Impractical Jokers: The Movie - What We Know So Far

Born out of the minds of the Tenderloins, a New York comedy troupe consisting of four friends, Impractical Jokers has been a reliable hit for TruTV since debuting in December 2011. Each episode consists of a series of dares, in which the Jokers bust each other's chops by embarrassing one of their own in public places while hidden cameras capture it all. The goal: utter and complete (but good-natured) humiliation, and to see who can take it like a champ. Impractical Jokers is made up of, as the intro tells viewers, "scenes of graphic stupidity," or comic improvisation in a real-world setting.

Impractical Jokers has blown up in the past year. In addition to the embarrassment-themed TBS game show The Misery Index, Joe, Murr, Q, and Sal are moving from the small screen to the big screen. Impractical Jokers: The Movie hits theaters soon. Here's everything there is to know about it.

The average episode of Impractical Jokers is constructed, but not scripted. It consists of dares conceived by the Tenderloins that one of them must endure, interacting with strangers in public as they do it, using their improv skills to make for good TV and to earn those coveted thumbs-ups. Impractical Jokers: The Movie, like any movie based on a TV show, takes the basic concept of the series and blows it up to big-screen levels. 

The TruTV website reports that the plot involves "a humiliating high school mishap from 1992 that sends the Impractical Jokers on the road competition in hidden camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and find redemption." A viewing of the film's official trailer shows that this early '90s element is provided by superstar of the era Paula Abdul, who meets the Jokers and invites them to a big party in Miami. But it would seem that not all of them get to go, and so they decide the best way to determine the odd man out is to do what they always do: Stage elaborate, competitive scenarios in which they can embarrass each other. Whoever they collectively deem the loser of this competition doesn't get to go to Paula Abdul's party.

On December 17, 2019, the people behind Impractical Jokers: The Movie released the first official trailer for the film. It whets fans' appetites for the film ahead of its release date months in the future, showing off how it follows the usual format of the show... on a much grander scale. While dining out one evening, the four Impractical Jokers (playing themselves) are approached by Paula Abdul, who tells them she loves them and insists they attend a big bash she's throwing in Miami. The gang obliges, only to later learn that Abdul sent along only three tickets. To decide who doesn't go, they embark on a road trip full of 10 embarrassing stunts, just like the ones they do on Impractical Jokers. And also like on the show, the loser of this installment gets a punishment — not getting to attend the gala.

The trailer gives a few sneak peaks at some of the high-stakes humiliating situations. It opens with one of the Jokers crawling out of a cave, resembling Gollum from The Lord of the Rings and claiming to tourists that he'd been trapped inside since 1987. Various Tenderloins also crash a group of Jaden Smith super-fans, try to get somebody to help with a broken-down car (complete with a trunk full of drugs), and engage in what appears to be a horseback gladiator ride.

As Impractical Jokers: The Movie is the film version of the extremely successful and long-running series Impractical Jokers, it would be baffling if filmmakers didn't include all four regular cast members. Indeed, all four members of the Tenderloin troupe co-headline the film: Joseph Gatto (Joe), James Murray (Murr), Brian Quinn (Q), and Salvatore Vulcano (Sal). All four co-wrote the movie, too, assisted by director (and Funny or Die bigwig) Chris Henchy. The rest of the cast is filled out by actors playing people the Jokers meet during their long and likely cringe-inducing voyage to Miami, along with many random strangers who happen to get pulled into the group's staged pranks. However, some "name" actors do show up for cameo appearances. Joey Fatone, formerly of NSYNC and currently a stalwart of almost as much reality TV as the stars of Impractical Jokers, plays a street busker, while Kane Hodder — the man behind the hockey mask as Jason Voorhees in multiple Friday the 13th movies — puts in an appearance as an imposing bodyguard. And playing Paula Abdul, the person upon whom the entire plot of Impractical Jokers: The Movie hinges: Paula Abdul.

While Impractical Jokers is a series that works best when cast and crew work with some modicum of secrecy, on April 30, 2018, Joker Sal Vulcano broke the news on Instagram that a film version of Impractical Jokers had started filming that very day. The movie, which costar Brian Quinn said at a 2018 San Diego Comic-Con event consists of "80 percent hidden camera and 20 percent storyline," completed filming relatively quickly, wrapping up about six weeks later on June 5, 2018. In early 2020, that movie will hit theaters, serving as the culmination in a series of major events for the Impractical Jokers brand. The show's latest slate of episodes debuts on TruTV on Thursday January 30. This season, its ninth, will feature the 200th episode of Impractical Jokers, scheduled to air on February 13. And then, finally, about a week later, Impractical Jokers: The Movie will begin rolling out to movie theaters nationwide. Fans of the show can venture out to select multiplexes on February 21, 2020 to see it.

There are any number of reasons to turn a hit television series into a film, but for many shows, a big part of the primary appeal is getting the chance to do things you simply can't do on television — and for a network or basic cable series like Impractical Jokers, that often means venturing into R-rated territory. 

All of which is to say that "what's it rated?" is typically among the most popular questions fans have when a movie based on one of their favorite television shows starts making its way to the big screen. Unfortunately for those wanting that info regarding Impractical Jokers: The Movie, the MPAA has yet to announce the film's rating. This isn't necessarily a big deal — as hardcore film fans are well aware, the inner workings of the ratings board are mysterious, and they seem to operate firmly on their own timetable — but we'll need to wait and see where they land on Impractical Jokers: The Movie.

All that being said, there's no reason to expect the Jokers' feature-length adventures to venture too far beyond the bounds of all-ages entertainment. Studios are typically reluctant to take an R rating for a mainstream movie, because PG-13 and PG releases reach a wider audience and stand the greatest chance of bringing in the largest amount of ticket sales. We'll have to wait to find out for sure, but the show's antics are in the PG-13 realm, and fans should expect the same from the film.