Hotel for Dogs is a 2009 American family comedy film directed by Thor Freudenthal in his directorial debut, and based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. Starring Jake T. Austin, Emma Roberts, Kyla Pratt, Lisa Kudrow, Kevin Dillon and Don Cheadle, the film tells the story of two orphaned siblings (living in foster care), who secretly take in stray dogs along with their family dog at a vacant hotel.
The film is Nickelodeon’s second film to be produced by DreamWorks Pictures after Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and the first Nickelodeon film ever to be produced outside of Paramount Pictures, which still distributed the film for DreamWorks. Shooting began in November 2007 and filming took place entirely in the cities of Los Angeles and Universal City, California. The dogs in the film were trained for several months before shooting began. Nearly eighty boys auditioned for the role of Bruce before Austin was ultimately selected. The film was released in theaters on January 16, 2009 by DreamWorks Pictures, and was a box office success grossing $117 million worldwide.
Orphans 16-year-old Andi and 12-year-old Bruce swindle a pawn shop owner in order to buy food to feed their dog, Friday. However, they are quickly caught and brought to the police station where they get picked up by their social worker Bernie Wilkins who takes them back to their foster parents, Lois and Carl Scudder, who do not appear to care for either Andi, Bruce, or their dog. Despite his sympathy for the siblings, Bernie warns them that they are playing a dangerous game by deliberately getting into trouble in order to escape their foster parents.