Johnson Family Vacation : About The Production


Anyone who’s ever piled into the car dreaming of a great vacation only to drive off into an out-of-control, disaster-prone, family trip gone south will identify with the comedy of the JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION. It’s a roadside emergency waiting to happen when Nate Johnson (Cedric The Entertainer) sets out with three unruly kids and one unsatisfied wife on a cross-country trek from California to Missouri for the Johnson family’s annual reunion/grudge match. And yet, even if the Johnsons start out at each other’s throats, in the comic adventures ahead they’re about to rediscover one another’s hearts.
Despite being virtually ignored by his separated wife Dorothy (Vanessa Williams) and out of touch with his rapper-wanna-be son (Bow Wow), his Lolita-like teenage daughter (Solange Knowles) and his imaginary-dog-toting youngest child (Gabby Soleil), Nate is convinced that he and his relations can make off with the coveted Johnson Reunion Family of the Year award.

But first they have to make it to Missouri. From the minute Nate hits the accelerator of his Lincoln Navigator, the Johnsons encounter one mishap after another, as they are sucked into the universe of Murphy’s Law where anything that can go wrong does . . . and the catastrophes just keep multiplying. Along the way, Nate is chased by an 18-wheeler out for revenge, savaged by unhygienic diners, put under a spell by a voodoo hitchhiker, taken into police custody for using a “biological weapon,” set adrift in a corn field and trapped in a hot tub nightmare. Still, nothing can detour Nate from getting his family to Missouri on time – except maybe finding Missouri.
A high-spirited ode to the delights and disasters that come with loving a family, and a new take on the vacation comedy, JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION marks the feature film debut of director Christopher Erskin, who previously helmed videos for such acts as TLC, Missy Elliot and Boyz II Men. It is also a first for screenwriter siblings Earl Richey Jones (“The Hughleys”) and Todd R. Jones (“C-Bear and Jamal”). The film is produced by Paul Hall (HIGHER LEARNING, WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE? and executive producer of SHAFT); Eric C. Rhone and Cedric The Entertainer (who together co-produced “Cedric The Entertainer: Starting Lineup” and “Cedric The Entertainer Presents...”); and Wendy Park of Hallway Pictures.

The cast of JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION brings together funnyman Cedric The Entertainer (BARBERSHOP), in his first leading role, with an ensemble comedy team that includes Vanessa Williams (SHAFT), Bow Wow (LIKE MIKE), Shannon Elizabeth (AMERICAN PIE), Solange Knowles in her feature film debut, Gabby Soleil (“The Hughleys”) and the multiple award-winning Steve Harvey (“The Steve Harvey Show”).