This Is the End Movie: What Seth Rogen and the Cast Actually Hid From Fans

Honestly, the This Is the End movie seth rogen project shouldn’t have worked. Think about it. You have a bunch of famous dudes playing "themselves" in a house while the world literally explodes outside. It sounds like the ultimate vanity project, right? Like a bunch of rich friends got high and convinced a studio to fund their weekend hangout. But here we are, over a decade later, and it’s still one of the most rewatchable comedies of the 2010s.

The Weird Reality of Playing Yourself

The biggest misconception about this movie is that the actors are just being themselves. They aren't. Not really. Seth Rogen and his creative partner Evan Goldberg basically wrote "worst-case scenario" versions of their friends.

Take James Franco. In the film, he’s obsessed with Seth to a creepy degree and owns a house full of pretentious, ugly art. Fun fact: Franco actually painted most of those weird paintings himself. He leaned into the idea that the public thinks he’s a pretentious "artist" and turned it up to eleven.

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Then you have Jonah Hill. He plays this overly polite, borderline sociopathic version of himself who's secretly a jerk. It’s a masterclass in playing against type. This wasn't just a random choice; the script was actually based on a short film they did years earlier called Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse.

The Michael Cera Butt-Slap Heard Round the World

You remember the Michael Cera cameo. It’s legendary. He’s usually the "awkward, sweet kid," but in this movie, he’s a drug-fueled menace in a yellow windbreaker. There’s that scene where he slaps Rihanna’s butt.

That wasn't movie magic.

Cera actually asked her if he could do it for real because the "fake" slap looked terrible. Rihanna agreed, but only on one condition: she got to slap him back in the face with full force. If you rewatch that scene, the sound of her hand hitting his face is 100% authentic. Cera was reportedly dazed for a few minutes after.

Behind the Scenes Chaos

• The New Orleans Secret: Despite the palm trees and the Hollywood Sign, they didn't film this in Los Angeles. It was almost entirely shot in New Orleans for tax reasons. They had to build the entire interior of "Franco's house" inside a massive warehouse that smelled like coffee beans because it was a storage facility.
• Emma Watson’s Exit: There’s been a lot of talk over the years about Emma Watson "walking off set." Seth Rogen eventually clarified that she didn't just storm out in a huff. There was a scene involving a gimp-suit-wearing Channing Tatum and Danny McBride as a cannibal that was way more intense than what she’d signed up for. She talked to Seth, they agreed it wasn't her vibe, and she left. No drama, just boundaries.
• The Missing Morgan Freeman: The ending in Heaven with the Backstreet Boys is iconic. Originally, Rogen and Goldberg wanted Morgan Freeman to be the one greeting people at the gates. He declined. Probably for the best, because the "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" dance number is the perfect level of absurd.

Why We Never Got This Is the End 2

Fans have been begging for a sequel for years. Rogen has tossed around ideas, like a meta-sequel where the world ends again during the premiere of the first movie. Sony apparently wasn't into the budget requirements for that.

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There's also the "Pineapple Express 2" of it all. If you watch closely at the start of the movie, James Franco pitches an idea for a sequel to Pineapple Express. The plot he describes is literally the plot of This Is the End. It was a way for them to make the sequel they wanted without actually having to deal with the legal red tape of the Pineapple Express franchise.

The "End" Isn't Really the End

If you want to appreciate the This Is the End movie seth rogen legacy today, you have to look at how it changed comedy. It was one of the last "mid-budget" R-rated comedies to really crush it at the box office ($126 million on a $32 million budget). Nowadays, studios are terrified of anything that isn't a superhero movie or a horror flick.

How to Watch Like an Expert

1. Check the Backgrounds: Look at the paintings in Franco's house. Almost all of them reference other movies the cast has been in.
2. Listen to the Ad-libs: About 85% of the dialogue was improvised. When Danny McBride and James Franco argue about a certain "magazine" in the kitchen, that was just two guys riffing until they almost cried laughing.
3. The Stone IPA Easter Egg: There’s a scene where a beer bottle (Stone IPA) is positioned in a way that foreshadows the appearance of the giant devil at the end of the film.

If you're looking for a deep dive into the Rogen-Goldberg style, check out their 2025 series The Studio. It captures that same "Hollywood is insane" energy but from the perspective of a studio executive. It’s basically the spiritual successor to the cynicism they displayed in the apocalypse.

Instead of waiting for a sequel that probably won't happen due to the "falling out" between Rogen and Franco, go back and watch the original short Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse. It’s grainy, it’s low budget, but it’s the raw DNA of what became a comedy classic.