The film began its development in early 2008 under producer Shawn Levy as a teen-targeted project written by Jared Stern.

Between mid 2009 and late 2010, it saw different directors and stars join the project until November 2010 when it moved in a new direction under Rogen and Goldberg (who rewrote the script for an adult audience).

The film was also met with generally negative reviews, with critics focusing on the plotting, frequent "vulgar and offensive" jokes and numerous product placements.

In the fictional town of Glenview, Ohio, Evan Trautwig is a passionate volunteer in the community and senior manager of the local Costco.

He warns the group that the aliens are building a transmitter beneath the Costco store which will summon their armada to destroy the earth; he is expelled from the watch for his deception.

Jamarcus arrives and saves the pair, revealing that the aliens' brains are located in their crotch; Bob kills Jason by ripping off his penis.

[11] Hill's involvement was confirmed in August 2011,[12] and his prior commitment to The Watch forced him to decline a role in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

[16] The cast also includes Erin Moriarty (as Chelsea McAllister, Bob's daughter),[17] Nicholas Braun (as Jason, Chelsea's boyfriend),[18] Will Forte (as Sergeant Bressman), Mel Rodriguez (as his partner Chucho), Doug Jones (as the chief alien villain),[19][20] R. Lee Ermey (his final film role before he died on April 15, 2018) as Manfred Salisbury (a local resident) and Joe Nunez as Antonio Guzman (Evan's colleague, whose murder inspires him to start the neighborhood watch).

[21] Director Akiva Schaffer and his collaborators in the comedy troupe The Lonely Island, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, make cameo appearances in the film as masturbating participants in Paul's orgy.

[24] Also in November, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were brought onto the project to rewrite the script as an adult-oriented, R-rated film.

[24][29] By June 2011, Saturday Night Live alumnus Akiva Schaffer was given the option to direct[30] his second feature film (following the 2007 comedy Hot Rod).

[5] On October 25, 2011, a casting call was made for extras to fill the football stadium during two nights of filming on November 2–3 at Campbell High School in Smyrna, Georgia.

[40][41] In late November 2011, the site of a former BJ's Wholesale Club in what is now Peachtree Corners, Georgia was converted in appearance to a Costco for shooting.

The costume was enhanced with CGI in a number of ways, including replacing arms and dilating pupils (which Schaffer thought made the creature seem more alive).

[45] The Neighborhood Watch marketing campaign began on February 29, 2012 with the release of a teaser poster, trailer and the unveiling of the film's website, jointhewatch.com.

According to insiders 20th Century Fox intended to move into the next phase of the marketing campaign as soon as possible (focusing on the film's science-fiction aspects), while replacing previous posters with images of the cast.

[48][49] 20th Century Fox maintained that the July 27, 2012, release date would remain unchanged by the Martin case or the marketing changes.

[50] In a statement about the changes 20th Century Fox said, "We are very sensitive to the Trayvon Martin case, but our film is a broad alien-invasion comedy and bears absolutely no relation to the tragic events in Florida...these initial marketing materials were released before this incident ever came to light.

On July 25, Harkins Theatres (the sixth-largest North American cinema chain) announced it would not be showing the film after failing to reach a financial agreement with 20th Century Fox.

The critics consensus reads: "The Watch uneasily mixes sci-fi elements with gross-out gags and strands its talented cast with a script that favors vulgarity over wit at nearly every turn.

Ebert commented that the comic timing of the lead actors benefits the dialog, but frequent instances of "crude, vulgar and offensive" comedy became unwelcome and unamusing.

[63] Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum commented that the film struggles to find a "coherent" style between the "PG-13 rated aliens" and adult themes and dialogue.

He described the film as a "lowbrow, lame-brained mash-up of buddies-on-patrol comedy and sci-fi actioner, held together (barely) by an endless string of penis jokes".

[66] The Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey was more positive, stating that "the funniest stuff comes from the kind of situational misfires that can happen when dudes try to do things, like catch aliens, that they are clearly not cut out to do".

[68] Boxoffice's James Rocchi offered a positive stance, stating that the "plot moves, the supporting cast is lively and the action stays small-scale and intimate, never overwhelming the laughs"; he felt that the profanity and vulgarity never became "stale".

The Blu-ray disc contains the DVD content, a digital copy of the film and two additional features: "Jonah Alternate Takes" and "Watchmakers.