Things you should know about Grand Rapids, Mich.: the city was first settled by Europeans at the start of the 19th century as a spot for fur trading; if you're out past 1 a.m. on a September weeknight, it's advisable to wear a coat; and it's the place Jesse Eisenberg and Ruben Fleischer decided to film their Zombieland follow-up, 30 Minutes or Less.
Due in theaters on Aug. 12, 30 Minutes or Less follows Nick (Eisenberg) and Chet (Aziz Ansari), two estranged best friends who must put aside their differences to rob a bank when Nick has a bomb strapped to his chest by a couple of bumbling criminals (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The film shot on location in Grand Rapids last summer and into September, and Movieline got to visit the set with a cavalcade of other journalists to see the planned mayhem first hand. Spoiler: It included a flamethrower.
Below, the nine best revelations from the set of 30 Minutes or Less.
Jesse Eisenberg actually delivered pizza to prepare for his role.
"I went out with a guy who works at the place where we're filming," Eisenberg said into a scrum of tape recorders. "It was very helpful and also very interesting. [...] It made me realize that the character was conceived very accurately, and it was not a dissimilar experience that my character has." Method!
Those expecting 30 Minutes or Less to be Zombieland 2 should wait for Zombieland 2, provided it happens.
"The comedy in this is a little less winking to the audience," Eisenberg said about the differences between the films. "Zombieland had more the tone of constantly playing on the absurdity of the real characters in this crazy situation whereas this movie is genuinely scary in a real way. It doesn't ever feel like safe; like Zombieland always felt scary in a safe way and in a cleverly humorous way. The stakes in this movie are legitimately high and the characters, at least Aziz and my character, are real world characters."
If Nick and Chet act like they've seen Heat, Lethal Weapon and other action movies, that's probably because they have.
Like Hot Fuzz, the protagonists in 30 Minutes or Less have been educated on high stakes action by Hollywood. "You don't want to fully avoid it," Eisenberg said about whether he found himself aping performances from other action films, "because part of the fun of it is that these characters were just like regular guys get into it, and really immerse themselves in the bank robbery; because they have no choice -- because if they don't get the money than the bomb explodes. So yeah, part of the fun of the bank robbery is how committed these guys become -- they become crazed."
As for Ansari, he prepared for 30 Minutes or Less with a whole lot of Michael Mann. "Yeah, you know the whole time before we were shooting that I just watched Heat over and over again, to really get in that mindset. So, it's just like an idiot like me trying to channel through to Heat. [...] I don't think there's ever been a bank robbing comedy so that just seemed like a really interesting concept to me."
Ansari also said he watched The Killing from director Stanley Kubrick, which apparently wasn't as fun.
Maybe Ansari should have just watched Fargo instead.
Despite all the references to Heat and Shane Black on the set, director Ruben Fleischer had another film in mind. "Zombieland was a little more popcorn. It's pure entertainment. You have zombies, comedy. It's a classic avenger story. This one has darker undertones and the best reference point would be Fargo. The grounded-ness of it; the reality, but humorous. Hopefully this will be more actively funny than Fargo was because of the comedians. [...] It's a crime story similar to how Fargo was, as far as the messed up plot of it. Just a misguided plot, and this is a misguided plot, and it's bad for everybody."
Thankfully, not bad enough to include a woodchipper. And yet...
As teased in the trailer, there is most certainly a flamethrower scene. Don't think that was all fun and games, though.
"The action comedy factor was really cool to me, but the flame stuff scares me," Fleischer said. "It's much more manageable than I expected it to be, but I was really nervous about all the fire stuff. That was the thing I was dreading during the shooting process. It turned out not to be as scary as perhaps I thought it would be, but lighting a dude on fire is no joke."
It was so serious, in fact, that major safety measures were taken beforehand. "When you're doing it for real, it's serious," Fleishcer said. Stunt coordinators spent some 40 minutes before the scene just making sure everything was safe.
Not that cast member Nick Swardson -- the man tasked with shooting the flame thrower -- was comforted by all the precautions. "I have not yet [fired it], no," he said. "That's coming up soon. And this will probably be my last interview before I die, so, you can tell my mom I love her."
Later that night, Swardson did test fire the flamethrower into an open area at the junk yard where 30 Minutes or Less was filming. The heat could be felt some 30 feet away.
Why did Ruben Fleischer decide 30 Minutes or Less would be his immediate follow-up to Zombieland?
It's all in the script: "The story is just so original and it's really funny on paper. The script was one of the funniest I read. It was a chance to do a smaller movie that I could craft and make my own and try and make an original film. I really feel like this movie doesn't exist already. It's really weird and messed up and dark, but hilarious," he said. "The cast is incredible. It was a chance to do something on my terms and do something I was passionate about."
Speaking of that cast, despite featuring Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari and Michael Pena, 30 Minutes or Less is not an Observe and Report reunion.
"They're just the best people for the roles," Fleischer said about the coincidental casting. "Danny was my first and only choice for that character, but Aziz and Michael -- we had a lot of people audition, and honestly they were just the best. To be honest, I would prefer they weren't all in Observe and Report, because there's no overlap. Pena's character was so different in that then what he's doing here, that I don't think anyone will worry about it; and Aziz was a pretty minor character in that movie, although he was one of the most memorable, but hopefully true hardcore Observe and Report fans might notice. But, ultimately, I don't think anyone will really say that's the same cast. Specifically because Pena is so different.
30 Minutes or Less is most certainly a hard-R.
"I don't know that the subject matter inherently would have allowed it," Fleischer said when asked if he thought about shooting for a PG-13 rating. "It's dark at times so I don't know if that would have even been a possibility. I think The Big Lebowski has the record for the most [fucks] in film; I think we might give them a run for their money. It's embarrassing how much profanity there is. I'm almost a little bit nervous; there are so many f-words, hopefully the audience can sustain it."
There may or may not be an awesome celebrity cameo in 30 Minutes or Less, but if there is one, Fleischer won't spill the beans.
"The great thing about that Bill Murray cameo is that no one really saw it coming," said Fleischer when asked what he had in store for 30 Minutes or Less, "so if there are any cameos in this one I think we should try and maintain that as well."
Pushed further, Fleischer allowed that any cameo won't be as meta as Murray's was. "Whatever suits the story. I think Zombieland was a heightened reality, this is a much more grounded reality so I wouldn't anything to distract from the story being told. Draw your own conclusions from that."