Johnny Knoxville turns camp counsellor in Tiny Fugitives

Johnny Knoxville stars as Bob, a 50-year-old counsellor ordered to retrieve escaped campers in Tiny Fugitives, which The Hollywood Reporter lists for release on Friday, 18 September. The story is centred on a Jewish summer camp, where children stay together for the season under adult supervision. The film runs 1 hour 39 minutes. It is rated R, which in the United States means anyone under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

Michael Lewen directs the film from a script he wrote with Jacob Kaplan. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg serve as producers, the industry role that shepherds a project from development to the screen. The credit block therefore pairs a first-time feature team with two well-known backers in screen comedy.

Knoxville's Bob is the adult at the centre of the chase. He is 50. He is well past the age of the usual young counsellor. His assignment is plain. Find the missing campers and bring them back to camp.

The ensemble around him is large. Benjamin Pajak, Aaron Harris, Isa Bernal Steiner, Jai Soundar, Alyssa Gervasi and Briana Templeton play the younger campers, while Rob Yang, Blake Anderson and Jay Baruchel take adult roles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Pajak plays Jacob, the boy whose home life is in flux. Baruchel plays Jacob's father. The mix sets young newcomers beside experienced comic performers.

Jacob comes to camp while his parents are divorcing. His father is engaged to another woman. That change at home travels with Jacob to his bunk. It colours his friendships and his decision to join the breakaway.

Lewen and Kaplan shaped those camp details from their own childhoods, they told Forward. Shared cabins, group routines and fierce loyalties come with the setting. Bob walks into that closed world as an outsider. He does not speak its shorthand. He must learn it quickly if he is to find the children.

For viewers, that gap is the engine. One tired adult. A small band of campers on the move. A short summer window in which to close the distance.