<P> We're the Millers is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Rawson M. Thurber . The film's screenplay was written by Bob Fisher, Steve Faber, Sean Anders, and John Morris, based on a story by Fisher and Faber . It stars Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn, and Ed Helms . The plot follows a small - time pot dealer (Sudeikis) who convinces his neighbors to help him by pretending to be his family, in order to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States . </P> <P> The film was released on August 7, 2013 by New Line Cinema through Warner Bros. Pictures . It grossed $270,000,000 worldwide during its theatrical run, against a $37,000,000 budget . The film was nominated for four People's Choice Awards, and six MTV Movie Awards, winning two . A sequel is currently in development, with Adam Sztykiel set to write the script . </P> <P> A small - time cannabis dealer named David Clark, who lives in Denver, CO, is robbed of his money and weed stash; some of which he owes to his wealthy drug lord supplier Brad Gurdlinger . After David is brought to him, Gurdlinger forces David to smuggle a "smidge" of marijuana from Mexico as a solution to clear his debt . Realizing that one man attempting to get through customs is too suspicious, he hires his stripper neighbor stage - named Rose, a teenage runaway and petty thief named Casey, and his eighteen - year - old neighbor Kenny, to pose as a bogus family called "the Millers ." When the Millers reach the compound, they find out that the amount of marijuana they were picking up is not "a smidge" but actually two tons . Because of the extra load of the marijuana on the RV that they are driving, one of the radiator hoses breaks while going up a steep incline . A family they had met at the border, the Fitzgeralds, consisting of Don, Edith, and their teenage daughter Melissa, catch up to them and tow the Millers' RV to a garage . En route to the garage, David learns that Don Fitzgerald is a DEA agent after finding his badge and gun in the glove compartment . </P> <P> The marijuana turns out to be stolen from Pablo Chacón's cartel where Gurdlinger had David pose as an agent of Chacon . The next day, when the Millers return to the garage to collect the RV, the mechanic is found tied - up and gagged with duct tape in his office and Chacón and his henchman One - Eye are waiting for them and prepare to execute the family . They immediately tell Chacón that they are not a real family and that they did not know they were stealing from him . Rose is given a chance to prove that she is a stripper by dancing, and when she gets close, turns a steam vent onto Chacón, allowing the Millers to escape in the RV with Kenny behind the wheel . Due to Kenny's erratic driving, the RV veers off the highway and a Mexican redknee tarantula, hiding in a bowl of fruit, crawls up Kenny's leg and bites his testicle . </P>

Where does we're the millers take place