Wimpy kids hope third film won't be last

Robert Capron and Zachary Gordon star in the movie franchise. Photo / AP

Series could be brought to a close as child actors get too old.

The stars of the Wimpy Kid films are hoping they can stay wimps for a while longer.

Zachary Gordon, a.k.a Greg Heffley, the Wimpy Kid himself, and Robert Capron, who plays his best friend Rowley Jefferson, have returned in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, the third movie in the franchise.

Capron, 14, says he's hoping it won't be their last Wimpy venture.

"It might be," he admits. "It's that we're getting old, like the series kind of loses its appeal when you're 17 and you're saying 'want to come over and play?"'

Gordon, also 14, is more optimistic.

"Hopefully, if the third one does as good as the first and second one did, we will do another one. Hopefully."

In Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, Greg's dad Frank (Steve Zahn) takes his son on a camping trip for some bonding time and Rowley tags along.

Gordon says Greg and Frank's relationship is a big part of this movie.

"They haven't really bonded very well throughout the films [and] they thought it was about time they should make an attempt."

Based on the third and fourth books of the popular series by Jeff Kinney, it's the first movie that's not set primarily at school and also sees Greg going everywhere from a country club (where his brother Rodrick gets up to his usual mischief) to a theme park.

Gordon says they actually went to the Vancouver amusement park Playland and had cameras strapped to the rides to get the shots.

"It was definitely nerve-racking. I felt really anxious, because we had to wait in the seats just for an hour for them to set up the cameras," he says, adding that he went on it eight more times just for fun.

Capron, who was happy with just going on it the once, says: "It was one of those things where you're just waiting and you're like anticipating it and that's what makes it even worse."

The title Dog Days is also in reference to a character - Sweetie the dog - who Frank buys for his family.

"Obviously, Sweetie is a lot of responsibility for the Heffley family, especially Greg, but he sort of becomes part of the family," Gordon says, adding that the scenes with Sweetie were definitely a challenge.

"You see the little [scenes], just with the dog doing all this crazy stuff and it took forever to film those."

With Dog Days releasing and another Wimpy film not on the cards for now, Gordon says he will miss the cast.

"We're like a little Wimpy family and the film wouldn't have turned out as well if each character member hadn't been in it."

What: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
When: At cinemas now

- AAP