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Party Coverage: Scene City

By TAYLOR HARRIS

“Oh, this is going to be an Academy picture,” Bryan Cranston joked on Sunday night. “I guarantee it.”

Mr. Cranston was in the financial district, working the press line at the premiere of “Why Him?” — a new comedy that is sort of an update on “Meet the Parents.” “No, no, we had a lot of fun making it and it really is funny,” Mr. Cranston told reporters, their snow-crusted footwear thawing onto the worn carpet of the movie theater lobby.

The screening was held at the iPic Fulton Market theater, the latest in the spate of boutique-y, luxury movie theaters popping up in New York City. This one has tawny leather chairs that recline like La-Z-Boys and artisanal sliders delivered to your seat, at the touch of a button. Moviegoers were happy to curl up and watch the holiday flick in first-class style.

“We’re really excited about this film,” Mr. Cranston said inside the theater, addressing the crowd moments before the film screened. “And I mean this sincerely, I had more fun shooting this than anything I’ve ever shot in my career. I mean, it’s a terrible movie, but I had so much fun doing it.”

The film follows a familiar script: Girl meets boy, girl introduces boy to her parents, high jinks ensue. Mr. Cranston plays the disapproving father; Zoey Deutch plays the innocent, cherub-cheeked daughter; and James Franco is the eccentric Silicon Valley-billionaire boyfriend.

“No, no. I’ve been really lucky,” Mr. Cranston said when asked if he’d had any personal experience to draw upon. His daughter, Taylor, 23, recently graduated from the University of Southern California with a theater degree. “I’ve anticipated that to be the case for a long time so I’m ready go.”

Ms. Deutch, who wore a frilly black dress by Mary Katrantzou, said she could relate. “I have a sister, she’s older,” the actress said. “But when I was seven years old, I was so mean to one of her boyfriends that I had to write an apology letter. I’m not even kidding.”

Mr. Franco wasn’t able to attend the event (something had kept him on the West Coast), but moviegoers turned up nonetheless for the film’s after-party, held just an escalator ride away at the theater’s restaurant and hosted by the Cinema Society and 20th Century Fox.

Slinky servers circulated holiday-themed libations and goat-cheese-tinged flatbreads to a crowd that included Carol Alt, Yigal Azrouël, Will Cotton, Richard Kind and a pack of models who spent the evening on their iPhones, politely shooing away any canapés-toting servers.

The less calorie conscious took to the hot toddies. “Oh, I love a holiday movie,” the designer Chris Benz said, eyeing one whizzing by on a tray. “Anything with that theme, I’m in.”