Aliens in the Attic is a 2009 American comic science fiction film directed by John Schultz and written by Mark Burton and Adam F. Goldberg, based on an original story conceived by Burton. Starring Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Tisdale, Gillian Vigman, Andy Richter, Doris Roberts, Robert Hoffman, Kevin Nealon, Tim Meadows, Josh Peck, J. K. Simmons, Kari Wahlgren and Thomas Haden Church, the plot revolves around the children in the Pearson family defending their vacation home against a group of aliens, who are planning an invasion of Earth until one of the aliens betrays them and joins the Pearson children in battle.
Produced by Regency Enterprises and Dune Entertainment, Aliens in the Attic was released theatrically by 20th Century Fox on July 31, 2009, in the United States. The film received mixed reviews from film critics, but failed at the box office, earning merely $57.9 million on a $45 million budget.
Plot
A meteor shower rockets through the dark galaxy, and four glowing pods hide behind it. Suddenly the pods make a hard right and head towards the distant planet Earth.
In a Chicago suburb, Stuart Pearson (Kevin Nealon) and his wife Nina (Gillian Vigman) head a family that includes 7-year-old Hannah (Ashley Boettcher), 17-year-old Bethany (Ashley Tisdale), who sneaks out with her boyfriend Ricky Dillman (Robert Hoffman), and 15-year-old techno-geek Tom (Carter Jenkins). After arguing with Tom over changing his grades on his school's website, Stuart takes the family to a rented lakeside vacation house in Creek Landing, Michigan. Joining them is Nathan "Nate" Pearson (Andy Richter), his 14-year-old show off son Jake (Austin Butler), identical 12-year-old gamer twins Art (Henri Young) and Lee (Regan Young), and Nana Rose (Doris Roberts). Ricky also arrives unexpectedly and talks his way into staying overnight, by faking his car broke down.
As the family settles in, dark storm clouds swirl around the house and the four glowing pods land on its roof. A crew of little aliens emerges: consisting of Skip (J. K. Simmons), a nasty and tough commander, Tazer (Thomas Haden Church), an ugly muscle-bound soldier armed to the teeth, Razor (Kari Wahlgren), a violent female soldier, and Sparks (Josh Peck), a four-armed engineer and the only non-threatening member. As the aliens crash into the satellite dish, Ricky and Tom volunteer to fix it. In the attic, Ricky then reveals to Tom that he lied about his car breaking down and being 18. He is actually in college and four years older than Bethany. Ricky sends Tom to fix the satellite dish by himself, but it is smashed. Investigating further, Tom and Jake discover the aliens. Ricky is shot by Tazer with a dart-like "mind control plug", so the aliens can control him via remote.
The "Zirkonians" plan to take over Earth and make Ricky attack the boys, but Tom and Jake escape with Hannah and the twins' help. Tazer shoots them with mind control plugs, but they fall off harmlessly, as they do not work on kids. The group calls 911, but sheriff Doug Armstrong (Tim Meadows), doesn't believe them and scolds them while the aliens cut the phone wire. The kids decide to protect the adults by keeping the aliens' existence a secret. Tom creates a potato gun to repel the first alien attack from the attic. In the process, they obtain Ricky's controller and turn him against the aliens. The mind-controlled Ricky's actions begin to tear apart his relationship with Bethany.
The kids get the adults out of the house and then ambush the aliens as they try to reach the basement via the air vents. Gentle and non-violent Sparks gets separated from the group and ends up in Hannah's room. She befriends him and he reveals that he wants to return to his family as he is being forced to help with the invasion. Sparks creates weapons for the kids and reveals they are seeking the "Sizematron", a machine buried under the basement for many years that will allow the Zirkonians to invade the planet. The kids' grandmother is mind controlled by the aliens, giving her superhuman strength and agility. Razor believes he's taking Sparks, but the pink suitcase that he was hiding in was actually empty. The kids take the commander hostage in a box. The sheriff shows up and asks to see what's in the box, however the adults' arrival distract him as they invite him to dinner.