YouTube, Assassination of a High School President (2008) HQ trailer

Related:

Bayonne Community News,
4 Sep 2007,
A return to Bayonne

When Demi Moore came to Bayonne in 1991 to make her film "Mortal Thoughts," not many people may know that she brought her actor/husband, Bruce Willis, with her.
...
The movie company converted the public high school into a classic Catholic school, even reproducing sacred statues in the shops in the basement of the school to be posted on pedestals outside the school's front doors. A principal's office was recreated in one class on the first floor, complete with wooden door and translucent glass.

Religious icons and pictures have been installed along the halls and stairways, adding to the effect. The big scene - the homecoming dance - is being shot in the gym, and busy movie staff members have installed tables and chairs, as well as installed historic sports banners on the wall, suggesting the fictional history of the religious school.

Although Bayonne High School will be requiring school uniforms in the fall, the actors playing students wore classic Catholic school uniforms, often wandering from the recreation building to the main building carrying cups of coffee as workers installed scenery.

The Jersey Journal,
5 Sep 2007,
Cameras roll at Bayonne High

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there's a film crew 20 days into shooting for a new movie starring Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton and Reece Thompson.

But several members of the crew of about 100 say that after weeks of shooting largely inside Bayonne High School, yesterday was the first day they've been out in the sun - and getting some attention from the locals.

The film... tells the story of a sophomore newspaper reporter (Thompson) trying to unravel a case of stolen SAT exams, according to one production assistant, who asked that his name not be used because he isn't supposed to talk to reporters.

Tomas Deckaj, a production assistant and Bayonne resident, described it as a dark comedy with film noir elements.

Another said Thompson's character doubles as a narrator, and Willis - who crew members say left weeks ago after four days of filming at the high school - plays a high school principal.
...
"Every couple of years something like this comes around," he said, citing the 2005 Tom Cruise movie "War of the Worlds," parts of which were filmed in downtown Bayonne.

And this isn't the first time Willis has seen the Peninsula City: In 1991, he starred alongside Demi Moore in "Mortal Thoughts," a murder comedy-drama set in Bayonne.

MTV,
5 Sep 2007,
Mischa Barton's Femme Fatale, Bruce Willis' War-Vet Principal Roam The Halls Of 'Sophomore' Set

Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy teams up with girl to unearth deep mysteries and overthrow the established social order.

If that doesn't sound like your typical high school movie set-up, well, that's probably because "The Sophomore" (also known as "Assassination of a High School President") ain't exactly your typical high school movie, say co-stars Reece Thompson and Mischa Barton.

"The whole plot is quite deep. The characters are quite well-rounded," Barton told MTV News during a recent visit to the film's Bayonne, New Jersey, set. "I think what's really nice about it is that there is really mature dialogue in there. It still holds [to] those high school stereotypes, but it harkens back to 'Ferris Bueller' or a good high school movie where you really love the characters."

But don't let the fact that it's set in a high school fool you, Barton insisted — this movie is adult through and through.

"It's probably [gonna] be rated R," she revealed. "It's all kind of dark and darkly shot instead of all cheesy and bubblegum."

In fact, "The Sophomore" has more in common tonally with old-school '70s detective thrillers like "Chinatown" or "All the President's Men," Thompson said, than it does with "The Breakfast Club" or "Sixteen Candles," complete with a story that would please any hard-core noir enthusiast.

Read entire plot synopsis at MTV