Everybody Wants Some!! (film)

Plot

In Texas in the fall of 1980, college freshman Jake (Blake Jenner) – a hotshot pitcher in high school – moves into the house he will be sharing with other members of the fictional Southeast Texas Cherokees college baseball team, and meets several of his new teammates, including his roommate Billy (Will Brittain) who has been nicknamed "Beuter" because of his White Southern accent. He joins Finnegan (Glen Powell), Roper (Ryan Guzman), Dale (Quinton Johnson), and Plummer (Temple Baker) cruising the campus by car, looking to meet female students. Stopping to chat with two women moving into their apartment, upperclassmen Roper – an unapologetic hound-dog – and Finnegan – adopting a false feminist tone – both "strike out" with them, but one of them – Beverly (Zoey Deutch) – comments that she likes Jake ("the quiet guy in the back seat"); he makes a note of her apartment number.

At a team meeting at the house, the baseball coach introduces the new players, which include Jake, Plummer, Beuter, Brumley (Tanner Kalina) – all freshmen – and two transfer students: Jay (Juston Street), recruited for his professional-level pitching, and Willoughby (Wyatt Russell), a bearded philosopher-stoner. The coach cites two rules: no alcohol in the house, and no women upstairs, but the team disregards them, later hosting a drunken party, with several team members taking women up to their bedrooms. Jake tries to take a woman he's met to the downstairs room they'd set aside for sex, but it's occupied, and Beuter refuses to leave their room so Jake can't use it. The next morning, Beuter leaves temporarily for home, concerned that his girlfriend is pregnant.

Later, the team go out drinking and "cruising chicks" together, first to the local disco. Finnegan's patter about his "average penis", intended to impress women with his lack of ego, is interrupted when Jay's arrogant and racist remarks provoke a fist fight with one of the bartenders, and they are all ejected. Sending Jay home, they change their clothes and instead go to a western-themed bar to end their night on a high note. The next day, at the house, Willoughby shares his marijuana, music, and philosophy with the freshmen, professing his love for Pink Floyd while stating his extreme distaste for Van Halen. That afternoon while walking around with several of his teammates, Jake happens upon Justin (Michael Monsour), a former teammate from high school who has embraced punk subculture. He invites them to a punk concert, and with Jake's encouragement they go, briefly putting on yet another identity. Jake leaves flowers and a note on Beverly's apartment door that night before he and the rest of the team have a massive frat party at their house.

The next morning, Beverly calls him and they quickly agree to meet. She explains that she's a performing-arts major; Jake answers only that he's a baseball player, based on advice given to him by Finnegan. At the team's first unofficial practice session, Jay upsets the rest of the team by pitching to them aggressively. McReynolds (Tyler Hoechlin), the team's captain and best player, puts Jay in his place when he hits a home run off of him, which causes Jay to throw a tantrum. The coach unexpectedly shows up and calls Willoughby off the pitcher's mound. It is later revealed that Willoughby is 30 years old, and has been fraudulently transferring to new colleges so he can continue playing ball and enjoying the student lifestyle.

Beverly invites him to come to "Oz", a costume party thrown by performing-arts students every Fall. Jake mentions the party to his teammates and tries to tell them they wouldn't enjoy it, but they cajole him into taking them. Although they initially don't fit in well with the "artsy" atmosphere and activities, they do their best to hit on the women there and eventually warm up to their surroundings. Finnegan is ridiculed by his friends for adapting his patter to pretend to be into astrology, and Jake takes part in an improvised Alice in Wonderland-themed take on The Dating Game. Jake continues to get close to Beverly and they end up spending the rest of the night together.

The next morning the semester begins, and Jake and Beverly walk together from her apartment, parting to go to their separate classes. Two of the team – who know that Jake didn't return home the night before – razz him for it. He runs into Plummer in his classroom, and they settle in for their first lecture. Their history professor enters and writes the phrase "Frontiers are where you find them" on the chalkboard. As their first ever college class officially begins, Plummer and Jake fall asleep.

Development

Linklater wrote the first draft of the film in mid-2005, and tried to finance the film in 2009, but could not get production off the ground until Annapurna Pictures became involved.

In August 2014, Linklater ceased involvement on the Warner Bros. film The Incredible Mr. Limpet, stating that he wanted to concentrate on a university-set, 1980s baseball film under the working title of That's What I'm Talking About. The project is considered a spiritual sequel to Linklater's 1993 film, Dazed and Confused, which was set on the last day of high school in 1976. Linklater also considers the film a "spiritual sequel" to Boyhood because "it begins right where Boyhood ends with a guy showing up at college and meeting his new roommates and a girl."

In September, Linklater offered Jenner, Hoechlin, Russell, and Guzman roles as members of the baseball team that the film focuses on. Hoechlin favored the role and chose it over returning to the fifth season of MTV's series Teen Wolf. Later in September, Annapurna Pictures became involved as a financial producer of the film, while Paramount Pictures signed on to handle distribution rights. More cast members were announced, including Deutch, Brittain, and Powell.

Filming

Principal photography began on October 13, 2014 in Austin, Texas. On October 15, filming was taking place in Weimar, Texas, and lasted until December 2, 2014. Shooting locations included San Marcos, Texas, Bastrop, Texas, Elgin, Texas and San Antonio, Texas. A night shoot involving extras occurred on October 31, 2014, for a costume party scene in Taylor, Texas.

Release

On July 27, 2015, Paramount Pictures set the film for an April 15, 2016 release in the United States. In February 2016, the film was moved up to April 1, in a limited release. It was then moved to March 30.

Box office

The film received a limited release across 19 locations in New York City and Los Angeles on March 30. Deadline.com said "should the film make $20K per theater that would be great. If it makes north of a $35K average, that would be fantastic." The film's opening weekend per-screen gross was $16,440; the final gross was $4.6 million--well below the film's $10 million budget.

Critical response

Everybody Wants Some!! received critical acclaim, with many critics praising the cast, especially Glen Powell's supporting performance, and Linklater's directing. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 87%, based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Nostalgic in the best sense, Everybody Wants Some!! finds Richard Linklater ambling through the past with a talented cast, a sweetly meandering story, and a killer classic rock soundtrack." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 83 out of 100, based on 50 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".