WATCH: Trailer of 'Let's Be Cops'

MANILA, Philippines- “Let’s Be Cops” is the ultimate buddy cop movie except for one thing: they're not cops.

When two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party, they become neighborhood sensation. But when these newly minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
 
Faking it real time, these fake cops have just found some real trouble. Starring Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson, The idea for the movie was born when director/co-writer Luke Greenfield decided to spend Halloween in a police officer’s uniform – a choice that had unexpected consequences.

“My costume designer at the time got me a real LAPD uniform and my buddy and I walked around Los Angeles,” Greenfield remembers. “The sense of power and authority was incredible. I was single at the time, and it became quite easy to talk to women on the street.”

With co-writer and executive producer Nicholas Thomas, Greenfield developed the pitch that was to become LET’S BE COPS. “We came up with the idea quite quickly,” says Thomas. “We pitched the project to 20th Century Fox, and it sold.”
 
“The two lead characters have no money and their self-worth is gone,” says Greenfield. “Then, all of a sudden, they are street heroes. Their fun masquerade escalates to the point where it starts getting dangerous and they mess with the wrong people.”
 
The two writers created the two principal characters somewhat in their own images. “Justin is me,” says Greenfield. “He’s passionate about what he creates in the videogame world, as I am about my motion picture projects. Only he’s afraid to be direct and authoritative. Ryan is sort of based on Nick Thomas. He is more outspoken and braver, and more likely to get us both into hot water.”
 
 The first thing the filmmakers did after getting the production green light was cast the lead characters, Justin and Ryan. They chose two comic actors who were actually close pals.

“Damon and Jake are close friends, big fans of one another’s work and had been dying to do a film together,” Greenfield adds.  “Casting them was incredible luck, because throughout production they were always off in a corner, laughing and joking just like their characters. The characters audiences will see on screen are very close to who Damon and Jake really are. It was fantastic.”
 
Rated R16 by the local censors board, “Let’s Be Cops” opens November 5 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.