<P> In 2011, 20th Century Fox had plans to make a live - action film adaptation of the book . Written by Rob Lieber, the film was set to be directed by Lisa Cholodenko (who also made an earlier draft of the screenplay), and produced by Shawn Levy with Dan Levine for Levy's 21 Laps and Lisa Henson from The Jim Henson Company . Steve Carell joined in April 2012, to star as Ben, Alexander's father . In October 2012, the project was picked up by Walt Disney Pictures, after Fox was reportedly "uncomfortable with the budget ." By February 2013, Cholodenko had left the project, and a month later, it was reported that Miguel Arteta was in talks with Disney to replace Cholodenko . </P> <P> In April 2013, Jennifer Garner was in talks to play Alexander's mother . In June 2013, Disney set the release date for October 10, 2014, and confirmed that Carell and Garner were cast as Alexander's parents . The same month, Disney announced the casting of Ed Oxenbould as Alexander . In July 2013, Bella Thorne was cast in the film as Alexander's older brother's girlfriend . Joel Johnstone, Megan Mullally and Jennifer Coolidge joined the cast a month later . </P> <P> Principal photography began on August 19, 2013 . The film was entirely shot in the Los Angeles area, including the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia, the San Fernando Valley, and Melody Ranch in Newhall . Filming lasted through October 2013 . </P> <P> The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on October 6, 2014 . </P>

Where was alexander and the terrible horrible filmed