Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

The Hollywood Reporter – ★★★★☆

– Carina Chocano:

"A deliriously funny coming-of-age riot that somehow balances dick jokes with genuine emotional depth. Troy Armitage proves he's not just a dramatic powerhouse—he's a comedic revelation. The script is the soul of the movie. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the writers, are the true heroes of the movie."

Variety – ★★★★★

– Mick LaSalle:

"[Superbad] isn't just super good—it's super great. A raunchy teen comedy with a heart, the film delivers gut-busting laughs while subverting expectations about male friendship and sexual pressure. The best part about the film is that it doesn't give in to the stereotypes. The teens don't get what they initially want, but that's because they realize what they wanted was all wrong. The climax is very satisfying and fulfilling."

The Daily Screen – ★★★☆☆

– David Byrne:

"Wickedly sharp and outrageously funny, [Superbad] is what every teen comedy should strive to be: vulgar with purpose, honest in emotion, and brilliantly acted. Troy Armitage's deadpan timing is lethal, Jonah Hill's foul-mouthed behavior is perfectly reprehensible, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse is just right in his role as McLovin."

Rolling Stone – ★★★★☆

– Chris Winstone:

"Who knew dick drawings and period stains could be this hilarious and meaningful? Armitage and Hill have explosive chemistry, and the film lands every punchline with precision and soul. Mintz-Plasse steals the show in his debut role."

Empire Magazine – ★★★★☆

– Stella Brock:

"A future cult classic. From the unforgettable McLovin chaos to a surprisingly mature take on teenage relationships, [Superbad] nails the universal awkwardness of growing up—one absurd scene at a time."

RogerEbert.com – ★★★☆

– Roger Ebert:

"McLovin' it! There's nothing 'super bad' about this film. It's a comedy gem—raunchy, raw, and extremely foul-mouthed. The fact that it ends with genuine emotional resonance is a testament to its stellar script and cast."

The Complete News – ★★★★★

– Jane Scott:

"Troy Armitage's [Superbad] might just be the greatest teen sex comedy since the golden era of [American Pie], but it's far smarter, sharper, and unexpectedly tender. From the opening credits—where silhouettes groove to synth beats—to the riotous climax at a house party, this is a film that never stops entertaining. Armitage, known for intense dramatic roles, flips the script and delivers a comedic performance so deadpan and dry it elevates every punchline into something iconic. Jonah Hill is a firecracker of foul-mouthed insecurity, but it's the trio of Hill, Armitage, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin that create the film's magical, chaotic core. The film goes hard on the crude jokes, but it earns the right by anchoring its humor in real emotion and a surprisingly earnest look at male friendship, consent, and growing up. [Superbad] is more than a great comedy—it's a benchmark for how funny, filthy, and thoughtful cinema can be when it respects its audience."

The New York Post – ★★★★★

– Rod Meyer:

"Forget what you know about teen comedies—[Superbad] raises the bar and then some. This is a film that weaponizes outrageous humor to mask its emotionally intelligent core. It starts with dick jokes but ends with reflections on friendship, identity, and the awkward truths of adolescence. Troy Armitage, previously heralded for his Oscar-winning dramatic work, shows off impeccable comic timing that makes every scene pop with energy. But this isn't a one-man show—Jonah Hill's Seth is a perfect storm of bravado and insecurity, while Mintz-Plasse's McLovin is already a legend. Directed with swagger and scripted with biting wit, [Superbad] isn't just a teen movie—it's a cultural moment. If the final mall scene doesn't make you smile, you're probably dead inside. This film is destined to be quoted, memed, and rewatched for years to come."

The film received an approval rating of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 7.9/10. The website's consensus read: "Outrageously funny, refreshingly honest, and elevated by the holy trinity of Troy Armitage, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, [Superbad] redefines the teen sex comedy with heart, brains, and balls. It's as filthy as it is insightful, delivering gut-busting laughs and genuine emotion in equal measure." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 80/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on a scale of A to F.

Austin looked away from his computer screen to see Marissa bouncing excitedly on her feet.

"Happy now?" she asked. "Now can we please go see that film?"

"Are you…" Austin selected his next words carefully. "Are you sure you'll like it? From what I'm reading here, it has a lot of dick jokes. It's definitely not a date movie."

"I can take a dick joke," Marissa said defensively.

Austin raised an eyebrow before turning her laptop around to show Marissa one of the latest interviews of Troy Armitage that had been posted on YouTube.

"When I saw [Superbad] for the first time," a reporter said, "I laughed so hard that I couldn't think of anything at all. When I watched it for the second time, all I could think of was: How the hell did Warner Bros let Troy Armitage do this?"

The said boy laughed at the question before answering, "Warner Bros is pretty chill about what kind of roles I can take. Sure, there are restrictions about what I can or can't do to my body, like I can't shave my head, but as far as roles go, I can do pretty much anything."

The reporter nodded before asking the next question. "You have a lot of young fanbase. Don't you think it's your responsibility to make a film that anyone can watch, given the kind of language that's used in this film?"

Troy shrugged. "I am not their parent. Every film has a rating and reasons for giving that particular rating. This film is rated R here in the States, but I think it is very unjust. Initially, they even wanted to give it an NC-17, but we appealed and won the appeal. I think the MPAA is totally out of touch with reality. Go to any public school and you'll find kids younger than me using much worse language than is used in this film. I think the UK does it better by giving it a 15 rating."

"See?" Austin asked with a raised eyebrow as he paused the video. "The movie is so obscene that they initially gave it an NC-17. Are you sure you still wanna watch it?"

Marissa seemed indecisive for a moment before nodding firmly. "It's not like I haven't heard curse words before. How bad could it be?"

An hour later, Marissa found out.

"Hey Seth! You know I have a party this weekend? You can't come. Tell your fucking faggot friend as well."

"You know when you hear girls say: I was so shitfaced last night. I shouldn't have fucked that guy. We could be that mistake!"

"No one's McLovin. McLovin's never existed, because that's a made-up, dumb, fucking fairy-tale name, you fuck!"

The best part was that they were only half an hour into the movie, and already it was a laugh riot. Everyone around them was laughing their asses off. The crowd was mostly teenagers or young people, so the situations in the movie felt very relevant to them.

"Oh my God!" Marissa wheezed out between laughter. "This is insanely good. Can't believe I almost didn't come."

"I know," Austin nodded enthusiastically.

Then came the funniest scene—at least in his opinion. Seth Rogen and Bill Hader came on screen as a pair of incompetent cops, who posed some very terrible questions to Mindy, the cashier.

"Was he African?" the two officers asked.

"No, he was American, and he was just like you," Mindy replied.

"He was Jewish!" Seth Rogen concluded intelligently. "Okay, so we have an African Jew wearing a hoodie."

"No, you don't. That's not what I said," the woman said firmly. "I said he looked like you. Do you look like an African Jew?"

Seth Rogen gave her a dumbfounded look. "No, I look like a cop."

Austin was laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach to stop it from hurting. Around him, laughter echoed throughout the theater as people lost their wits at the hilarious scene. People were throwing popcorn at the screen every few minutes because every scene was bonkers.

When the movie finally ended, Austin and Marissa came out holding hands.

"So?" he asked. "You liked it?"

"Liked it?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm McLovin' it! I want to fucking see it again, ASAP."

Austin was more than a little surprised. Marissa didn't usually curse, so it was strange seeing her say that. The film had corrupted her already. Nonetheless, he nodded. "Let's go next week, then."

He had a suspicion they wouldn't be the only ones to rewatch it. The best part was that, despite being a Troy Armitage movie, it wasn't just about him. Similar to [Little Miss Sunshine], he shared screen space with all the actors equally. That's what Austin loved about Troy's films: the story always came before his screentime.

(Break)

"How awkward was it to shoot the love scene?" came the question from one Alison Hammond. It was a question I had already answered quite a lot by now.

I looked beside me at my co-star from that particular scene and said, "You wanna take this one?"

Anna Kendrick gave me a side-eye before turning to the reporter in question. "I don't think it was awkward at all." Then she put a hand to the side of her mouth and stage-whispered, "I mean, when you're pretending to have sex with this guy, can it be awkward? I wouldn't have minded if he'd started some method acting, if you know what I mean."

"I totally know what you mean," Alison said, giving me an appreciative look, more specifically toward my chest.

The T-shirt my stylist had picked out for the day had a very deep neck, which displayed the top of my pecs. Until now, I hadn't realized that women were into men's pecs. My ex wasn't.

"I totally don't mind you both casually sexualizing me," I noted with dry sarcasm. "That's what I was made for. I have no intelligent thought of my own."

Anna leaned against my arm. "Awww. You can sexualize me back. I won't mind. Come on, talk about my boobs."

"I will not!" I said indignantly, before laughing at the absurdity of the situation I'd found myself in. I wasn't the only one—within moments, all three of us were laughing our asses off at the tangent the interview had veered into.

"Your boobs are gorgeous," Alison noted between laughs.

"Thank you!" Anna chirped. "But mine are nothing compared to yours."

"Oh my God!" I looked up and joined my hands in prayer. "What the hell is going on here?" Then I turned back to Alison. "Is that what girl talk sounds like when boys aren't around?"

"You will never know," Alison and Anna said in unison, then glanced at each other and burst into laughter at the weird coincidence.

"Women," I said, shaking my head in defeat.

"Okay, let's get serious," Alison said, though a grin was still visible on her lips. "[Superbad]. Why is it called that? Because I didn't find anything bad in it."

"Superbad is the boys' intentions at the beginning of the story," I replied. "What they want from life is not exactly good. But by the time the story ends, they've evolved and are not 'superbad' anymore. At least that's what I make out of it."

Anna gave me a considering look. "That was profoundly deep. I just thought they took two words, slapped them together, and bam, we have our title! Now, who's incapable of intelligent thought?"

I poked Anna's nose. "Definitely not you, Anna."

Anna blushed visibly before pulling away from me gently, not fast enough to suggest she was uncomfortable. It was probably only because this whole thing was being recorded. If it weren't, she probably wouldn't be so shy of my touch.

The interview lasted a few more minutes, and thankfully, the girls managed to conduct themselves with proper decorum for the rest of it.

Anna and I got up when it was over. This was our last interview in London, and I was done. I just wanted to go home and relax.

Initially, they had made teams of two for the interviews. I was supposed to be with Jonah, Chris with Seth Rogen, and Anna and Jennifer were going to stay together. But because of my falling out with Jonah, things had been shuffled around a bit. It was eventually decided to pair the boys with their lady loves, while Chris and Seth stayed together as originally planned.

"So, I heard a rumor about you," Anna said conversationally as we walked toward my fleet of cars.

I raised an eyebrow silently, not bothering to ask what.

"About you and Jonah?" she asked hesitantly.

"That's not a rumor," I said with a grin. "He was trying to make snide comments about me during interviews. I didn't like it, so I told him to do them alone. It's as simple as that."

"Huh," she huffed. "Man, they exaggerate things so much. Someone told me you threatened to end his career if he didn't promote the film."

I had kind of implied that. But I wouldn't have followed through on it. It was just an empty threat. Unless someone is genuinely evil or does something reprehensible—like harassing someone—I would never interfere with their career.

Heck, I hadn't even done anything to Russell Crowe, and I could have. At the very least, I could've made sure Warner and Paramount never worked with him again. But there are some lines I'm not willing to cross.

Once you start controlling people's careers like a puppeteer, you become someone nasty, like Harvey Weinstein. And that was the last thing I ever wanted to be.

"So," Anna said nervously as we approached our respective cars. "This is it, huh?"

I took her hand in mine. "It doesn't have to be. You can come stay at my place tonight."

Her eyes widened comically. "You… you mean that?"

I shrugged. "We're both adults. And you clearly want this." I pointed at my torso confidently with my other hand. Her eyes trailed across my chest, following the contours of my skin-tight T-shirt, and eventually landed on my crotch.

"Hey!" I called out, snapping my fingers in front of her face. "My eyes are up here."

She looked up quickly, blushing even more, then nodded minutely. "Okay."

I grinned before pulling her along into the back seat of my car.

(Break)

[Superbad] opened in 3,543 theaters across North America. While [Disturbia] hadn't fared all that well with critics, audiences had loved it, and they were eager to see Troy in a radically different role. Trade analysts predicted an opening weekend haul between $45–55 million.

On opening day alone, the film pulled in a staggering $20.4 million, including Thursday night previews. It followed with $16.8 million on Saturday and $15.9 million on Sunday, bringing the weekend total to $53.1 million—more than double its modest $25 million production budget. Even as collections dropped to $30.8 million in its second weekend, the numbers remained strong for a mid-budget comedy.

In subsequent weekends, it brought in $22.6 million, $24.4 million, $13.9 million, and $9.1 million, respectively. By the end of its domestic run, [Superbad] had grossed a staggering $208.3 million in North America alone.

But that wasn't all. Troy was an international superstar, and his global appeal proved powerful, even in markets typically less receptive to raunchy teen comedies. Take Japan, for example: films like Superbad are rarely released there due to cultural sensitivities. Yet, thanks to Troy's massive fanbase, distributors took a risk—and it paid off. The film earned $6.2 million in Japan alone. That figure may have been modest by Troy's usual standards, but far exceeded what the film could have achieved without his name attached.

The UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Russia, and New Zealand all brought in solid returns—each earning at least $3 million, with the UK topping out at $36 million.

By the end of its global run, [Superbad] had grossed $136.5 million internationally, pushing its worldwide total to a staggering $344.8 million.

After theater cuts, Paramount—the film's distributor—took home $155.5 million. Roughly $20 million went to marketing and publicity. Of the remaining $135.5 million, Paramount retained 15% as a distributor fee, leaving around $115 million in gross profit for the production. As the lead actor and producer, most of that landed in Troy's corner, after a share was sent to the writers, director, and co-stars.

Still, the success wasn't just financial. [Superbad] became a cultural phenomenon. Its quotes turned into instant internet memes, and its scenes were rewatched endlessly. Years later, it will remain a comedy classic.

_____________________________

AN: If you want the Spotify Link to Troy's two albums, check out the AN of this chapter (221) on RR (RoyalRo@d) or SH (Scr!bbleHub).