# Death at a Funeral (2010 film)
**Death at a Funeral** is a 2010 American comedy directed by [Neil LaBute](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-labute), a remake of the 2007 British comedy of the same name written by Dean Craig and directed by [Frank Oz](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-oz). It stars [Chris Rock](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-rock), Martin Lawrence, and Tracy Morgan as members of a family whose funeral for their patriarch unravels into farce involving family secrets, blackmail, a misdirected corpse, and an accidental drug overdose.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/deathatafuneral)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Neil LaBute; screenplay by Dean Craig, who wrote the 2007 original[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) |
| Principal cast | Chris Rock (Aaron), Martin Lawrence (Ryan), Tracy Morgan (Norman), Danny Glover (Uncle Russell), Regina Hall (Michelle)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) |
| Release | Wide release April 16, 2010, distributed by Screen Gems; rated R for language, drug content, and some sexual humor[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/) |
| Running time | 1 hr 32 min[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/) |
| Box office | $42,739,347 domestic, $49,050,886 worldwide, against a $21,000,000 budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/) |
| Critical reception | 43% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 134 reviews; 45% audience score[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010) |
| Home video | Released on DVD and Blu-ray August 10, 2010 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Death-at-a-Funeral-%282010%29) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story follows the 2007 film closely. Aaron hosts his father's funeral at the family home while contending with sibling rivalry, meddling relatives, and a small stranger with a big secret about the deceased; shocking revelations, festering resentments, blackmail, and a misdirected corpse turn the dignified affair into mayhem.[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/deathatafuneral) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010) A hallucinogenic drug mishap, in which one guest is accidentally dosed, supplies the film's most extended comic sequence; critics singled out the drug material as the funniest part of the film.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010)
## Origins as a remake
The film adapts *[Death at a Funeral](https://www.edgepedia.org/death-at-a-funeral-2007-film)* (2007), a British farce written by Dean Craig and directed by Frank Oz, in which an English family gathers at a country house for a funeral that descends into chaos.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral) The original was produced for about $US9 million through Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and grossed $US46.5 million worldwide.[7](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-11-11/chris-rock-to-remake-funeral/201480)
In November 2008 the remake was announced with Chris Rock set to produce, co-write, and star in an urban reworking with a primarily black cast, produced through Sidney Kimmel Entertainment in partnership with Sony's Screen Gems label.[7](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-11-11/chris-rock-to-remake-funeral/201480) The finished film credits Rock among its producers alongside Share Stallings, Laurence Malkin, Sidney Kimmel, and William Horberg, with Dean Craig as the sole credited writer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL)
## Production and cast
Neil LaBute, a playwright and filmmaker previously known for bleak dramas such as *In the Company of Men*, *Your Friends & Neighbors*, and *The Shape of Things*, directed a slapstick comedy for the first time with this film.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-15-la-et-word-20100415-story.html) The ensemble cast includes Rock as Aaron, the serious older brother burdened with the funeral arrangements and a eulogy he keeps rehearsing; [Martin Lawrence](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-lawrence) as his brother Ryan; [Tracy Morgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/tracy-morgan) as Norman; [Danny Glover](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-glover) as Uncle Russell; and Regina Hall as Michelle.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-16-la-et-0416-funeral-20100416-story.html) Supporting roles include Keith David as Reverend Davis, Loretta Devine as Cynthia, Ron Glass as Duncan, Luke Wilson as Derek, and James Marsden.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010/cast-and-crew)
[Peter Dinklage](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-dinklage) is the one cast member carried over from the original, reprising his role as Frank, the mysterious visitor whose secret about the deceased sends the ceremony into a tailspin.[11](https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/19716/10778/1/udr_136_23.pdf) The production companies were Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Wonderful Films, Parabolic Pictures, and Stable Way Entertainment, with Rogier Stoffers as cinematographer and Jon Gary Steele as production designer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL) • [10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010/cast-and-crew)
## Reception and box office
The film opened wide on April 16, 2010 in 2,459 theaters, earning $16,217,540 in its opening weekend, 37.9% of its eventual $42,739,347 domestic gross.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Death-at-a-Funeral-%282010%29) International receipts were modest, with the United Kingdom contributing $4,150,291 of the roughly $6.3 million earned outside the United States; worldwide the film grossed $49,050,886, about 2.3 times its $21 million production budget.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Death-at-a-Funeral-%282010%29) Before release, the Los Angeles Times noted that the remake might gross as much on its first day as the 2007 original collected in its entire domestic theatrical run of $8.6 million, and called it poised to have the best opening of LaBute's career.[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-15-la-et-word-20100415-story.html)
Critics were largely unenthusiastic. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 43% on the Tomatometer from 134 reviews and 45% from audiences, with the site's critics consensus describing it as an amusing but surprisingly faithful remake that ultimately falls short of the original.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010) Reviewers split over the adaptation's fidelity: the Los Angeles Times judged it a beat behind Frank Oz's comedy of manners, while some critics found the African-American framing effective, one calling it very true to the original with a clever African-American slant.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-16-la-et-0416-funeral-20100416-story.html) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010) A student review complained that the film played like a group of comedians doing short stand-up routines rather than a developed story.[11](https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/19716/10778/1/udr_136_23.pdf)
## Home media and afterlife
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray on August 10, 2010; estimated disc sales reached about $14.7 million on DVD and $1.7 million on Blu-ray.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Death-at-a-Funeral-%282010%29) The property has since been remade again in Spain, with Manuel Gómez Pereira directing a 2025 Spanish version, *Un funeral de locos*, which a Spanish newspaper criticized for borrowing gags from the American remake.[12](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-04-16/un-funeral-de-locos-el-arte-de-intentar-calcar-las-peliculas-y-que-solo-salga-a-medias.html)
## Comparison with the 2007 original
The remake keeps the original's plot points nearly exact while reworking the material for a primarily black American cast.[13](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/edaf3e85-e629-4ab4-9d5b-f1e6b9066de1/download) • [7](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-11-11/chris-rock-to-remake-funeral/201480) Commentators have read the pairing as a case study in British versus American comedy, with both films using largely the same jokes for the same effect but in different registers; several critics found the remake's jokes fall flat without the dry context of the original, while others judged it a slight improvement thanks to its cast.[14](https://insidepulse.com/2010/04/17/death-at-a-funeral-2010-review/) • [15](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/death-funeral-57291/) Commercially the remake outperformed its source: the 2007 film grossed $46.5 million worldwide on a budget of about $9 million, while the 2010 film grossed $49 million worldwide, with $42.7 million of that from the domestic market.[7](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-11-11/chris-rock-to-remake-funeral/201480) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/)
## References
1. [Death at a Funeral (2010), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66472-DEATH-AT-A-FUNERAL)
2. [Death at a Funeral, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/deathatafuneral)
3. [Death at a Funeral (2010), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1321509/)
4. [Death at a Funeral (2010), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010)
5. [Death at a Funeral (2010), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Death-at-a-Funeral-%282010%29)
6. [Death at a Funeral (2007), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral)
7. [Chris Rock to remake Funeral, ABC News (Reuters), 11 November 2008](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-11-11/chris-rock-to-remake-funeral/201480)
8. ['Death' reborn, Los Angeles Times, 15 April 2010](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-15-la-et-word-20100415-story.html)
9. ['Death's' humor takes a holiday, Los Angeles Times, 16 April 2010](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-16-la-et-0416-funeral-20100416-story.html)
10. [Death at a Funeral: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/death_at_a_funeral_2010/cast-and-crew)
11. [University of Delaware Review, 20 April 2010](https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/19716/10778/1/udr_136_23.pdf)
12. ['Un funeral de locos': el arte de intentar calcar las películas, El País, 16 April 2025](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-04-16/un-funeral-de-locos-el-arte-de-intentar-calcar-las-peliculas-y-que-solo-salga-a-medias.html)
13. [Technique (Georgia Tech student paper), 23 April 2010](https://repository.gatech.edu/bitstreams/edaf3e85-e629-4ab4-9d5b-f1e6b9066de1/download)
14. [Death at a Funeral (2010) – Review, Inside Pulse, 17 April 2010](https://insidepulse.com/2010/04/17/death-at-a-funeral-2010-review/)
15. [Death at a Funeral, Backstage Magazine](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/death-funeral-57291/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2009 to 2010 › Released in 2010*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license