High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American comedy film about a family with 12 children (seven boys and five girls). The film takes its title from the 1948 biography of the same name of Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth and their 12 children, but other than the title and the concept of a family with 12 children, the film bears no resemblance to the book nor its movie adaption. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, who also helped produce the sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2. It was released on Thursday, December 25, 2003 by 20th Century Fox.