Paul (2011)
Where to Watch
- Greg Mottola originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- The incredible score for Paul was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- The original script for Paul was written over a decade before production finally began in 2011.
Paul is a 2011 British-American science fiction comedy directed by Greg Mottola, starring and written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The pair play Graeme and Clive, two British comic book nerds on a road trip across America visiting UFO sites who encounter Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen, a wisecracking, foul-mouthed, beer-drinking alien who has been hidden at Area 51 for 60 years and needs their help to escape the government agents pursuing him, led by the menacing Agent Zoil played by Jason Bateman. Paul was Pegg and Frost's first collaboration without Edgar Wright directing, and while the film lacked Wright's visual inventiveness, their script was packed with affectionate references to science fiction cinema β from E.T. to Close Encounters to Aliens β that rewarded genre-literate audiences.
Seth Rogen's vocal performance gave Paul a slacker personality that made the alien feel less like a special effect and more like a third member of the comedy team. Paul earned $98 million worldwide on a $40 million budget.
