The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: The Next Chapter (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) Read online

  OTHER BOOKS BY JEFF KINNEY

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down

  The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book

  The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary

  COMING SOON: MORE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for

  and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-4197-2752-8

  eISBN 978-1-68335-193-1

  Copyright © 2017 Wimpy Kid, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  Diary of a Wimpy Kid motion picture elements copyright © 2017 Twentieth

  Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary:

  The Next Chapter (excluding motion picture elements or as noted below)

  © 2017 Wimpy Kid, Inc.

  DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, WIMPY KID and the Greg Heffley image are

  trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.

  Film unit photography by Dan McFadden

  Photos on pages 58, 60–62, 66, 74, 78 (bottom), 81, 84, 87, 88,

  119 (middle), 128 (middle), 133 (bottom), 135 (top), 153,

  164 (bottom), 165 (top), 173 (top), 178, and 179 copyright © 2017 David Bowers

  Photo on page 198 (top) © 2017 Carol Tresan

  Photos on pages 36, 37 (bottom), 38, 39, 46 (top), 59,

  71 (bottom), 120, 124, 137, and 197 copyright © 2017 Jeff Kinney

  Photos on pages 4, 5, and 190 used under license from iStockPhoto

  Models on pages 42 and 113 used under license from iStockPhoto

  Photograph on page 169 used under license

  from Moviestore Collection Ltd/Alamy Stock Photos

  Photograph on page 170 used under license from Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photos

  Book and cover design by Jeff Kinney

  Published in 2017 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No

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  TO JASON

  The Road to “The Long Haul”

  Making a movie is a lot like going on a road trip.

  You start out with an idea of where you’d like to

  go, you make plans, and eventually you head off on

  your journey. There might be a few detours, and

  there are bound to be a few bumps along the way.

  But if everything goes as planned, you’ll end up

  where you wanted to be, and you’ll feel good about

  your accomplishment. And more often than not,

  the trip will change you for the better.

  This book is about the making of “Diary of a

  Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.” Moviemaking is full

  of twists and turns, so there’s a lot of ground to

  cover. But every trip, and every story, starts at

  the beginning.

  A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

  Like many movies, “The Long Haul” was a book

  before it became a film. And like many of the

  books in the Wimpy Kid series, this one was

  inspired by real-life events.

  “The Long Haul” can trace its origins all the way

  back to the 1970s, when the Kinney family had a

  number of memorable, and awful, road trips.

  Back in those days, the minivan hadn’t been

  invented, so families tended to get around in

  station wagons, which weren’t nearly as spacious.

  SERVICE

  STATION

  20 MILES

  2

  If the Kinneys wanted to go somewhere far from

  home, they almost always drove. But a lot can go

  wrong on the road.

  There was the time the Kinneys locked themselves

  out of the station wagon. Then there was the

  time one of the Kinney kids threw up in the

  backseat before they even got out of the driveway.

  And the time the Kinneys went camping in the

  mountains, and had to sleep in the car when a

  bear invaded the campsite. That might sound hard

  to believe, but it really happened.

  Two stories in particular became the inspiration

  for scenes in “The Long Haul.” And both involve

  animals getting loose in the car.

  SNUFFLE

  GRUNT

  3

  The Kinney kids were raised in Maryland, where in

  the summertime it’s common for a family to pick up

  a bushel of crabs at a roadside stand on the way

  home. That means driving with a paper bag full of

  live crabs.

  One summer night, the car hit a pothole, and the

  paper bag tipped over. The crabs ran wild on

  the floor of the station wagon, and the terrified

  Kinney kids squealed in horror in the backseat.

  Forty years later, that episode inspired the

  seagull scene in the book “The Long Haul.” The

  details are all changed, but the idea is the same:

  It’s terrifying to be trapped in a small space with

  panicked animals.

  4

  Another near-disaster occurred when the family’s

  pet rabbit, Frisky, somehow got out of its cage in

  the back of the station wagon and tried to squirm

  through the back window.

  But Mrs. Kinney saved the day by leaping from

  the front seat to the back and grabbing the

  rabbit’s hind legs before it had a chance to

  become roadkill.

  SCREAM!

  SCREECH!

  SMACK

  BONK

  5

  Later on, this became the inspiration for a scene

  in “The Long Haul,” when the pig gets out of its

  cooler and tries to escape.

  Most families have at least one road-trip horror

  story just like these.

  And that was the idea

  for “The Long Haul” —

  if Greg Heffley and his

  family went on a road

  trip across the country,

  what are all the things

  that could go wrong?

  WRIGGLE

  SQUIRM

  EASY AS ONE-TWO-THREE

  In 2015
, there were ten Wimpy Kid books, and

  three of them had already been made into movies.

  “The Long Haul” was the first Wimpy Kid book

  that was actually written with a movie in mind. And

  the timing was perfect: The studio had started to

  think about making a new Wimpy Kid movie.

  Everyone agreed, “The Long Haul” was a great

  idea for the next film. The first three movies were

  set in the Heffleys’ town, but this was a chance

  to get Greg and his family out of their regular

  world and on the road.

  7

  But the movie would have to be different from the

  book. If you’ve ever seen a movie that’s based on

  a book you’ve read, you’ve probably noticed that

  there are a lot of changes. That’s because if you

  film a book exactly the way it’s written, chances

  are it won’t make a very good movie.

  Even though every movie is different, audiences

  expect certain things to happen when they’re

  watching a film. Almost all movies are written in

  three sections called “acts.” Let’s take a look at

  what happens in each act, using one of Greg and

  Rowley’s movies as an example.

  Night

  of

  the

  NIGHT

  CRAWLERS

  8

  ACT ONE

  We meet the main character, or “hero.”

  We learn about the hero’s world and the problems

  the hero faces.

  Hi,

  I’m

  Bob.

  I live in

  a tiny

  apartment.

  My fridge

  is broke

  and it always

  makes

  stuff way too

  cold!

  I have

  a

  roommate

  roommate named Dave

  who is

  SO lazy.

  Dave,

  you

  left your

  socks in the

  sink!

  zzzz

  You

  gotta

  chill,

  bro.

  FROZEN

  SOLID

  Something unexpected happens.

  The hero is faced with a big decision.

  ONE NIGHT BOB

  COMES HOME

  FROM WORK...

  What

  a

  rotten

  day

  at

  work!

  Dave better

  not be laying

  around...

  What

  the-?

  There

  are

  giant

  worms

  everywhere!

  SCREAM!

  SCREAM!

  I’m

  outta

  here!

  PANT

  PANT

  I can’t

  let

  those

  worms

  eat

  my

  roommate!

  What

  should

  I

  do?

  Run?

  Or

  fight?

  SLAM

  ACT TWO

  The hero takes action!

  I

  can’t

  just

  let

  those

  worms

  eat

  Dave!

  Even

  if

  he

  IS

  a

  lazy

  jerk.

  Time

  to

  take

  action!

  I’m

  here

  to

  save

  you,

  Dave!

  WHAM

  Where

  are

  you?

  I

  shut

  myself

  in

  the

  bathroom!

  In the middle of Act Two, something serious

  happens.

  Things get harder and harder for the hero, and the

  hero hits rock bottom.

  Here

  I

  come,

  pal!

  KICK

  Oh

  no!

  I’m

  too

  late!

  GOBBLE

  GOBBLE!

  Oh

  no!

  These

  worms

  are

  eating

  my

  furniture!

  CHEW

  CHEW

  CHEW

  CHEW

  And

  my

  TV!

  CHEW

  CHEW

  And

  my

  goldfish!

  GOBBLE

  GOBBLE

  What

  can

  I DO?

  ACT THREE

  The hero figures out a solution to the problems

  and starts to “win.”

  I

  got

  it!

  INSECT SPRAY

  STORE

  One

  can

  of

  worm

  repellant,

  please.

  You

  got

  it,

  bub.

  OK

  worms...

  you

  asked

  for

  it!

  FWOOSH

  TAKE

  THAT!

  GASP!

  AND

  THAT!

  AIEEE!

  FWOOSH

  This

  is

  working!

  Something unexpected happens, and things are

  worse than ever for the hero.

  Uh-oh,

  I

  ran

  out!

  PFST…

  What’s

  THAT?

  RUMBLE

  RUMBLE

  ROAR!

  GOOD

  GOLLY!

  SMASH!

  WRIGGLE

  WRIGGLE

  Help!

  Help!

  I

  guess

  this

  is

  the

  end!

  The hero remembers the lessons from what’s

  happened before and finds a new solution.

  The hero uses those lessons and (usually) wins!

  You

  gotta

  CHILL,

  bro!

  Here

  goes

  nothing!

  WOOSH

  CRACK!

  SHATTER!

  I

  guess

  Dave

  wasn’t

  so

  bad

  after

  all!

  THE

  END.

  Believe it or not, almost every movie you’ll see

  follows the same beats of a three-act structure.

  “The Wizard of Oz,” “Star Wars,” and every

  superhero movie that’s ever been made — if you really

  think about it, they’re all the same basic story.

  The next time you watch a movie, keep track of

  the beats. Try to figure out where one act ends

  and the next act begins. And once you can do all

  that, you’ll be able to guess what will happen next

  in the story.

  But be careful. It might not make you popular.

  SMOOCH

  I’LL BET THE

  WEREWOLF COMES

  BACK TO LIFE IN

  A
CT THREE!

  16

  GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES

  Just because the rules for writing a script are

  pretty simple, that doesn’t mean it’s easy for a

  screenwriter to get everything right the first

  time around. For most movies, there are at least a

  dozen drafts, and it takes months of rewriting to

  get a script right.

  The filmmakers knew that certain changes had to

  be made to “The Long Haul” to make the story

  work as a movie. In the book, the family sets

  out on a road trip, but they’re not really trying

  to get anywhere. They just drive around for a few

  days and end up where they started, back at home.

  But that wouldn’t really work for a movie. It’s

  important for the audience to have something to

  root for, so the screenwriters gave the Heffleys

  a goal: to reach Meemaw’s house in time for her

  ninetieth birthday party.

  Meemaw is Greg’s great grandmother, and she

  made an appearance in Book 8, “Hard Luck.”

  In a movie, it’s important to have a “ticking

  clock.” When there’s something that has to

  happen by a certain time, it makes everything

  seem more urgent — and keeps the audience on the

  edge of their seats.

  Would the Heffleys get to Meemaw’s in time for

  the party? Or would Greg screw everything up

  and make them miss it? That’s the question at the

  center of this movie.

  18

  The idea for Meemaw’s birthday party stuck and

  made it into the final script. But there were lots

  of other ideas that didn’t make the cut.

  Here are some scenes that were part of the

  “Long Haul” script at one time, but were later

  thrown out.

  Greg, Fregley, and Chirag have an epic laser tag

  fight at a bowling alley.

  Greg’s family is rescued by a Spanish-speaking

  heavy metal group called Metallichihuahua.

  BUZZ

  ZAP

  ZAP

  ZAP

  BUZZ

  ZAP

  RED

  BLUE

  10

  7

  ZAP

  Greg and Rodrick are chased by a charging bull at

  the country fair.

  The Heffleys and the Beardos get into a tug-of-war

  over a lounge chair at a water park.

  As you can see, not every idea is a winner. But

  trying out lots of different ideas can help point