Las Vegas not just an extra

Most “Vegas movies” are the Hollywood equivalent of a booty call.

Cast and crew members come in from L.A., put in just enough effort to get exactly what they need and then, at the first opportunity, beat a path out of town.

Not “Think Like a Man Too.”

Befitting its subject matter, the relationship comedy made a serious commitment to the city by settling in for a month of preproduction followed by seven weeks of filming.

Unlike those other movies that re-create many of their interior scenes in other states — as a general rule, if you can’t unequivocally tell something was shot here, odds are it wasn’t — “Think Like a Man Too” was all Las Vegas, all the time.

“Every place they go was in Vegas,” director Tim Story says of his movie’s characters. “We did not build any sets. We used everything for what it was.”

Two years ago, “Think Like a Man” was a surprise hit. Targeting African-American audiences, the comedy cost just $12 million to produce yet opened to $33.6 million. And it did so on half the number of screens as a typical blockbuster.

The movie revolved around the relationships of a group of archetypes — “The Player,” “The Mama’s Boy,” “The Single Mom,” etc. — derived from a Steve Harvey advice book. The result was a battle-of-the-sexes comedy full of happy endings.

“We kind of immediately all hit on the idea of one of the couples getting married,” co-writer and executive producer David A. Newman says of the sequel discussions. “And then right away, kind of, the Vegas part of the story came in when we started thinking about locations and destinations.

“And our premise became, Vegas is the greatest place in the world to go for men or women. Unless you’re a couple. Even worse, married. Even worse, to get married.”

That wedding, uniting “Mama’s Boy” Michael (Terrence J) and “Single Mom” Candace (Regina Hall), brings the sprawling cast to Caesars Palace, with best man Cedric (Kevin Hart) splurging for the hotel’s luxurious Constantine Villa for the accompanying bachelor party.

If the words “Caesars Palace” and “bachelor party” evoke images of a certain other comedy, you’re not alone.

“Vegas has been done so many times,” says co-writer and executive producer Keith Merryman. “And we were like, ‘Oh my God, how can we do this in a new way?’ We can’t compete with ‘The Hangover,’ you know what I mean?”

For his part, Story wasn’t worried about returning to the scene of those cinematic crimes.

“There’s a lot of leniency in doing movies that definitely have a predominantly black cast,” he offers. “We can take advantage of so many locations that you might have seen before, or were made really famous by a certain movie, because you’ve never seen THESE guys do Vegas before.”

And these guys certainly do Vegas.

Cameras follow them throughout Caesars, from the lobby to the pool and from the Forum Shops to Nobu. Dominic (Michael Ealy) gets a job offer inside Paris Las Vegas’ Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Next door at Planet Hollywood, Cedric plays blackjack and roulette, the bridal party dances on the tables at the now-shuttered Gallery nightclub and, on the casino’s mezzanine level, the guys have a run-in with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Even scenes that almost certainly would have been easier to shoot elsewhere, such as the ones inside Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club and the jail everyone ends up in after the resulting stripper fight, were filmed on location. (In a slight bit of fakery, the cells of the old North Las Vegas jail stand in for those at the Clark County Detention Center.)

To put all that in perspective among other recent Vegas movies, “The Hangover” re-created a Caesars Palace suite on an L.A. soundstage, “Now You See Me” built an MGM Grand theater in Louisiana, and “Last Vegas” fabricated an Aria suite, an Aria wedding chapel, a Binion’s lounge and an exact replica of Haze nightclub in Atlanta.

“There’s something about authenticity that I love,” Story says of the decision to film the entirety of “Think Like a Man Too” in real Las Vegas locations.

But that authenticity came at a price.

“Seriously speaking, probably one of the harder jobs I’ve done,” says Romany Malco, who stars as Zeke, aka “The Player.” And this is coming from someone whose previous jobs have included having to keep a straight face while Steve Carell gets his torso waxed in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and playing MC Hammer in a TV biopic.

“Just the environment itself,” Malco continues. “Being 118 degrees outside. Tourists yelling in the middle of takes. … Hard to get to sleep. A lot of night shoots.”

Story considers Caesars Entertainment a partner in the movie, but that doesn’t mean it made economic sense for the company to close its restaurants, nightclubs, casino floors and reception desks to accommodate filming.

“At some point,” Story says, “we figured out that, no matter how much money we may have, it pales in comparison to gambling.”

As a result, most of “Think Like a Man Too” was shot between 3 a.m. and 3 p.m.

“It’s tough,” the director says of the schedule. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t.” Story, whose credits include “Barbershop,” “Ride Along” and the “Fantastic Four” movies, in addition to the original “Think Like a Man,” admits he’d never worked a schedule like that for so long.

“I felt so sorry for all of our actors. They had to go there and have their close-ups on three hours’ sleep,” screenwriter Merryman says.

“I remember having to do a scene at, like, 3 a.m.,” Malco recalls. “And I’m standing in water. And because of the way the buildings are positioned, it was basically a wind tunnel. And we came up with the scene on the spot, so there was no wetsuit. There was no preparation. I was just crazy sick after that.”

Existing environments like these are known in the industry as “practical” locations. They’re often anything but.

When you’re filming in a casino, Story notes, you can’t control the lighting. You can’t turn off the music. And you can’t keep people from yelling.

“Everyone in our cast is just so down to earth that they can literally go over there and talk to a drunk dude, talk to two angry drunk dudes and get them to be quiet,” Malco says. “Screaming girls? Just walk over there and say ‘What’s up?’ and it’s all good.”

Still, the actor admits, there are times when no one’s in the mood for taking selfies with rowdy strangers.

Malco has seen both sides of the Vegas movie experience. As the VIP host in “Last Vegas,” he filmed at the real Aria and in the Aria re-creations in Atlanta.

“There’s nothing you can do to really replicate the energy of Vegas and the backdrop that is Vegas,” he allows. “It’s easier to be in a contained environment, but it’s impossible to replicate what Vegas has to offer.”

That includes the organized chaos of casino floors and the Strip in the wee hours.

“There were very few places that we had control, but there’s a part of that that makes it cool,” Story says. “That’s why we’re there. I could never afford to populate a casino the way it was populated. I could never afford that, when I’m on the street, to have a thousand extras going back and forth.”

And, as far as executive producer Newman is concerned, the hard work and late hours paid off.

“It made it more difficult for Tim and our cast and our crew, for sure,” he concludes. “But I think that the film looks amazing, and I think that’s a huge part of the reason why.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.