"The Girl Next Door" is a 2004 teen film starring Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert. Project began development at the end of 1999 with the first draft of the script delivered in early 2000. Christopher McKenna, who is mentioned in the director's commentary on the DVD, is responsible for the basic story structure and plot of the completed movie yet due to a Writer's Guild arbitration hearing he was stripped of all credit. Furthermore, according to Eli Roth (Hostel, etc.) in an interview on June 5th, 2007 on KITS "LIVE 105" (based in San Francisco, California), Chris McKenna got the story idea and the actual dialogue from conversations Chris had with Eli while Eli was in the editing studio for one of his movies. Eli Roth actually did date "the porn star next door" among others and Chris listened to his stories and turned it into this movie without crediting Eli. David Kartch was previously attached to direct but dropped out and was replaced by Luke Greenfield in 2002. Producers Charles Gordon and Marc Sternberg as well as studio executive Peter Cramer had earlier worked together as the producers of October Sky (1999) which also featured a teenager's attempts at social mobility.
According to the DVD commentary, the character of Eli is based on writer/director Eli Roth, and much of the production staff make direct appearances within the film, as does his mother, assistant, the producer, and the producer's assistants. Additionally, the prom in the film takes place in the cafeteria, much in the same way as the director's. These elements bestow a considerable personal touch on behalf of the production staff on the film.
The shooting began on January 11, 2003 at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California. All scenes showing topless models were also shot in PG-13 versions. Other locations included South Pasadena, the Masonic Lodge of Pasadena, Long Beach, and Hollywood (including a porn convention sequence shot at the Ren-Mar studios on Cahuenga Boulevard). The first kiss between Matthew and Danielle was shot on March 10, 2003 in the backyard of a house on Capri Drive north of Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades. It was the first shot of a night that began at 8pm and ended at 5am. Unusually for the area, temperatures dipped into the high 30's, necessitating that portable gas heaters be brought in for the actors and extras.
Shooting in Agoura Hills was briefly halted to retrieve one of the parrots which was meant to attack Hirsch but instead flew up a nearby tree. As Hirsch was still a minor during production, all of his nude scenes were performed by a stunt double. For a lap dance scene, several pillows were placed between him and the dancer. Despite all this consideration, it is noted that the champagne drunk in the limo by the underage actors near the end of the movie was real. Two extras were injured during shooting at Ren-Mar studios in Hollywood, CA, during the scene where Matt "Horshu" Wiese chases the two sidekicks. Hirsch himself was hurt whilst filming a fight sequence with Timothy Olyphant.
Principal photography ended in late March but two days of pickups, mostly comprising the scenes from the opening montage, were shot in Santa Clarita on April 24 and 25. The first cut of the film ran 120 minutes which was later cut to 106 minutes. There are several rare versions of the one-sheet in which Hirsch's inset character wears a blue rather than red shirt. Versions also exist in which the uncredited Christopher McKenna is given a "Screenplay By" credit alongside Stuart Blumberg and Luke Greenfield. In these, original screenwriters David Wagner and Brent Goldberg receive "Story By" credit. This one-sheet was not released to theaters. Budgeted at $19.9 million, the final project costs were $21 million.
The original release date was intended to be March 5, 2004 but was moved to April 10, 2004, which happened to be Good Friday. As a play on the title of a competing film - The Passion of the Christ - a marketing executive offered the tagline "This Easter, experience a different kind of 'Passion'." This suggestion was quickly shot down by studio brass. Despite security precautions, the film appeared in pirated versions on the internet before its release, primarily due to extensive preview screenings. A high quality DVD transfer was also leaked before the home video release, which also was available for download through file sharing software. Wikipedia
