's first day of middle school, he quickly discovers the ups and downs, such as the missing stall doors in the boys' bathroom and the difficulties of obtaining a seat during lunch. During physical education, Greg and his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, escape from a game of shirts-and-skins-based flag football and meet Angie Steadman, a seventh-grader who isolates herself from the other students to "survive". They notice a rotting, moldy piece of cheese, and are told by their classmate Chirag Gupta to not touch it, as this would result in acquiring the "Cheese touch" where the only way to get rid of it is by tapping someone. Greg states his intentions of becoming the most popular student in school and earning a place in the school yearbook as "Class Clown".

When Greg and Rowley go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, a group of teenage boys in a pickup truck spray a fire extinguisher at them and chase them to Greg's grandmother's house. They escape after Greg threatens, but accidentally damages their truck with a weed eater.

In other efforts to become popular, the boys join the Safety Patrol team and a contest to become the school paper's cartoonist. After Greg accidentally breaks Rowley's arm during a game they invented, Rowley becomes popular and wins the cartoonist contest. During a Safety Patrol assignment, Greg walks kindergartners down a neighborhood street without Rowley. He encounters a truck identical to the teenagers' from Halloween and hides the kids in a construction zone. Having borrowed Rowley's coat, he is confronted by a neighbor who mistakes him for Rowley. He flees, abandoning the kindergarteners. Rowley is bewildered to be suspended from Safety Patrol, until Greg confesses. Greg is fired from the service, while Rowley is reinstated as captain and ends their friendship. Greg tries to reconcile with Rowley at the Mother and Son Sweetheart Dance until he sees that Rowley has befriended Collin Lee instead.

Greg and Rowley confront each other after school, and a circle of students encourages them to fight before the teenagers from Halloween arrive and, having chased the other students into the school, hold the two boys captive from destroying their van. They force Rowley to eat some of the cheese, but before Greg is forced to eat the rest of it, the teenagers flee when physical education teacher Coach Eduardo Malone arrives. When the other students come back out and notice the cheese has been eaten, Greg takes the blame to save Rowley's reputation, and they reconcile. At the end of the school year, Greg and Rowley make the yearbook class favorites page as "Cutest Friends".

Cast

Main article: List of Diary of a Wimpy Kid characters

• Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley
• Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson, Greg's best friend
• Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley, Greg's mother
• Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley, Greg's father
• Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Greg's older brother
• Chloë Grace Moretz as Angie Steadman, a seventh-grader at Greg's school
• Grayson Russell as Fregley, Greg's classmate
• Laine MacNeil as Patty Farrell, Greg's arch-enemy
• Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta, Greg's friend
• Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny Heffley, Greg's little brother
• Alex Ferris as Collin Lee
• Andrew McNee as Coach Malone, Greg's gym teacher
• Belita Moreno as Mrs. Norton, Greg's acting teacher
• Alf Humphreys as Mr. Jefferson, Rowley's father
• Kaye Capron as Mrs. Jefferson, Rowley's mother

Production

An adaptation of the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid novel was announced in 2008, with Thor Freudenthal signing on as director in December 2008. In July 2009, Zachary Gordon was cast in the lead role of Greg Heffley. Rachael Harris also signed on for the role of Susan Heffley, Greg's mother. In August 2009, Steve Zahn was cast as Frank Heffley, Greg's father.

Visual effects

The mold for the Cheese was completely digital. Filmmakers left a real square of cheese outside for a few days inside a wire cage to keep animals out and sunlight in, and after this, a piece of cheese was made out of silicone and had mold effects added using CGI.

The animated sequences were not 2D animated, but in fact made with 3D animation. The animated sequences were first animated in 3D, and then rendered in a rough sketch shader to make them look 2D.

Release

Tie-in book

Main article: The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary

A tie-in book, written by Kinney, called The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, was published on March 16, 2010, by Amulet Books (an imprint of Abrams Books). It includes film stills, storyboards, preliminary concept drawings and also behind-the-scenes information to humorously chronicle the making of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. It also includes some new illustrations.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 3, 2010. The DVD bonus features include a comentary track from director Thor Freudenthal and co-writer Gabe Sachs, deleted diary pages and the film's trailer. The Blu-ray version features six pages from Rowley's diary, Diary of an Awesome, Friendly Kid. It was released on the streaming service Disney+ on November 12, 2019; its launch date.

Reception

Critical response

Audience surveyed by CinemaScore gave this film an "A-."

Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing "It's nimble, bright and funny. It doesn't dumb down. It doesn't patronize. It knows something about human nature." Glenn Whipp of the Associated Press was less positive, saying, "In transferring the clean, precise humor of Kinney's illustrations and prose to the big-screen, the material loses just a bit of its charm." At the Movies host David Stratton gave the film one star while co-host Margaret Pomeranz gave it half a star. Stratton called the film "tiresome" and said there was "nothing remotely interesting in Thor Freudenthal's direction or the screenplay." Pomeranz disliked the character of Greg Heffley, saying "I really thought he was unpleasant. I did not want to spend time with him. I could not wait for the end of this film."

OregonLive.com gave the film a C+ grade, criticizing it for being "too often dull, unappealing and clumsy, hobbled by unnecessary changes and inventions that add no charm, energy or, truly, point."

Box office

Despite a lack of distinctive marketing, Diary of a Wimpy Kid drew a decent crowd, opening to $22.1 million on approximately 3,400 screens at 3,077 sites, in second place at the weekend box office behind Alice in Wonderland but beating out the heavily hyped The Bounty Hunter. It was the biggest start ever for a non-animated, non-fantasy children's book adaptation. Diary of a Wimpy Kid grossed more in its first three days than other film adaptions to children's novels like How to Eat Fried Worms and Hoot grossed in their entire runs. The film grossed $64,003,625 in North America and $11,696,873 in other territories for a worldwide total of $75,700,498.

Accolades

Expanded franchise

Sequels

Main article: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (film series)

Three sequels were released in 2011, 2012 and 2017 respectively. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was released on March 25, 2011. It was based on the second book in the series, Rodrick Rules. Zachary Gordon reprised his role in the film. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days was released on August 3, 2012, and is based on The Last Straw and Dog Days, including scenes from both books. An animated short film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Class Clown, was released along with the DVD of Dog Days. A film based on The Long Haul was released in May 2017 and features a new cast starring Jason Drucker, Alicia Silverstone, and Tom Everett Scott, but received generally negative reviews.

Animated reboot and sequels

Main article: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021 film)

An animated reboot directed by Swinton Scott was released on Disney+ on December 3, 2021. Unlike the other films, this was the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid film to be animated fully in computer-generated imagery and features Greg and the characters in colors. Originally set as an adaptation of Cabin Fever by Kinney, it was re-announced in 2018 as an animated series but switched to a CGI movie in 2019. It stars Brady Noon, Ethan William Childress, and Chris Diamantopoulos.

References

References

1. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".
2. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)".
3. (March 18, 2010). "Movie Projector: No 'Bounty Hunter,' 'Repo Men' or 'Wimpy Kid' can upstage 'Alice' (updated)". Los Angeles Times.
4. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)". Box Office Mojo.
5. (December 11, 2008). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid to be Directed by Freudenthal".
6. (July 21, 2009). "Fox 2000 finds its 'Wimpy Kid'".
7. (April 8, 2009). "Steve Zahn in the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid".
8. "The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: How Greg went Hollywood". Jeff Kinney.
9. "Jeff Kinney to make ''The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary''".
10. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100121100845/http://www.abramsbooks.com/Books/The_Wimpy_Kid_Movie_Diary-9780810996168.html The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, Book Details] Retrieved August 11, 2017.{{incomplete short citation. (July 2025{{better source needed). (July 2025)
11. Alexander, Julia. (2019-10-14). "Disney+ launch lineup: Every movie and TV show available to stream on day one".
12. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)". [[Fandango Media]].
13. Serrao, Nivea. (May 21, 2017). "Box office report: Alien: Covenant edges out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for No.1 spot".
14. Ebert, Roger. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid review". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
15. Glenn Whipp. (19 March 2010). "Should you go see 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'?". [[Associated Press]].
16. (September 29, 2010). "29 September 2010".
17. (2010-03-18). "Review: 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' isn't 'Wimpy' enough". OregonLive.com.
18. (March 22, 2010). "Weekend Report: 'Alice' Tops Again, 'Diary', 'Bounty' Neck-and-Neck". Box Office Mojo.
19. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)". [[Internet Movie Database]].
20. "32nd Annual Young Artist Awards".
21. Milligan, Mercedes. (2021-09-02). "Animated 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' Movie Hits Disney+ in December".