You could say that there’s been an explosion of locally-shot feature films since Michigan’s film incentive legislation passed in 2008; but if you want to see a real, locally-staged explosion in a movie, check out “Youth in Revolt,” opening in theaters on Friday.

Based on the novel by C.D. Payne, “Youth” stars Michael Cera (“Superbad,” “Juno,” “Arrested Development”) as a smitten teenager who fixates on a girl to the point of creating an dangerous alternate persona.

In late July, 2008, director Miguel Arteta (“The Good Girl” and the just-wrapped, locally-filmed “Cedar Rapids”) and his crew spent a few days shooting the film’s crucial car crash scene in downtown Ann Arbor, near the intersection of Liberty and First Streets. Other Michigan shooting locales for “Youth” included the Brighton area, Royal Oak, Interlochen, Ferndale, Detroit and Hazel Park.

“It did look like northern California, so they must’ve done a good job there,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst for Los Angeles-based Exhibitor Relations Co., Inc.

Bock recently watched an advanced screening of “Youth.”

“If you’re a fan of book, you will be a fan of movie, and that doesn’t happen often,” said Bock, who counts himself among the book’s many fans. “(The movie) is a hard R-rated teen comedy, though. It hearkens back to the ‘Porky’s’ days in terms of the feeling of inappropriateness about it.”

Not so much because of nudity, Bock said, but because of “Youth”’s language — a point the film has in common with Cera’s previous hit, “Superbad.”

“‘Superbad’ was a huge hit with the teen market,” Bock said. “I don’t know if (‘Youth’) will have that wide of an appeal. It’s only going to be playing on about 2,000 screens next weekend, so based on theater bookings, they’re likely hoping for a 10 million (dollar) opening weekend.”

January has long been considered a no man’s land for film releases. Following the glut of Oscar hopefuls that start to fill cineplex rosters in December, a broad range of movies are rolled out in January — from those that are difficult to market to those that have lingered, longer than planned, in post-production.

But as Bock pointed out, last year saw a number of January releases performing very well (relative to January during previous years), so “Youth” might find its audience despite the season, and despite its low marketing profile.

“That’s typical for Weinstein,” said Bock of “Youth”’s producers, The Weinstein Company. “They don’t spend a lot in marketing. … The (‘Youth’) trailer didn’t elicit a huge response from me, so I wasn’t expecting much from the film. They didn’t exactly do a superb job with it, but if word-of-mouth on the movie is fairly good, it might succeed, if it sticks around theaters long enough. That’s the problem these days.”

With competition like “Daybreakers” and “Leap Year,” both of which have had far bigger marketing pushes, Bock believes “Youth” will inevitably lag a bit behind in terms of box office receipts.

But as for the film itself, Bock liked the way it employed different forms of animation between scenes; admired the cast; and was surprised by certain moments that he guarantees “have never been put on a screen before, and you can’t say that about many films.”

Bock believes that “Youth” has the potential to become a cult hit on DVD, similar to the success Payne’s original book. But Bock also believes that those with little or no exposure to the novel will find things to embrace in the film.

“When I was at the screening, I asked people around me if they’d read the book or heard about it, and the answer was mostly ‘no,’” said Bock. “It was an older crowd, but (‘Youth’) still elicited laughs from them at the right moments, … which is not something you always hit on with teen films. (‘Youth’) is a bit more highbrow, though. If ‘Superbad’ was the lowest common denominator, this one is more highbrow in how it relates to that teen crowd. It’s an interesting, sex-and-drugs teen escapade.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.