How to Eat Fried Worms (2006)

During the first day of his new school year, a fifth grade boy squares off against a bully and winds up accepting a dare that could change the balance of power within the class.

Director:

Bob Dolman

Writers:

Bob Dolman (screenplay), Thomas Rockwell (novel)

Stars:

Luke Benward, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Adam Hicks

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Benward	...	Billy
Hallie Kate Eisenberg	...	Erika
Adam Hicks	...	Joe
Austin Rogers	...	Adam
Alexander Gould	...	Twitch
Ryan Malgarini	...	Benjy
Philip Bolden	...	Bradley (as Philip Daniel Bolden)
Clint Howard	...	Uncle Ed
Ty Panitz	...	Woody
James Rebhorn	...	Boiler Head
Tom Cavanagh	...	Dad
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Mom
Andrew Gillingham	...	Techno Mouth
Blake Garrett	...	Plug
Alexander Agate	...	Donny

Storyline

The Forrester family - father Mitch Forrester, mother Helen Forrester, their pre-teen son Billy Forrester and their pre-school son Woody Forrester - have just moved to a new town where Mitch is starting a new job. Both Mitch and Billy are worried about fitting into their new environment. It's worse for Billy as Woody, who is not worried about the move, is at that stage in his life where everything is simple and easy. Billy's first day in the fifth grade at his new school does not go well when he gets into an altercation with the class bullies, led by Joe Guire. The altercation involves worms and Billy stating that he eats worms all the time, which leads to all the bullies calling him "Wormboy". As such, Joe bets Billy that he can't eat ten worms (without vomiting), the bet to take place this upcoming Saturday, with the last worm to be consumed by 7pm. Despite having a notoriously weak stomach, Billy takes him up on the bet. As the bet starts, the only classmate on Billy's side is ...

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Plot Keywords:

school | new school | boy | bully | bet | 

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Taglines:

It's Global Worming!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild bullying and some crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

New Line Cinema [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

A skacok meg a kukacok

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,003,537 (USA) (25 August 2006)

Gross:

$13,022,756 (USA) (6 October 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gran Via, New Line Cinema, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Billy and Erika are at Erika's house when she's doing archery was the first scene filmed.

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Goofs

After Billy eats the "Barfmallow", the white goo on his mouth and hands appears and disappears as he jumps around.

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Quotes

Principal "Boiler Head" Burdock: You boys up to something? Ya look a little mischievous.

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Crazy Credits

Silent quote from trailer used: "No worms were harmed in the making of this film." (Shows worm blowing up in microwave.) "Not even this one"

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Connections

Version of CBS Storybreak: How to Eat Fried Worms (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Get Ready for This"
Written by Filip De Wilde, Jean-Paul DeCoster (as Jean-Paul Henriette De Coster), Ray Slijngaard (as Raymond Slijngaard) and Simon Harris
Performed by 2 Unlimited
Courtesy of Byte Records

User Reviews

Nothing like book but still enjoyed it!

I remembered this as being one of my favorite books as a child and had been wanting to read it to my 5 year old daughter for a while now. I knew the movie was coming out soon so we went to the library to get the book and they gave us preview passes for the next day! We rushed home and spent the afternoon reading the book so we could compare. Wasn't necessary. The only thing in common between the book and the movie is the main characters' first name, the fact that there is a bet, and a whole lot of worm eating. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the kid who cooks most of the worms likes to present his masterpieces with a french accent. How the kids know each other, the number of kids involved, how the bet came about, the number of worms that must be eaten, the time frame in which he has to eat the worms, how they are cooked, progression of friendships, climax scenes, etc., NOTHING is the same. But somehow, it did not ruin the movie for me. The characters are all enjoyable, and the film did not leave me disappointed. Word of caution for parents, there was one moment when you could hear the adults in the room collectively draw their breath and that was when Billy's little brother referred to his penis as a "dilly dick". The embarrassing part came when my daughter proceeded to ask those sitting around us, "Does anybody know what a dilly dick is?" lol. That and an occasional "shut up" is as foul mouthed as this film gets. My daughter thought she might get sick around worm 3 and 4 (and was holding the empty nacho container just in case) but was fine by worm 6. She and I both really enjoyed the film and had a wonderful time sharing the experience.