Ben Stiller and Judd Apatow CelebrateHeavyweights’30th Anniversary: 'An Incredibly Fun Summer'

Mar. 15, 2025

Ben Stiller and the cast of ‘Heavyweights’ in 1995.Photo:United Archives GmbH / Alamy

United Archives GmbH / Alamy

Ben StillerandJudd Apatoware celebrating the 30th anniversary of their cult favorite Disney movie,Heavyweights.

On Monday, Feb. 17, Apatow shared behind-the-scenes photos from the set of the 1995 film on Instagram — including one of himself with a youngKenan Thompson— along with promo pics of the cast and stills from the film itself. In the post’s caption, theKnocked Updirector noted that the date of the movie’s 30th anniversary coincides with NBC’s celebration ofSaturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary.

“SNL 50th AND Heavyweights 30th anniversary!” Apatow, 57, wrote. “And Keenan is on both [sic] - so that must have been especially exciting for him !”

Thompson would have been around 16 whenHeavyweightsfilmed in 1994, and was already a rising star of bothNickelodeon’sAll Thatand Disney’s 1994 filmD2: The Mighty Ducks. The actor went on to becomeSNL’s longest running cast member. But writing about the body image issues he struggled with during his early career in his 2023 memoir,When I Was Your Age,Thompson revealed that he felt “exploited a little”while filmingHeavyweightsand wrote that he convinced himself that it “wasn’t happening” to him.

AsApatow noted in a similar 2022 postcelebrating the film’s 27th anniversary,Heavyweights, co-written with director Steve Brill, was his first movie.

“It was a magical experience,” Apatow wrote in the 2022 post’s caption. “We shot at Camp Pinnacle in Hendersonville North Carolina in 1994. When it came out it didn’t make any noise but oddly it seems like tons of people have seen it and enjoy it.”

In his 30th anniversary post, the40-Year-Old Virgindirector posted many of the same “Angry Judd” Polaroids with cast members like Thompson andPaul Feig(director ofBridesmaids, 2016’sGhostbustersandA Simple Favor) that he shared in his 2022 post.

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Stiller also marked the movie’s anniversaryon X.

Kenan Thompson, David Goldman, Max Goldblatt, Aaron Schwartz and Ben Stiller in 1995’s ‘Heavyweights’.Richard Cartwright/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Richard Cartwright/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

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“Somehow I don’t think this will be at the head of the Disney+ queue ever,” theSeverancedirector wrote in response to a fan post noting the “underrated” movie’s 30th.

Stiller joked that he’s “not sure” Disney is even still aware that they madeHeavyweights, which underperformed at the box office when it was released.

“But that was an incredibly fun summer in North Carolina 30 years ago,” he added.

Heavyweightsis currently available to stream on Disney+.

source: people.com