It feels like forever since we first reported on John Stalberg Jr.’s HIGH School at Sundance back in January 2010, but such is life in the big city. The distribution game is a tough one and once a film is sold, it could end up on a shelf for any amount. Thankfully, Anchor Bay is bringing this one off the shelf and into theaters this summer. June 1, 2012 to be exact. For those who need some catch-up, it’s a film that yours truly called “a stoner comedy worthy of being mentioned in the same paragraph as both Dazed and Confused and the great John Hughes. It’s funny, unpredictable and filled with performances that are as bankable as they big name stars who’ve disappeared into them.”
One of those great performances comes from Adrien Brody, who becomes the crazed drug-dealing legend known only as Psycho Ed. You get a little taste of his madness in this newly released green band trailer, which doesn’t quite get as wild as what we saw in the film’s red band trailer, but you get the idea. Between Brody’s brilliance and an equally immersed performance from Michael Chiklis (yeah, that is Michael Chiklis), it’s no wonder this film ended up on my Editor’s Picks list for 2010. And now you all get to see it, as well. So start with the trailer after the jump and mark June 1 on your calendars. We’ll keep you updated from there.
Watch the new trailer for HIGH School below or watch it in HD at Apple.com:
Directed by John Stalberg Jr., HIGH School tells the tale of soon-to-be valedictorian Henry Burke (Matt Bush), who takes a hit of the chronic for the first time just as his school principal (Michael Chiklis) institutes a zero tolerance drug policy and administers a mandatory drug test for all students. Henry has two options: fail and lose his college scholarship, or team up with his stoner friend Breaux (Sean Marquette) to beat the system. They steal a high powered ganja from law student-turned-drug-dealer Psycho Ed (Adrien Brody) and spike the school’s bake sale brownies, getting the whole school–faculty included–completely stoned out of their minds. But with the student body getting higher and higher with every brownie, and a pissed-off Psycho Ed on their tails for stealing his stash, they must find a way to keep their half-baked plan from going up in smoke.
Anchor Bay will release HIGH School on June 1, 2012 in limited theaters. Follow at deptofmoralhealth.org for more info.