Zookeeper

Zookeeper is a 2011 American fantasy comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, with a screenplay by Nick Bakay, Rock Reuben, Kevin James, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn, from a story by Scherick and Ronn, and produced by Todd Garner, James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Walt Becker. The film stars James, Rosario Dawson, and Leslie Bibb with supporting roles by Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe Rogan, Nat Faxon, and Tom Woodruff Jr., alongside the voices of Cher, Nick Nolte, Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Judd Apatow, Jim Breuer, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Richie Minervini, Maya Rudolph, and Bas Rutten. It is about an unlucky zookeeper and the talking animals at his zoo who break their silence to help him find love. Filming began in Boston on August 17, 2009. It was the first Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film to be co-produced with Happy Madison (as well as their first production to be released after the company had filed for bankruptcy the year prior), though the film, like a majority of the Happy Madison output, was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Zookeeper was released in the United States on July 8, 2011. It received mostly negative reviews from critics and earned $169.8 million on an $80 million budget. Plot In 2005, zookeeper Griffin Keyes proposes to his girlfriend Stephanie, but is turned down, because of his career as a zookeeper as the reason, breaking his heart. Five years later in 2010, Griffin is now the head zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo, caring deeply for the animals. That night, Griffin holds an engagement party there for his brother Dave, but freaks out when he discovers that Stephanie was invited. Dave suggests that Griffin work with him at his car dealership to get Stephanie back, so Griffin considers doing it.