50 Fun Facts About Pineapple Express

What is Dale Denton's job in Pineapple Express?

Dale serves subpoenas in a rotating wardrobe of disguises, which is how he ends up outside Ted Jones's house at exactly the wrong moment.

Who directed Pineapple Express?

Green was known for quiet indie dramas like George Washington and All the Real Girls before this became his first studio comedy; he later directed the Halloween reboots.

Which corrupt cop, played by Rosie Perez, helps Ted Jones commit the murder Dale witnesses?

Perez's Brazier chases Dale and Saul in a stolen police car and is finally crushed when Red's exploding car lands on her.

How does Dale accidentally tip off Ted Jones to who he is after witnessing the murder?

Ted recognizes the strain immediately, since only two dealers in town have it, and the whole chase flows from that one panicked toss.

Who plays Red, the middleman dealer who keeps getting shot and refusing to die?

McBride's breakout year also included Tropic Thunder; the next year he became Kenny Powers in Eastbound & Down, which Green also directed.

What are the names of Ted Jones's two henchmen who torture Red for information?

The two hitmen's bickering partnership ends when Matheson kills Budlofsky for refusing to shoot Saul.

When Dale and Saul try to hide out in the woods, what goes wrong?

The woods interlude is where Saul teaches Dale about the finer points of a caterpillar's life cycle before they head back to Red's for answers.

Dale's girlfriend Angie is still in what stage of life, a running source of awkwardness in the film?

The dinner at Angie's parents' house goes about as badly as a first meeting can, ending with a shotgun.

How do Dale and Saul raise bus fare to get out of town?

The plan backfires when Dale is arrested by Officer Bobbra, whom Saul then 'rescues' him from by hijacking her police car.

Why does Dale break up with Angie over the phone late in the film?

The call comes while Dale is otherwise occupied trying to rescue Saul from Ted's lair with the reluctant help of Red.

Which rival outfit attacks Ted Jones's lair, setting up the film's climactic shootout?

The rival gangster killed at the start was Chinese; the retaliation comes from the Koreans, and one of them sets off the bomb that kills Ted.

How does Matheson finally die?

Red's rescue drive is his redemption after backing out of the plan; the corrupt cop shoots him for it, and yet he still walks out alive.

How does the film end after Dale, Saul and Red escape the burning lair?

The diner scene, with the trio recapping the night like the best day of their lives, was famously ad-libbed at length. Grandma Silver takes them to the hospital.

According to producer Judd Apatow, which movie character inspired Pineapple Express?

Brad Pitt's couch-bound Floyd barely leaves his apartment; Apatow wondered what would happen if you followed that guy out the door and had bad guys chase him.

Seth Rogen said the ideal budget was $40M. Roughly what did Sony give them, 'because it's a weed movie'?

The film grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and Rogen later blamed a failed sequel on the team asking for too much money.

Which role was Seth Rogen originally going to play before Judd Apatow suggested a swap?

After a table read Rogen agreed James Franco should be Saul, casting himself as Dale instead. Franco's Saul earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Which 1980s hitmakers recorded the film's theme song, 'Pineapple Express,' at Seth Rogen's request?

Rogen approached Lewis in November 2007. It was the band's first new studio recording in years and plays over the closing credits.

Which M.I.A. song from the Pineapple Express trailer became a top-five hit but is not in the film?

M.I.A. said she agreed because it was 'just the trailer'; the exposure, plus Slumdog Millionaire, drove the song to number four on the Hot 100.

Pineapple Express opened at number two at the US box office in August 2008. Which film held the top spot?

It still pulled in $23.2 million for the weekend and $41.3 million over its first five days on the way to more than million worldwide.

Which cable network pre-bought exclusive rights to air Pineapple Express after its theatrical run?

The deal was struck before release, one sign of how confident Sony was in the Apatow brand after Superbad and Knocked Up.

For his performance as Saul Silver, James Franco earned a nomination for which award?

It was Franco's second Globe nomination after winning for playing James Dean. The New York Times called Saul 'loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy.'

Which magazine gave James Franco its 'Stoner of the Year' award for Pineapple Express?

Franco has said he does not actually smoke weed; the New York Times called Saul 'loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy.'

Seth Rogen and James Franco first worked together on which short-lived 1999 TV series?

Both were part of Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks cast; Rogen played Ken Miller and Franco played Daniel Desario, and the show was cancelled after one season.

Which Apatow-produced hit finally convinced Sony to greenlight both Superbad and Pineapple Express?

Apatow had been unable to sell either script even after Anchorman and The 40-Year-Old Virgin; the Will Ferrell NASCAR comedy tipped the balance.

Who plays drug lord Ted Jones?

Cole, forever Bill Lumbergh from Office Space, plays Ted as a mild-mannered businessman who happens to run the city's marijuana trade.

Which Superbad alumnus plays henchman Budlofsky, the one who refuses to kill Saul?

In Superbad, Corrigan was the volatile homeowner whose party Seth and Evan crash; here he is the henchman with a conscience and a wife waiting at home.

Which future star of The Office and This Is the End plays henchman Matheson?

Robinson has appeared with Rogen in Knocked Up, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, This Is the End and Sausage Party, making him one of Rogen's most frequent collaborators.

Which Spinal Tap and St. Elsewhere veteran plays Angie's furious father, who throws Dale and Saul out?

Nora Dunn plays Angie's mother; the dinner-table scene collapses into chaos when Ted's two henchmen turn up.

Which SNL cast member plays army test subject Private Miller in the film's black-and-white 1937 prologue?

Hader also appeared in Forgetting Sarah Marshall the same year, making 2008 a two-Apatow year for him.

Which actress plays Angie Anderson, Dale's teenage girlfriend?

Heard's other 2008 release was the martial-arts drama Never Back Down; together they gave her mainstream recognition.

Which of these films did the director cite as an influence on Pineapple Express?

Green named The Blues Brothers, Midnight Run, Running Scared, The Gravy Train and Stir Crazy — buddy action-comedies, not stoner movies — as his touchstones.

What did Sony release on April Fools' Day 2013 that got Pineapple Express fans briefly excited?

The 'trailer' was really promoting This Is the End, in which the cast shoots a homemade Pineapple Express 2 that Rogen says reflects what a real sequel would have been.

Why, according to Seth Rogen, did a real Pineapple Express sequel never happen?

Apatow put the cost of a sequel at $50 million and Sony capped it at $45 million, and that gap was enough to kill it.

Which Grace Jones cover appears in the film but not on its soundtrack album?

The Sly and Robbie-produced Johnny Cash cover was recorded in the 1980s and turned up on Jones's 1998 Compass Point compilation.

Which Eddy Grant hit is on the Pineapple Express soundtrack?

The album mixes 80s pop with hip-hop and reggae: Bell Biv DeVoe's 'Poison,' Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's 'Tha Crossroads,' Peter Tosh and Bob Marley all sit alongside Grant.

Which Cypress Hill track appears on the Pineapple Express soundtrack?

It sits between the Huey Lewis theme and Public Enemy's 'Lost at Birth' on the album, released three days before the film.

Which Wang Chung song plays in the film and closes its soundtrack album?

It is followed only by Robert Palmer's 'Woke Up Laughing' on the album, which also includes two score cues from the film.

Who composed the film's score, including cues titled 'Pineapple Chase' and 'Pineapple Fight'?

Revell, better known for action and horror scores like The Crow and Sin City, was another sign of the film's genre-blending ambitions.

Where did Pineapple Express get an advance screening in July 2008, before its August release?

The Montreal comedy festival screened it on July 19; the film hit theaters on August 6 and pulled in $12.1 million on its first day.

What audience grade did Pineapple Express receive from CinemaScore?

Critics were similarly warm-but-mixed: 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and 64 on Metacritic, with the violent second half the most common complaint.

The film shares its name with a weather term. What is a Pineapple Express in meteorology?

The name came first; the movie in turn inspired the name of a real cannabis strain, so the term runs in three directions.

Per Seth Rogen's commentary joke, what do 'even people who hate the movie' admit about Pineapple Express?

The cinematography of Tim Orr, Green's regular collaborator from his indie films, was almost universally praised.

Which cop arrests Dale and is the first to believe his story about the murder?

Saul, thinking he is rescuing Dale, then hijacks her police car, sparking the chase with the corrupt Officer Brazier.

Who picks up the battered trio at the diner at the end and drives them to the hospital?

Saul's beloved 'Bubbe' had been a running thread, with Saul dealing weed partly to pay for her retirement home.

How much did Pineapple Express gross on its first day of release?

It finished the weekend with $23.2 million and a five-day total of $41.3 million.

A sneak peek of Pineapple Express was attached to the DVD of which earlier Rogen film?

That DVD came out on December 4, 2007, eight months before the film hit cinemas.

Which record label did the filmmakers approach for permission to use 'Paper Planes' in the trailer?

M.I.A. said she 'didn't really think twice' since it was just the trailer, and would have scrutinised a use in the film itself.

Judd Apatow said a sequel needed $50M; at what figure did Sony cap its budget?

Rogen later summed it up as 'I think we probably wanted too much money'.

Which Public Enemy track appears on the Pineapple Express soundtrack?

The album also features Bell Biv DeVoe's 'Poison', Peter Tosh and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

According to Rogen, the homemade Pineapple Express 2 seen in This Is the End depicts what?

Sony also released a fake Pineapple Express 2 trailer as an April Fool's prank to promote This Is the End.