{"id":2069956,"date":"2025-10-05T06:42:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T06:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2069956"},"modified":"2025-10-05T06:42:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T06:42:34","slug":"the-story-behind-how-good-boys-director-made-a-horror-movie-around-his-own-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-story-behind-how-good-boys-director-made-a-horror-movie-around-his-own-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story Behind How Good Boy\u2019s Director Made A Horror Movie Around His Own Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><i>When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.<\/i><\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Credit: Ben Leonberg<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">There have been so many great horror experiences on the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/upcoming-movies-2025-movie-release-130453990.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:2025 movie schedule;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">2025 movie schedule<\/a>, but few have captured the heart of the internet more than Ben Leonberg\u2019s <em>Good Boy<\/em>. Told from the perspective of<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/articles\/just-learned-theres-horror-movie-123940580.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:a retriever exploring a haunted house;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\"> a retriever exploring a haunted house<\/a>, the movie gets a whole lot better when you realize how the first-time director made a horror movie around his own dog, Indy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Ahead of the <em>Good Boy<\/em> premiere, Ben Leonberg spoke with CinemaBlend about his unique film and the adorable pooch at the center of its story. During the chat, he opened up about everything from <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/movies\/articles\/good-boy-director-reacts-horror-142055264.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:everyone\u2019s fear Indy would die;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">everyone\u2019s fear Indy would die<\/a>, to what it was like making one of the most <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/upcoming-horror-movies-scary-movies-220820797.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:anticipated horror movies;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">anticipated horror movies<\/a> of the year with his wife and trusty pet:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Indy&#8217;s my actual dog. My wife and I got him as a puppy. We didn&#8217;t think he&#8217;d be a movie star when we got him. We just got him to be our friend. And that&#8217;s really all he&#8217;s been trained for. \u2026 It took several years as we were writing the movie. And, he&#8217;s a kind of dog who loves to have a job. He&#8217;s a retriever, so he&#8217;s looking to do something. Usually it&#8217;s tennis ball related, but he was very game for \u2018let&#8217;s make a movie for three years.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">So, how did Leonberg and his wife <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/movies\/articles\/viral-horror-movie-us-worried-170823139.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:make a young dog feel comfortable;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">make a young dog feel comfortable<\/a> making a movie? Would you believe us if we said they lived in <em>Good Boy<\/em>\u2019s haunted house? Because that\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">So we actually did not go back and forth [between set and our home]. We lived on the set, that was our house. \u2026 And part of the reason for that is that the way we found to work with Indy to get the performance we got him treating that house like it&#8217;s his house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Leonberg explained that spending so much time living at the house made Indy feel more comfortable and more natural, which allowed for the dog\u2019s true self to come out and be reflected in the movie. As the director put it:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"mb-4 border-l-2 pl-5 italic text-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It allowed us to capture some things that otherwise wouldn&#8217;t happen, like the way a dog falls asleep. When I get out of bed in the morning, he weaves between my legs as a way to start the day. These genuine little moments that you can&#8217;t really train a dog to do, or at least I don&#8217;t know how to train the dog to do, we were able to get because the movie, or at least the location, was real for Indy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Though the haunted house was real to Indy throughout the shoot, Ben Leonberg revealed that he and his wife had to go to great lengths to make a \u201ccharming house in the woods\u201d look like some place where nightmares are born. Over the course of three years, the couple did everything they could to make it look that way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">All of this effort seems to have been worth it, as <em>Good Boy<\/em> is already getting stellar reviews. With a 91% critic score and 89% audience rating on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/good_boy_2025\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rotten Tomatoes;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, and a three-and-a-half out of five-star review in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/movies\/articles\/good-boy-review-handmade-horror-221133661.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:CinemaBlend\u2019s official review;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">CinemaBlend\u2019s official review<\/a>, this could be one of the most universally beloved horror movies of the year. That\u2019s saying something.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It will be interesting to see where Ben Leonberg and Indy go from here, because another horror movie, a buddy comedy or a sports flick could all be great. Regardless, getting to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/scinemablend.com\/interviews\/good-boy-director-reacts-horror-movie-going-viral-fear-dog-would-die-hes-ok-revealing-answer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:hang out with man\u2019s best friend;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">hang out with man\u2019s best friend<\/a> and make a movie sounds like a whole lot of fun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Ben Leonberg There have been so many great horror experiences on the 2025 movie schedule, but few have captured the heart of the internet more than Ben Leonberg\u2019s Good Boy. Told from the perspective of a retriever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2056507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[339998,321792,342230],"class_list":["post-2069956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-haunted-house","tag-horror-movie","tag-indy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Good-Boy-Director-Reacts-To-The-Horror-Movie-Going-Viral.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2069956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2069957,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2069956\/revisions\/2069957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2069956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2069956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2069956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}