to keep the R rating after pressure from Dobkin. Filming Dobkin insisted on three and a half weeks of rehearsals before filming began, based on his background working in theater. Principal photography began on March 22, 2004, in Washington, D.C. The film had a 52-day shooting schedule. The main Cleary wedding reception scene was filmed at the Inn at Perry Cabin in Saint Michaels, Maryland. The Ellenborough Estate in Easton, MD is the setting of the Cleary family house, where a majority of the movie takes place. Director David Dobkin said Owen Wilson was nervous for the scene where he grabs Jane Seymour's breast. "He didn't really want to squeeze her breast when she was telling him to. And I was like, 'Dude, you gotta do it, it doesn't look right, your hands look like crab claws.' And then he did it eventually and that scene ended up being way funnier than I thought it was going to be," Dobkin said. The family dinner scene has been cited by Keir O'Donnell as the most grueling scene to film with Vaughn stating that the cast and crew were unsure if the scene would work on screen in the way in which it was intended. To shoot the scene in which the family plays football, Dobkin—an avid fan of the NFL—shot the scene in the manner in which a TV crew broadcasts an NFL game in order to make the scene seem authentic and familiar to the audience. Throughout the filming of the movie the producers encouraged improvisation from the cast, specifically from Wilson and Vaughn, leaving breaks in the script for the cast to improvise. In one scene, Vaughn improvises for over 25 seconds straight. Release Box office The film was released in North America on July 15, 2005, and became an immediate hit, grossing $33,900,720 in its first weekend, opening at #2 in the box office, behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Exit polling indicated that 60% of audiences were over 25 years old, and almost evenly split between men and women. Considering its higher than expected budget of $40 million, competition with heavily advertised blockbusters during the summer season, and the film's R-Rating limiting its potential audience, the studio did not expect the movie's level of success, making it a sleeper hit. New Line head of distribution, David Tuckerman said "We would have been happy with $25 million this