Seth Rogen was only 25 when he received his first credit as a screenwriter, but the idea for Superbad had been around much longer than that, with the actor and his creative partner Evan Goldberg initially coming up with the high school comedy over a decade previously based on their own experiences, which is presumably why the two main characters are unimaginatively named Seth and Evan.
As well as launching the careers of leads Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Superbad became one of the biggest comedy hits of 2007 after earning over $170 million at the box office on a budget of just $20 million, as well as receiving widespread critical acclaim, and it still boasts an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%.
Not only that, but Superbad has endured as one of the most popular high school comedies of the modern era, and continues to find a new audience with each passing year as teenagers still relate to the universal experience that comes with the trials and tribulations of girls, parties and the end of childhood friendships.
Long-delayed sequels to hit comedies have become an increasingly regular occurrence in recent years, but in a new interview, Rogen explained why he had no interest in returning to the well, and a lot of it has to do with Superbad‘s surprising longevity as required viewing for people of a certain age.
“I think of all the movies we’ve ever made, Superbad is the one I’d 100 percent probably never touch. Honestly, I don’t think it requires improvement or anything to be built upon it. I’m unbelievably proud of it, it really holds up, people still watch it, high school kids come up to me telling me that they watched it for the first time and how they loved it. It’s worked its way into being viewed as one of the better high school movies that’s out there. I’m so terrified of subtracting from it in any way with a bad sequel or spin-off that I’d never do it. I have so few actual good accomplishments that I’m horrified to f**k with the ones I have.”
While there might have been some mileage in exploring the idea of Seth, Evan and McLovin as parents themselves now that the main trio are all in their 30s, everyone involved has generally moved on to bigger and better things despite Mintz-Plasse seemingly having been typecast for the rest of his life. As such, anyone itching to return to the world of Superbad will just have to be content with revisiting the original instead.