idea for Friends With Kids had been floating around after Westfeldt and Hamm noticed that friends were starting to have families and 'all but disappearing from their lives.' Cast member Adam Scott admitted that the couple's suspicion was not baseless, as he and his wife had become "the worst friends to Jen and Jon because we were so busy" after getting married and having children. She was encouraged to move forward with her idea after an informal reading of the screenplay took place at her and Hamm's home in late 2010. It was always planned that Hamm would star in the movie, but in a role where he would not be paired-up with his real-life partner. However, this left only a few months open between when Hamm finished doing the fourth season of Mad Men and would resume for a fifth to get Friends with Kids off the ground and ready to shoot. According to one of the producers, resources for the production were easy to find. "The impossible algorithm is to line up the cast, the calendar and the cash in such a way that you get to make the movie", said co-producer Joshua Astrachan. "It just never is that easy to put an independent film together." Principal photography lasted for four weeks, beginning in New York during December 2010 and carrying out into early 2011. With a budget of less than US$10 million, Friends with Kids was made by Red Granite Pictures, Points West Pictures, and Locomotive. Red Granite Pictures led by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland also fully financed the film and distributed it internationally through Red Granite's distribution arm led by Danny Dimbort and Christian Mercuri. The soundtrack to the film featured many Jazz staples including Duke Ellington's "Angelica", which is performed by Brian Newman, Alex Smith, Paul Francis, and Steve Whipple. Release The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2011. On September 21, 2011, Lionsgate announced that it had acquired the distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States and Canada on March 9, 2012, Sweden on June 1, 2012, and Australia on June 7, 2012. Critical response Friends with Kids received mostly positive reviews from critics. The film received a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 146 reviews and an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sharp, shrewd, and funny,