''Secret Headquarters'' is a 2022 American superhero

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Henry Joost Henry Joost (born October 30, 1982) is a German-born American filmmaker, whose work includes directing, with Ariel Schulman, the films ''Catfish'', ''Paranormal Activity 3'', ''Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and ''Project Power''. Henry is ...

and

Ariel Schulman Marek Ariel Schulman (born October 2, 1981) is an American filmmaker and actor. He starred in, produced, and directed the 2010 documentary ''Catfish'', and directed ''Paranormal Activity 3'', ''Paranormal Activity 4'', ''Nerve'' and ''Project Powe ...

, who co-wrote the movie with Christopher L. Yost and Josh Koenigsberg, based on a story by Yost. Starring

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...

Walker Scobell ''The Adam Project'' is a 2022 American science fiction action comedy film co-produced by Skydance Media, Maximum Effort, and 21 Laps Entertainment. It was directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay written by Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jenni ...

, Jesse Williams, Keith L. Williams, Momona Tamada, Charles Melton, and

Michael Peña Michael Anthony Peña (; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor. He has starred in many films, including ''Crash'' (2004), '' World Trade Center'' (2006), '' Shooter'' (2007), '' Observe and Report'' (2009), '' Tower Heist'' (2011), '' Batt ...

, the plot follows a child (Scobell) and his friends (K. L. Williams, Tamada) who begins to suspect his father (Wilson) might be a superhero after discovering a secret headquarters in his basement. The film premiered at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia on August 8, 2022, and was released in the United States on August 12, 2022, on

Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...

. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Jack Kincaid is The Guard, a superhero chosen by an alien artifact to inherit its powers and save the world, but his hero duties cause him to neglect his parental duties to his son Charlie, driving a wedge between them. When Charlie stays at Jack's house for his birthday, he invites his friends Berger, Lizzie, and Maya over, where they find Jack's underground lair and find out his secret identity. Meanwhile, a weapons CEO named Ansel Argon wants to use The Guard's power source for his own sinister schemes. After the kids use Jack's gadgets, Argon's head mercenary, Sean Irons, brings his team to track down the power source. The kids fight back, and Jack manages to arrive just in time, but when Berger sends the source through a portal connected to his locker at school, Argon uses one of Jack's gadgets to get his own suit and kidnap Berger to find the source. Charlie leads his friends, plus Irons, to get their own gadgets to fight back. The showdown takes place during the school dance, ending with Charlie sending Argon through a portal to another dimension with a grenade. He ends up dancing with Maya and kissing her. Charlie ends up joining Jack so they can fight crime together.

Cast

* Walker Scobell as Charlie Kincaid ** Louie Chaplin Moss as Younger Charlie Kincaid *

as Jack Kincaid/The Guard, a superhero. * Keith L. Williams as Berger * Momona Tamada as Maya Monroe *

as Ansel Argon * Jesse Williams as Sean Irons * Charles Melton as Hawaii * Abby James Witherspoon as Lizzie * Kezii Curtis as Big Mac *

Jessie Mueller Jessica Ruth Mueller (born February 20, 1983) is an American actress and singer. She started her acting career in Chicago and won two Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2008 and 2011 for her roles as Carrie Pipperidge in ''Carousel'' and Amalia Balash in ...

as Lily Kincaid * Lucius Baston as Jerry the Janitor *

DK Metcalf DeKaylin Zecharius "DK" Metcalf (born December 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss. He is the son of former NFL guard Terrence ...

as Coach Hammer * Dustin Ingram as Jersey *

Levy Tran Levy Tran (born November 16, 1983), born as Vy Le Tran, is an American actress and model, best known for her role as Roenick in the 2018 film '' The First Purge'', Desi Nguyen in ''MacGyver'', the guest hostess to MTV's ''Guy Code'', for her app ...

as Virginia * Michael Anthony as Wisconsin * Lav Luv as Umpire * Dayna Beilenson as Ms. Squint * David Lengel as Coach Skipper

Vehicles

''Secret Headquarters'' features a number of futuristic and concept vehicles: • XP Zero electric motorcycle, designed by vehicle designer Hugo Eccles, manufactured by Untitled Motorcycles in California • ID. Buzz electric van, manufactured by Volkswagen Group • ID.4 electric small SUV, manufactured by Volkswagen Group • Trident 660 motorcycle, manufactured by Triumph Motorcycles

Production

''Secret Headquarters'' was announced on May 6, 2021, when it was reported that

and

would direct the film for Paramount Pictures and would also work on the current draft for the project with Josh Koenigsberg from an original idea by

Christopher Yost Christopher Lee Yost (born February 21, 1973) is an American film, television, animation, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe with '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) and '' Thor: Ragnarok'' ( ...

. In May 2021,

was cast in an undisclosed role.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

on May 25, 2021. In June,

, Walker Scobell, Momona Tamada, Keith L. Williams, Abby James Witherspoon, and Kezii Curtis were all announced as part of the cast. In July 2021, Jesse Williams joined the cast as the villain.

Lorne Balfe Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer and record producer of film, television, and video game scores. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions, Balfe is known for his composing music for big-budget films like ...

composed the score.

Release

''Secret Headquarters'' was released on

on August 12, 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on August 5, 2022 before moving to streaming on the same date. The film's red carpet premiere took place at the Signature Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on August 8, 2022.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Paramount+ 2022 adventure films 2022 comedy films 2020s adventure comedy films 2020s superhero films American adventure comedy films American superhero films Films directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films scored by Lorne Balfe Films shot in Atlanta Films shot in Los Angeles Paramount Pictures films Paramount+ original films 2020s English-language films Films about father–son relationships 2020s American films