Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a 2010 American comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal and based on Jeff Kinney's 2007 book of the same name. The film stars Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Devon Bostick, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

20th Century Fox released the film theatrically in the United States on March 19, 2010, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossing $76 million worldwide against a $15 million budget.

The film spawned a film franchise and was followed by three sequels: Rodrick Rules (2011), Dog Days (2012), and The Long Haul (2017). An animated reboot of the same name was released in 2021, which was followed by two sequels of its own: a second adaptation of second adaptation of Rodrick Rules (2022) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (2023). A book detailing the film's creation process, titled The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, was released on March 16, 2010.

Storyline

Preteen Greg Heffley illustrates his daily life in a diary for when he is "rich and famous". He lives with his parents, Susan and Frank, his spoiled toddler brother, Manny, and his teenage brother, Rodrick, who torments Greg. On Greg's first day of middle school, he quickly discovers the ups and downs, such as the missing stall doors in the boys' bathroom and the difficulties of obtaining a seat during lunch. During physical education, Greg and his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, escape from a game of Gladiator and meet Angie Steadman, a seventh-grader who isolates herself from the other students to "survive". They notice a moldy piece of cheese on the basketball court and are told that whoever touches it gets "The Cheese Touch", whereby they become a social outcast. The only way to get rid of "The Cheese Touch" is to pass it on to someone else by touching them. Greg states his intentions of becoming the most popular student in school and earning a place in the school yearbook as class favorite.

When Greg and Rowley go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, a group of teenage boys in a pickup truck spray a fire extinguisher at them and chase them to Greg's grandmother's house. They escape after Greg accidentally damages their truck with a weed eater.

In other efforts to become popular the boys join the Safety Patrol team and a contest to become the school paper's cartoonist. When Greg accidentally breaks Rowley's arm during a game they invented, Rowley becomes popular and wins the cartoonist contest. During a Safety Patrol assignment, Greg walks kindergartners down a neighborhood street without Rowley. He encounters a truck identical to the teenagers' from Halloween and hides himself and the kids in a construction zone. Having borrowed Rowley's coat, he is confronted by a neighbor who mistakes him for Rowley. He flees, abandoning the kindergarteners. Rowley is bewildered to be suspended from Safety Patrol, until Greg confesses. Greg is fired from the service, while Rowley is reinstated as captain and ends their friendship. Greg tries to reconcile with Rowley at the Mother and Son Sweetheart Dance until he sees that Rowley has befriended Collin Lee instead.

Greg and Rowley confront each other after school, and a circle of students encourages them to fight. The teenagers from Halloween arrive and, having chased the other students into the school, force Rowley to eat some of the cheese. The teenagers flee when physical education teacher Coach Eduardo Malone arrives. When the other students come back out and notice the cheese has been eaten, Greg takes the blame to save Rowley's reputation, and they reconcile. At the end of the school year, Greg and Rowley make the yearbook class favorites page as "Cutest Friends".