Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (known as Bad Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is a 2016 American comedy film directed & co-written by Nicholas Stoller, starring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Chloe Grace Moretz, Dave Franco and Ike Barinholtz. It is the sequel to the 2014 film Neighbors.
The film was released in the United States on May 20, 2016.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) are trying to sell their home with the arrival of another baby. A couple, Eric (Sam Richardson) & Jessica Baiers (Abbi Jacobson) are looking to buy; the realtor (Liz Cackowski) tells Mac and Kelly that their house is in escrow for 30 days, so the Baiers' will check in every now and then to make sure everything is okay. Meanwhile, Mac's friend, Jimmy and his once-again wife Paula are also expecting.
At the sorority, Phi Lamda, Shelby (Chloë Grace Moretz), a freshman, learns that sororities aren't allowed to host parties, and can only attend frat parties. That night, Shelby meets two other freshmen, Beth (Kiersey Clemons) and Nora (Beanie Feldstein). They attend a frat party, but are disgusted by the sexist and perverse nature of the party. The trio decides to set up a new sorority, Kappa Nu, to host their own parties.
Meanwhile, Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) is at a dinner with his old frat brothers Pete (Dave Franco), Scoonie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Garf (Jerrod Carmichael). Since graduating, Scoonie has launched his own app, and Garf became a cop. Teddy now has a criminal record and can't get a worthwhile job. Pete's boyfriend Darren (John Early) then proposes to him, and Pete accepts, leading Pete to ask Teddy to move out.
The following day, the girls rent the adjacent house to the Radners', with help from Teddy. That night, they throw their first party. Horrified to learn they are a sorority, Mac and Kelly ask Shelby to keep the noise down. The couple contact Shelby's father (Kelsey Grammer), but he fails to control the situation.
Feeling betrayed, the girls constantly haze the Radners. Mac and Kelly report them to Dean Gladstone (Lisa Kudrow), but she is unable to intervene since they are an independent sorority. Mac and Jimmy retaliate by causing a bedbug infestation in the house, resulting in a fumigation.
The girls plan to raise money by selling weed at the school's tailgate, which Teddy expresses his displeasure about. The girls vote Teddy out of the house and have the other weed dealers on campus arrested to eliminate competition. Teddy decides to join forces with the Radners to take down the sorority. They all go to the tailgate event to steal the weed. Teddy distracts the girls while Mac steals their weed supply. Shelby catches Mac, but he manages to escape.
The girls switch Mac's and Kelly's phone numbers with their own, leading Kelly to become paranoid, and Mac to end up in Sydney, Australia. When he returns, Mac and Kelly find that they've been robbed and the sorority is selling their stuff and has spray-painted "Kappa Nu Steals From You" on the house. This causes the Baiers to pull out from the deal.
The girls find an eviction notice on their door. With barely any money to support themselves, Shelby says the only way they can win is to abandon their morals and resort to having a basic frat party with more sex appeal. They advertise the party to everyone on campus, leading to more people showing up at the house.
Jimmy and Paula sneak into the party while Teddy tries to shut off the power. Teddy gets into the electrical box, but the girls have a backup power source. While Jimmy ends up getting roofied, Shelby enters the Radners' house to cut off their phones. Mac and Teddy chase her to the garage, but get locked inside. They break out by using airbags from an old car.
Disgusted by the crude and perverted nature of the party, Beth and Nora decide to quit the sorority and blame Shelby for the disaster, leading the other girls to leave as well. Mac and Kelly, feeling guilty, encourage the girls to go back to what they believe in after Shelby reveals that she formed the sorority so she can make friends whereas back in her high school where she was constantly bullied and rejected. The girls then kick the frat boys out and have a normal girl party. This attracts all of the Phi Lamda girls, who want to pledge for Kappa Nu.
By the end of the night, the girls make enough money not only to keep their house, but to give the surplus to Mac and Kelly so they can rent their house due to overflowing pledges. Mac and Kelly happily agree, as long as they get five buckets of money per month. Paula goes into labor and Teddy apologizes to Pete & Darren for his behavior.
Three months later, Teddy is helping Pete get ready to walk down the aisle. Teddy has become a wedding planner, primarily for gay couples. Mac and Kelly have now moved into their new home. They bring home their new baby, Mildred, to join Jimmy and Paula with their new son.
Cast[]
- Seth Rogen as Mac Radner
- Zac Efron as Teddy Sanders
- Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner
- Chloe Grace Moretz as Shelby
- Ike Barinholz as Jimmy Blevins
- Carla Gallo as Paula Faldt
- Kiersey Clemons as Beth
- Beanie Feldstein as Nora
- Dave Franco as Pete Regazolli
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Scoonie
- Jerrod Carmichael as Garf
- Selena Gomez as Madison
- Lisa Kudrow as Dean Carol Gladstone
- Hannibal Buress as Officer Watkins
- Brian Huskey as Bill Wazowkowski
- Kelsey Grammer as Shelby's father
- LL Cool J as Beth’s father
- Liz Cackowski as Wendy the Realtor
- Clara Mamet as a member of Kappa Nu
- Nora Lum as a member of Kappa Nu
- Elise and Zoey Vargas as Stella Radner
Production[]
Development[]
By early February of 2015, a sequel to "Neighbors" was in development, with Nicholas Stoller set to return to direct. Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien will return to write the film, along with Stoller, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg.
The film will follow Mac and Kelly joining forces with the Delta Psi frat leader to take on the sorority girls who move in next door. Rogen, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron will return to star. The film was scheduled to begin principal photography in mid-2015.
Casting[]
In July of 2015, Chloë Grace Moretz joined the cast, and the title was revealed to be "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising." On August 4, 2015, it was revealed that Carla Gallo and Ike Barinholtz would be back for the sequel.
On August 7, 2015, Beanie Feldstein and Kiersey Clemons were added to the cast to play Moretz's character's sorority sisters.
On August 13, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Dave Franco would be returning for the sequel. Selena Gomez was seen filming on the set. Lisa Kudrow was also spotted filming along with other cast.
By September 24, 2015, Billy Eichner had joined the cast of the film. That same month it was revealed that Hannibal Buress and Jerrod Carmichael had been cast in the film, with Carmichael reprising his role from the first film. Clara Mamet and Nora Lum also joined the cast.
On November 18, 2015, it was announced that Cameron Dallas had joined the cast.
In December of 2015, it was revealed that Abbi Jacobson had also joined the cast. It was later revealed Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Liz Cackowski, and Brian Huskey would all reprise their roles from the first film.
Filming[]
The principal photography began on August 31, 2015 in Dunwoody, Georgia, and ended on October 29, 2015. In March of 2016, Chloe Grace Moretz was spotted filming reshoots in Los Angeles.
Post-Production[]
During post-production, Lena Dunham's scene as Joan of Arc was cut from the film. LL Cool J's scene (featured in some promotional material) was also deleted from the final film.
Box Office[]
In North America, the film is set to open on May 20, 2016 (alongside the films The Angry Birds Movie and The Nice Guys) & is projected to gross $35–40 million from 3,000 theaters in its opening weekend.
Internationally (where it is known as "Bad Neighbours 2"), the film will be released in a total of 56 countries. It was released in 16 markets on May 6, 2016, a week ahead of its U.S. debut where it earned $8 million.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland posted the top opening for the film with $2.4 million, followed by Australia with $1.8 million and $1.5 million in Germany.
Critical Reception[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 66%, based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10.
The site's critical consensus reads, "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising may not be strictly necessary, but it still wrings a surprising amount of humor from a recycled premise with a distaff twist."
On Metacritic, the film has a score of 50 out of 100 (based on 8 critics) indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film a positive review, writing, "In a world in which so many comedy sequels fail, here comes a comedy sequel that isn’t just 'as good as the first movie,' it’s even better."
The Guardian awarded it two stars out of five, saying, "This pretty routine follow-up has some decent material and amiable bad taste, heavily diluted with gallons of very ordinary sequel product: more of the same."