You may remember that back in March, Fox pulled their promos for Neighborhood Watch, a Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn/Jonah Hill comedy being directed by the Lonely Island’s Akiva Shaffer, at least in Florida, as a result of similarities between that trailer and the Trayvon Martin shooting. For good measure, they even renamed it The Watch. Luckily the movie is more about aliens anyway, so now instead of old guys cruising their neighborhood looking for hoody-wearing troublemakers, we see them hanging around the supermarket trying to decide who might be an alien. In a nicely-meta twist, we even see Vince Vaughn’s character ridiculing a child for not knowing how to eat ice cream properly. HAS OUR VINCE VAUGHN PHOTO-MEME BECOME SELF-AWARE??

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Late yesterday, commenter Larry emailed me saying he’d just seen the trailer for Neighborhood Watch play before a screening he was at, writing “Maybe it’s me, but I think they’re well f*cked if they don’t redo the marketing in light of Trayvon Martin. This thing is a hoodie and Skittles away from being a hate crime.” Watching Jonah Hill shoot an imaginary pistol at a terrified black mailman, it was hard not to agree. It turns out Fox may have been getting some of the same emails, because not 10 minutes later, word hit that they’d pulled the promo from theaters in Florida.

The studio tells The Hollywood Reporter it has done so out of deference to the growing controversy. There are no plans to change the film’s July 27 release date, however.
“We are very sensitive to the Trayvon Martin case, but our film is a broad alien-invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida,” a Fox spokesperson tells THR. “The movie, which is not scheduled for release for several months, was made and these initial marketing materials were released before this incident ever came to light. The teaser materials were part of an early phase of our marketing and were never planned for long-term use. Above all else, our thoughts go out to the families touched by this terrible event.”
The Neighborhood Watch teaser poster for features the silhouette of an alien on a neighborhood watch street sign that’s riddled with bullet holes, in reference to the movie’s storyline about a group of men who try to stop an alien invasion. Directed by Akiva Schaffer, Neighborhood Watch opens July 27 and stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade. [THR]

To me it doesn’t seem similar enough to warrant action, though I’m sure newly-skinny Jonah Hill probably would kill for some Skittles these days (“HEEEY, try the waiters, tip your veal, whackety schmackety too soon.”). Anyway, it’s funny that it’s a Ben Stiller movie (though directed by Akiva Shaffer), considering the Stiller-directed Zoolander opened just two weeks after 9/11, which many people blame for its poor box office performance (despite being inarguably awesome). In some places, the announcement that the towers were falling even interrupted Zoolander commercials. And no one even saw his 2011 film, Nuclear Tsunami Party. The man’s cursed. The Uproxx editorial staff will be wearing Jew fro wigs (or going natural in my case) all week to show our support.

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After the jump, I’ve got the trailer for Neighborhood Watch, Fox’s summer comedy starring Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Jonah Hill, and Billy Crudup, directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Shaffer and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express, Green Hornet).

Suburban dads form a neighborhood watch group to get time away from their families, only to discover a plot to destroy Earth.

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As we’ve previously learned about Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim play directors who are tasked with creating a billion dollar movie and of course they screw it up. So they choose to set up a new business in an abandoned mall and hilarity ensures as their delightful characters – played by Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, John C Reilly, Will Forte and others – stop by for zany adventures.

We also know that it pissed a ton of people off at Sundance recently.

At least one couple storming out of the theater actually hollered back at the screen. Heidecker and Wareheim could barely contain their glee at a post-screening Q&A. “What’d he say?” Heidecker demanded.

The incident happened during a scene where the two guys are riding around in a cart chasing hobos out of the derelict mall, screaming “Get the f— out!”

A man stomping out of the theater at that moment shouted back, “We f—ing ARE!” About two dozen people had already fled before that, and many more took off after. About two-thirds of the audience remained by the time the credits rolled. (Via Entertainment Weekly)

The rest of that article is totally worth the read, because their interaction with the pissed off audience is hilarious.

The directors will brave on with their creation, which hits theaters on March 2, but Billion Dollar Movie is actually already available for download and On Demand as well. In fact, they’re so hellbent on success, that Heidecker and Wareheim have spent the past few weeks tracking down a number of celebrities, and making them sign a pledge to not only see the movie in theaters, but also to bring at least one family member with them, while also swearing to not see The Lorax.

Thankfully, Tim and Eric recorded these celebrities making and signing their pledges and I have a bunch of them after the jump.

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Hey, come on, guys, Tower Heist wasn't THAT bad...

The big news at the box office this week was that Brett Ratner’s torn-from-the-headlines tale of greed and sassy fat Jamaicans, Tower Heist, was a huge disappointment, landing in second place and bringing in $10 million less than most analysts projected. That would be great news, I guess, except the excitement is tempered somewhat by the fact that people expected Brett Ratner’s schmucky, bad vaudeville romp to make $35 million in the first place. Meanwhile 50/50, the rare non-genre-garbage movie that was actually about something, has made $32 million so far in its entire six-week run.

It seems like it used to be that studios would put out a movie they thought was good and maybe it would be a disappointment, and then decide, okay, the crowd has spoken. These days, it just seems like the crap gets shoved down everyone’s throat before anyone has a chance to make a decision, because that’s what someone assumed the public wants. I know, I know, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public and all of that, but that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to try. Come on, tell me that wasn’t the idea behind Jack and Jill.

Anyway, Puss in Boots was number one for the second weekend in a row with $33 million and blah blah blah who cares. Full top 10 after the jump.

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