Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman and starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. The film features Martin as Peter Sanderson, a lonely lawyer who meets a woman on the Internet, only to learn she has escaped prison to prove her innocence. She then proceeds to wreak havoc on his own upper-class life. The film made its release on March 7, 2003 by Touchstone Pictures and was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures.