When Lou (Rob Corddry) finds himself in trouble, Nick (Craig Robinson) and Jacob (Clark Duke) fire up the hot tub time machine in an attempt to get back to the past.
But they inadvertently land in the future with Adam Jr. (Adam Scott). Now they have to alter the future in order to save the past… which is really the present, in the sequel from the same team that brought you the original cult hit. Read what Craig had to say about his latest film.
In the movie, you’re sent back in time, so what would you do and when would you go?
Very easy. I would go to the days of soul train and be a soul train dancer. Done. Boom. I would get on the soul train line and then I would get in the adventure of it. Maybe I would just call it the Craig Robinson line.
Hot Tub Time Machine 1 you go back in the 80s, in this one you go to the future. What did you like best about each of the films and what did you like better about this one?
We had a lot of fun, on and off the screen and I feel like that comes out of the camaraderie and just having a good time. And that can really take the viewer away – give you that escapism that you yearn for when you to a movie. What I liked better about this one was the fact that this was a sequel, it automatically comes with these connotations that well you know, you try to tip your hat to the first one and then you try to break new ground. So what I liked is we did some scenes in here where I can’t wait until people see it so I can quote it with them and stuff. There’s a scene that sticks out for me. The freedom grows if that makes any sense. Because we already have the freedom to play … like when I do that Lisa Love song, I’m making up the words as I go along. Like I gotta get these songs out but I’m still making them up so the freedom to play with that – I love it.
How much creative input do you guys have on the movie?
Well we work with the script that Josh wrote and then every scene we have carte blanche pretty much. We get the important stuff out and then we have it. Steve, Josh, the very collaborative process so it’s a lot of pitching jokes as we go and it’s a lot of let’s try this. So we get a lot of creative input.
Was there any hesitation to jump on board for this film?
Yes because it hard to believe – like don’t get my hopes up. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right. Because we had a meeting in LA with the cast and the producers from MGM and they said they wanted to go ahead with this. And previous to that, there had been a script for Hot Tub 2 to go straight to DVD which Josh Heel did not write. So if there was any dream of having a part 2, it had been crushed because that was going to be for other actors or we were going to be the fathers of other actors. And the script wasn’t that good so when we sat down to read it, there was definitely some of “Uhh are we serious?” So yeah there was some hesitation but once they pitched it, it quickly was relieved.
How was it like working with Adam Scott?
Adam is a beast. I didn’t know him that well before and I had ran into him a few times and we had mutual respect for each other’s work. Now we had something to do together. So when he came on board, it was a time to see his character that he plays, that commitment, every time that you look at his face, he plays a kind of nerdy character, he has this simple and faraway look. It’s like Christian in the first one, so when he didn’t have the arm, you would catch him looking in the corner, looking pissed off. And he was just there and it was kind of terrifying so it was just looking at these two kinds of people. And that just calls to mind Adam because he has this goofy look on his face. But anyway, it was fun and he got into the mix and he and I have a love scene. So there you go.
The film hits theaters February 20, 2015.
