Surprise Development: Harold Lloyd Films to Be Remade in Animation

Now how about that?

In a day and age where Disney is remaking their animated classics into photorealistic/live-action movies, there are plans to turn some live-action classics into new animated features...

The subjects? The films of Harold Lloyd.

A central figure in the days of silent pictures, Harold Lloyd transitioned well into the age of talkies. Not only that, but he specialized in then-groundbreaking (and dangerous!) stunts, action scenes, and many other technical feats. He made tons of films, rivaled the likes of Charlie Chaplin, he's a Hollywood icon through and through.

His estate and Comic Animations are partnering with CineSite to turn some of his pictures into animated features. Harold Lloyd's granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, had this to say...

By donning unassuming glasses, Harold Lloyd became the boy next door everyone could relate to and he shot to stardom to enchant and entertain generations of film fans. I appreciate the opportunity to work with Dave Rosenbaum, Eamonn Butler and all the talented people at Cinesite to bring Harold’s comedy genius to the world in a new and innovative way. We need laughter now more than ever.

I'm going to assume that the silent movies are going to be the ones to be adapted, particularly the iconic Safety Last!

It's just another set of additions to CineSite's big plan. Last year, the company announced their animation division and a slate of projects that looks to take off soon. They're currently doing the animation work for Sony Animation's Nativity retelling The Star, and are set to spearhead Nut Job director Pete Lepeniotis' Gnome Alone, a Riverdance adaptation, John H. Williams/Vanguard's Charming, and Sergio Pablos' exciting 2D/CG hybrid Klaus.

Do I think those silent films could work as all-animated feature-length films? Maybe. If they could make an all-silent 90-minute film based on these films, that would be something, but I doubt that will happen. I'm not sure how they'll execute these ideas, so in the mean time I'm curious. I just like the idea of a live-action film being redone as theatrical animation, not direct-to-video stuff. That's a rare occurrence here.

What say you?

Monkey Business: 'Spark' Trailer Finally Debuts

Completed over a year ago, and set to hit theaters in a matter of weeks... Spark finally got itself a trailer.

Oh, excuse me. Spark: A Space Tail... Yep, they're sticking with that. Okay, so the trailer itself...


Honestly?

It doesn't look too bad!

One thing is for certain, though. The writing is pretty much aiming at a younger crowd here, but I do like everything else. I'm fond of these particular kinds of stories where they build these weird worlds and planets. Nothing new, but it's something I've always liked. I got some serious Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank vibes from this, two video game franchises that started in the early 2000s and were just this. It's no surprise that the movie is reminding some of the Ratchet & Clank movie from last year.

On the whole, it looks inoffensive and just okay. No cringeworthy lines or jokes sans the "kick some asteroid" line (you stole that from Ratchet & Clank!), got a chuckle or two out of it. It'll probably just come and go, though I am curious. It has the potential to be a surprisingly fun, lightweight adventure. What I really want, soon, is a picture like this. A sorta set in another world colorful adventure, but one written like a Disney Animation or Pixar film. Disney Animation did it before with Treasure Planet, it'd be nice if they could do it again. They almost did with the cancelled Cosmic 3000/untitled space race movie.

To those outside of the animation sphere, this probably looks like a kid-lite Star Wars/Guardians of the Galaxy. The trailer's text and editing probably doesn't help much, nor does the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 opens weeks after it. I know a great, all-ages movie can be made out of this sort of thing, and be a great animated alien/fantasy tale. One that doesn't look like "Star Wars/GOTG for kids"... In the meantime, I'm curious about this one.

What say you?

Won't Stop the Feeling: DreamWorks Announces 'Trolls 2'

No need to wait for an annual report, for it appears that DreamWorks is very happy with how Trolls did...

Right out of the gate, DreamWorks announced the sequel and its release date: April 10, 2020.

That's one week after an untitled Sony Pictures Animation "franchise" film. With this year, we're seeing animated movies opening closer and closer to each other, so clearly they feel that this particular risk is worth taking. I don't believe in cannibalization myself, but I hope all these films being released so close together doesn't bring too many downsides.

It seems a little confusing at first. Why a sequel? Trolls made 2.7x its $125 million budget, and I'm sure a lot of money was poured into the marketing. By contrast, DreamWorks' supposedly-disastrous Penguins of Madagascar made 2.8x its budget, and that lead to cutbacks, layoffs, and a whole studio (PDI) being shut-down. I always assumed that Penguins was called the disaster because it missed $100 million domestically, whereas Trolls and Home each surpassed $150 million on American soil. That, and Trolls was a merchandising monster. I hadn't seen so much merch for a DreamWorks film in *years*...

It also helps that its main song was a big hit. I can't get away from it, because my theater lobby's ad-TVs play it on near-infinite loop. I don't dislike the song, but ya know... It gets a wee bit tiresome when you hear it all the time.

So yeah, with that in mind it makes a little sense. Also, DreamWorks is no longer the studio they were in January 2015, when they got hit so hard by Penguins. They're now owned by Comcast, a big money pit. Without a safety net like that, they were in the position where they either had to sink or swim. Remember how some sites were ringing the death bell for them?

Trolls 2 is sure to repeat its predecessor's success in some way. The movie was no mega-hit by any means, so it would be wise for post-acquisition DreamWorks to keep the costs down this time. Since DreamWorks now looks to release one Glendale-made film every calendar year, this raises a few questions. The Edgar Wright-directed re-imagining of the cancelled Me and My Shadow, Shadows, was once planned for a 2019 release until DreamWorks/Universal decided on the one-a-year plan.

However, DreamWorks has their Shanghai-based unit. That studio is making their own animated feature, Everest. That's opening in 2019, the same year DreamWorks will release the mainline How To Train Your Dragon 3. That strategy is also being tested this year: DreamWorks outsourced this summer's Captain Underpants to Mikros Image, while The Boss Baby - a little over a month away - was done in the states. So say Trolls 2 is a mainline picture, will we get an outsourced/Shanghai film that same year? Could Shadows possibly be a smaller outsourced film?

Also... DreamWorks... Any news on Larrikins. It's out in a slightly less than a year. Maybe tell us a little bit about that one, eh?

What say you on Trolls 2?

Weekend Box Office: 'Lego Batman' Hovers, 'Rock Dog' Flops

One animated film did well, another did not.

The Lego Batman Movie slipped down to #2 and dipped 41%, showing that at this rate, it probably won't have The Lego Movie's legs. That's fine, for it still has already made nearly 3x its budget. The Lego Batman Movie now sits at $133 million domestically and $226 million worldwide. Some places around the globe haven't gotten it yet. Australia, where most of the movie was made, hasn't even gotten it yet. China's getting it soon, along with Japan.

Down in 11th place is Rock Dog, opening with a paltry $3 million. This comes as no surprise, because Lionsgate doesn't put any marketing oomph into pretty much every animated film they release. Reviews suggest that this Chinese animated picture is a cut above the likes of The Wild Life and Norm of the North, but they did little for it. The film also sadly flopped in its own country due to a complicated problem concerning the theater chains over there. Perhaps this one will find a new life.

Moana eased 21% and fell to fifth place, with the physical media (meaning, Blu-ray and DVD) release right around the corner. To date, the picture has made $246 million stateside and $580 million worldwide. Six-oh-oh, here we come!

Sing fell to #21, stabilized and sunk 37%. It's up to $267 million here, and $550 million everywhere.

The Red Turtle saw a little expansion because of the Oscars, domestically the pic has only made $595k. Unfortunate, but expected for a film like this. It's playing in no more than 115 theaters.

Monster Trucks still exists. Down to #35, slipped 45%, $32 million here and $61 million everywhere.

GK finally released the nominated Swiss-French stop-motion film My Life as a Zucchini here. Playing in 2 theaters, it collected $28k.

Trolls' gross hasn't been updated since the 23rd. Apparently it's still showing somewhere, despite being on all the formats. What's the verdict on this one, DreamWorks bean counters?

Amped Up: Another Spot for 'Cars 3' Surfaces

If the teaser, the US poster, and the extended version of the teaser didn't already spell it out... Pixar is apparently really sorry about the direction they went for Cars 2...

This new preview of the film, dubbed an "extended look" (though I'm sure it'll unravel in theaters, because that extended teaser shown during the National Championship is currently playing before Lego Batman and was spinning before a few other movies), is no different from its predecessors.


Again... No Mater, no humor whatsoever, just racing, racing, racing. The tone is pulse-pounding and intense, it's emphasizing the heck out of the fact that it's not going to be anything like Cars 2. It's almost like a loud apology... I think they get it. Heck, I'd laugh out loud if halfway through the finished movie, Lightning tells Mater, "Mater, we've been through this. That spy stuff was all just a dream!"

I'm not sure if this kind of marketing will really work in the film's favor or not, but I like the way they're presenting it... Now a little more dialogue and some story in the next full trailer, that would be cool.

Anyways, they finally hint at the late Doc Hudson's role in the film, though the trailers are seriously lacking new face Cruz Ramirez. The trailer also confirms that the crash takes place at night, which I already knew because I saw the leaked clip from the presentation at the International Auto Show in Detroit. Oh, and finally... The film's logo and not, ya know, "Summer 2017" on top of the film's signature hood ornament.

Yes, it looks good. The sequel we should've gotten, and I say that as someone that didn't mind Cars 2's silly spy stuff.

What say you?

Everything is Awesome-er...: 'Lego Movie Sequel' Will Be a Space Action Musical

The team behind the Lego Movie franchise is sure going to pull out all the stops for the sequel...

On the heels of The Lego Batman Movie's success, director Chris McKay said in an interview that The Lego Movie Sequel is going to be two things: A space action movie, and a big musical.

“LEGO 2 is going to be this big musical and space action movie. They need a lot of the writing, a lot of development, not only with script development, but development with songwriters. So it was very ambitious to get that movie out.”

Well then...

Warner Animation Group and this team really want to top themselves. With The Lego Batman Movie being as a great as it was, I have a feeling that they're going to put their absolute all into the sequel. There were concerns early on about the picture because it lost its director Rob Schrab, and folk also worry because Phil Lord and Christopher Miller aren't writing the script. They penned a draft before getting a gig in a galaxy far, far away, and BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg is sharpening it. Mike Mitchell will direct the film.

Honestly, now I can see why. Mitchell has already directed a pretty successful animated musical, last autumn's lite-psychedelic DreamWorks romp Trolls. It looked awful from the trailers, but ended up being pretty decent. Some point to Mitchell's not-so-great movies, and clickbait leads you to believe he's a hack, but no... He has some decent stuff under his belt.

So, big time songs. A perfect send-up of the recent resurgence in animated musicals, I'd say. I expect it to hit all the biggies, from Frozen to Sing, and maybe even hit some classics - animated or not. Whatever it ends up being, I like this mix of genres! A little less than two years away, my excitement grows.

What say you?

February Bits: 'Cars 3' Cast Info, 'Spark' Gets Title Change, Chris McKay Lands 'Nightwing' Movie

A few little tidbits came about...

If what has been said about Cars 3 for the past two years hasn't driven home the fact that it's going to be like the first film in that series, then this announcement sure will. In addition to The King returning to the series, with the actual King - Richard Petty - voicing him, a host of other race car drivers will voice car versions of themselves in the film.

One of which is former NASCAR driver and the King's son, Kyle Petty. He'll voice Cal Weathers in the film, since Richard's car equivalent was named Strip Weathers. If only he was named Richard in the movie, with the son being Kyle... Then that would make Cars 3 the first Pixar film with a Kyle in it! So close!

Other racers, some of which are veterans, include Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, and Ray Evernham. Jeff Gordon, who did a voice cameo in Cars 2, is back as well. What about Lewis Hamilton? Sportscasters Shannon Spake and Mike Joy will star as well, returning faces include Howard "Humpy" Wheeler and Darrell Waltrip.

No different from the first one, really. The first one featured the voices of Mario Andretti, Michael Schumacher, Dale Earnhardt Jr., among other sportscasters and noted car enthusiasts.

Also, a new image...

Very, very nice.

Say it ain't so, the director of The Lego Batman Movie is looking to direct one of the DC Extended Universe movies, and a Gotham-based one no less... A Nightwing movie.

Yes, that's right, Chris McKay is set to direct a planned Nightwing movie for Warner Bros./DC. Maybe it'll actually happen, but given the way WB is and has been mishandling DC's cinematic output, I have my reservations. That means I'll be surprised if Matt Reeves ends up actually directing The Batman.

For those who are not in the know, Nightwing was Robin... In the comics, Dick Grayson ditched the Robin name and persona for Nightwing in the 1980s. Grayson/Robin is a major player in The Lego Batman Movie, so it all lines up quite nicely. This will be, if it happens, McKay's second live-action film. His first was a 2002 picture called 2wks, 1yr.

You guys know of Spark, right?

That space monkey movie that was made by ToonBox, the Nut Job creators? Completed a little over a year ago, the film was screened at a Toronto-based film festival back in April. Months later, Open Road Films got the distribution rights and announced that they would be releasing it this coming April... But no trailer has shown up, or an official poster (only the ones made for buyers/festivals), though we have a trailer for Open Road/ToonBox's The Nut Job 2, which was always set to open after this film. That comes out in August...

Where's all the marketing for this movie? Will it be pushed back? I have no idea, but...

Fandango's website has what looks like a new poster for the film... It looks like its title has been altered. It's now called Spark: A Space Tail. It appears that a spring release for the feature is still not out of the question.

Yeah, I think it's a dumb addition, but it could be just another tagline. Fandango, however, lists the movie as Spark: A Space Tail. Hopefully the movie itself is a bit of alright. I like the premise (space + animation + animals = count me in!), I just hope the writing stacks up. We don't want another Space Chimps with this movie, you know?

Update (2/25/2017): Spark: A Space Tail's trailer is set to debut in a week, according to the film's twitter page. I guess Open Road never saw much in this one... 

What say you on all of this?

Batman Succeeds: 'Lego Batman' Wins the Weekend Again

No shock, really.

The Lego Batman Movie wasn't facing any tentpole-esque competition this week. Not even the big budget epic The Great Wall, which might make its money back because of the Chinese and overseas grosses. Universal pretty much dumped that one here, so the mini figures had the weekend all to themselves.

Falling a good 35%, The Lego Batman Movie collected $20 million and is sitting at $98 million domestically. Not as strong as The Lego Movie's second weekend drop, but it doesn't matter. The thing is doing damn fine for a spin-off. Worldwide, it is currently at $170 million, more than double the budget. We're off to a good start!

Moana surged a few spaces ahead, going from 17 to 13, and rising 37%. No theater expansion or special promotion or anything, it just... Jumped a bit. There's still some oil in this tank. $244 million domestically, $573 million. Japan will do the rest in a matter of weeks.

What's impressive is the weekend performance puts it ahead of Sing, a leggy smash that opened nearly a month after it. Sing tumbled 58%. $266 million here, it should top out between $270-275 million here, making it Illumination's second biggest non-Despicable Me film behind The Secret Life of Pets. Worldwide, the film is up to $528 million. China just got the film, Russia and Japan get it next. Let's see how high it goes from here...

Monster Trucks is down 70%, not much has changed. $60 million worldwide. No update on Trolls, whether it has ended its run or not. I wonder how the home media sales are...

UPDATE: Four-days are in...

The only major change here is The Lego Batman Movie, which looks to make $107 million by the end of today. Worldwide, this puts its a few clicks higher, $179 million.

From Stop-Mo to Sony: Shannon Tindle Working on a Sony Animation Film

Shannon Tindle is quite a name in animation.

He conceived the story for LAIKA's excellent Kubo and the Two Strings with Marc Haimes, and he served as a character designer. He had also done character design for LAIKA's debut feature, Coraline. He's also known for his work on the Cartoon Network show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which he won an Annie and an Emmy for. Other TV animation work of his includes Static Shock, Samurai Jack, The Proud Family, and a few others. Features? The Croods, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and Curious George.

Quite the resume.

He's now writing and directing a project for Sony Pictures Animation, according to his twitter biography, and this...

Day 1: Crew photo with @Mr_Scribbles on my new film!!! #sonypicturesanimation pic.twitter.com/x47kK1wzuw

— Shannon Tindle (@ShannonTindle_1) February 14, 2017

I've been a sourpuss when it comes to Sony Pictures Animation. I think they're a studio with great potential, and I think they showed just that with two particular features of theirs: Animated mockumentary Surf's Up and the heartfelt, zany, inventive Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Their other work has left me rather unimpressed, though some films had some interesting visual choices and such.

They're also headed up by executives who continue to hold Genndy Tartakovsky on a leash, booted Lauren Faust from Medusa, and rushed an emoji movie into production. That being said, some of the projects on their slate do excite me! Animated Spider-Man sounds like a turbo shot in the superhero movie coffee, not to mention it's about Miles Morales. The Star could be a cool take on the Nativity story that's wisely being done on a much smaller budget (it's being outsourced to CineSite). Hotel Transylvania 3 looks to be written by just Michael McCullers, and no one from the Adam Sandler camp, so it has the potential to be what its predecessors weren't. Vivo, a Lin-Manuel Miranda monkey musical, also has my interest.

It's just The Emoji Movie that can disappear (guys, I'll gladly eat crow if the thing is actually good), and I'm really on the fence about Smurfs: The Lost Village. It looks better than the hybrid movies, but not much better.

So, Mr. Tindle has a project in the works. My cynical side would say "How long till he is removed from the movie?" My more optimistic side says "Let's see what happens." Again, I can't be too harsh. Sure, these execs may have possibly diluted Medusa and greenlit Emoji Movie, but maybe they'll prove themselves with films like Tindle's, Vivo, Animated Spider-Man and others. Who knows!

All I can say is, I'm excited to see what Tindle has in store for us.

Brickbuster: 'Lego Batman' Wins the Weekend Box Office

The bricks sold the tickets...

Projections for The Lego Batman Movie were all over the map, some suggested it could open as high as $85 million. It didn't quite do that, in fact it made around the same amount I thought it would make all along. $53 million, not too bad!

The Lego Batman Movie cost a bit more than its surprisingly lower budget predecessor, but it's no matter. By weekend deux, it'll probably make it all back. Worldwide, the film sits at $90 million. A handful of countries, including China, Australia (where it was made, no less!), and Japan, haven't gotten it yet. It's sure to do fine in those territories.

What's more impressive is that it staved off Fifty Shades Darker. That film was #1 on Friday, but because Fifty Shades is one of those frontloaded films that a base audience flocks to on the first day of release, it slipped, letting Lego Batman take the trophy home. Since the first movie was sort of a one-and-done thing, Fifty Shades Darker unsurprisingly opened with nearly half of the first movie's opening weekend take.

Sing took a tumble, land right outside of the Top 10. Dropping 59%, the film is now at $265 million here and $501 million everywhere. Perhaps the sky is $275 million domestically (making it their biggest non-sequel yet), and $570 million worldwide, if it breaks out in France and Japan.

At #17 is Moana, up to $243 million stateside and $565 million worldwide. Japan is getting it soon, $600 million worldwide is pretty much a given at this point.

Monster Trucks is a goner. Dropped 70%, is at $32 million here and $58 million everywhere. Perhaps the film can find a following on TV/video, it's supposedly not all that bad. I saw bits and pieces of it, wasn't terrible or anything.

Trolls is on Blu-ray, but was still playing in some areas. It's pretty much done now. Looks like the final worldwide tally will be $339-340 million.

Holy Bricks, Batman!: A 'Lego Batman Movie' Review

I don't know about you, but I think Warner Animation Group is full of surprises...

The Lego Movie, I think, took many of us by surprise, being more than just a fun little movie about the bricks we all love. Their second feature, the Sony ImageWorks-made Storks, was more divisive. For some, myself included, it was a surprisingly strong comedy with great Looney Tunes-like energy, others found it to be incoherent noise and blabber-jabber. So how were they going to pull off the Batman-centric Lego movie that didn't have directing/writing duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in the cockpit?

The answer?

They pulled it all off with flying colors. Literally and figuratively...

SPOILERS ahead...

Give it director Chris McKay, writer Seth-Grahame Smith and his team, The Lego Batman Movie is a very hilarious send-up of everything Batman, poking at everything from the comics to the movies to even its more offbeat adaptations. Best of all, it completely subverts expectations. You would think this would be a simply funny movie where Batman takes on foes, right? Not really. In the film, Batman's characteristics are exaggerated the extreme. He has no attachment to anybody, prefers to seriously work alone, and will never express anything to The Joker (not even an "I hate you"), which grills the clown prince of crime. Deep down, he wants a family, at the same time he fears losing a new family.

Gotham City's new police commissioner, Barbara Gordon, wants a new Gotham that doesn't let Batman do all the work alone, challenging the Caped Crusader. The Joker hatches a big scheme in the process, getting him and all of his cronies sans Harley Quinn locked up. Batman plans to send all of the bad guys into the Phantom Zone (which he, of course, steals from Superman) in order to prove that he truly can clean Gotham of crime. At the same time, he inadvertently adopts a young man named Dick Grayson, who of course becomes Robin later on.

There's a lot of great stuff here, from the father-son dynamics to the parodies of Batman stories. His relationship with Alfred is a lot of fun as well. The Joker's master plan is a real burst of coolness, he recruits lots of iconic villains and baddies, and together they all take Gotham City by storm. Menaces like the Wicked Witch, King Kong, Voldemort, the Eye of Sauron, and so on. Batman and his crew respond by forming Suicide Squad, literally... Making it the Suicide Squad movie Suicide Squad should've been.

Bolstering all of this is fantastic action that's staged impeccably, an explosive script, and pretty even pacing. Oddly enough, unlike most animated films these days, it didn't feel too long nor did it feel too short. There's real heart to this film, which I was not expecting. The Lego Movie should've taught me that lesson, but no, The Lego Batman Movie actually is a heartfelt film about Batman's reluctance to start a new family because of his fears of losing more people who are near-and-dear to him. This balanced with comedy quite well, and while I didn't think it was as sharp as The Lego Movie, it comes pretty darn close!

It's a Batman movie I never knew I really needed. Who would've thought Batman, Robin, Alfred, and Batgirl facing off against iconic baddies outside of the DC rogues gallery would've made for a great movie?

2017's animated feature line-up is off to a strong start. While most of this year's crop - from what I'm seeing - isn't doing it for me, I can only hope that it'll do like this movie and... Surprise me. Yes, The Lego Batman Movie is something special...

Apemation: Taika Waititi and Mark Gustafson To Direct 'Bubbles'

Do you remember the planned stop-motion biopic of Michael Jackson told from the perspective of his pet chimpanzee Bubbles?

It now has two directors.

The first man in question? Taika Waititi.

The acclaimed director of Marvel Studios' upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Bewilderpeople, and What We Do in the Shadows, Waititi is no stranger to animation. He wrote an early draft of Moana, and is also in actor in various films. The Bubbles project is the brainchild of screenwriter Isaac Adamson, Dan Harmon and Starburns (Anomalisa) were set to make it happen. Deadline reports that the story will play out the way Anomalisa did, hinting that this will indeed be an adults-only picture. It would have to be, honestly.

Waititi is not alone. He is directing alongside stop-motion veteran Mark Gustafson, animation director on Fantastic Mr. Fox. What an exciting combo! Waititi did state, however, that the film will not really be about Jackson: This film is not about Michael Jackson because that’s not a story for me to tell — or a story I’d be comfortable telling — it’s about a chimpanzee’s fascinating journey through the complex jungle of human life."

He went on to say "I think animation is the only way to approach a story like this. I really loved Anomalisa because it was beautiful and authentic in its meditation on loneliness. I’m really excited to be working with Dan Harmon and Starburns as we share similar sensibilities and want to tell human stories in unique and artistic ways."

Well... That's certainly a more interesting development in an animation world full of family movies and throwaway rental comedies. Hopefully it, unlike Anomalisa, gets something of a wider release now that Sausage Party did well at the box office. Hopefully that sent the message, that animation can reach other audiences beside the everyone/family audience. Viva la adults-only animation...

What say you?

Wing Spreading: Andrew Stanton Goes to TV, Heads for 'Stranger Things'

Andrew Stanton, long-time Pixarian and director of three Pixar smashes, is going down another avenue...

Stanton was actually one of the few recent animation directors that tried their hand at live-action. His debut live-action film was an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom stories, John Carter of Mars. Done at Walt Disney Studios, the division - at the time being run by the boneheaded chairman Rich Ross - completely botched the film and plastered it with a bland title (I refuse to call the movie what it ended being titled: Just John Carter...), the movie flopped hard at the box office and Stanton got most of the blame. Some see his return to Finding Nemo in the form of sequel Finding Dory as Disney punishing him for the Mars-bound movie... Which actually wasn't all that bad. I'd argue it was pretty decent and deserved to do better!

As Finding Dory was coming out, Stanton had said in interviews that he wanted to pursue more live-action projects because of how time-consuming animation is. Now, he has a locked a big project... For the small screen!

Stanton will be directing two episodes of the upcoming second season of Stranger Things, one of Netflix's runaway smash hits last year.

I confess, I've never seen a single episode of Stranger Things, but it's a sin I'm going to redeem before the second season starts in October. It's cool to see Mr. Stanton spread his wings and try it all, and maybe somewhere down the line he'll find a happy medium and do some good-quality television animation. Now, I do hope he eventually returns to Pixar with an original, but I'm excited - as someone who likes and owns John Carter of Mars, to say nothing of his three Pixar films - to see what he brings to TV.

I always saw Stanton as Pixar's "epic" director, making movies that are huge in scope and are very atmospheric in ways. I wonder if he'll bring that to the show, as I felt he kept that tone in his John Carter of Mars.

What say you?

More Movin' Movies: The Weinsteins Delay 'Leap!'

The American release of the French animated film Ballerina has been delayed...

Titled Leap! here in the US, it's been moved - even though there's a trailer out - from March 3rd to April 21st... The week after the release of ToonBox's Spark, which opens a week after Smurfs: The Lost Village and the American release of Your Name., which is a week after the release of The Boss Baby. Talk about a train of animation!

This is no surprise because the Weinstein Company's last all-animated release, Metegol, was delayed... And delayed... And delayed... And was eventually relegated to the direct-to-video market. Leap! could share the same fate, I wouldn't put it past them because every time they delayed Metegol (titled Underdogs here, just as bland as Leap!), it was pretty much at the last minute. One of the delays occurred after the release of a trailer!

Unlike Underdogs, Leap! is Ballerina. At least for now. The film we're currently getting is the same film the UK got months ago, and that's the only English-language dub of this movie to exist. It's a not a rewritten pile of slop, thankfully. Given the Weinsteins' usual ways with animation, I fear the delay could lead to more delays, and a redubbing, because they just can't leave well enough alone. Doogal apparently taught them nothing, nor did their false starts with theatrical animation.

Will Leap! eventually come out unaltered? Or do you think Harvey Scissorhands and co. will be up to their usual tricks?

What say you?

Brick Fight: 'The Lego Ninjago Movie' Trailer Debuts

Just in time for the release of the newest brick pic comes the teaser for the next brick pic...

The Lego Ninjago Movie, for the uninitiated, is based off of the company's long-running line of the same name. A line that combines martial arts and monsters and all sorts of action-packed stuff, it even spawned a long-running TV series that was shown on Cartoon Network. After the runaway success of The Lego Movie back in 2014, Warner Animation Group kicked their Lego movie series into high gear.

The full trailer is finally here, and it's nothing like the short film/semi-teaser we got back in September...


I don't know, folks... I wasn't too impressed. A trailer is a trailer, yes, but the film just looks kind of there to me. It's clearly going for the irreverent edge of the first film and Lego Batman, but few of the jokes landed, and while I like some of the little cracks at the good son-evil father cliche, it didn't leave much. Visually, however, it looks pretty cool. We're getting what was promised, for sure. The action looks ace!

Anyways, I'll wait for the next full trailer. If you know me well, I'm not fond of the way most American animated movie trailers are edited, and I'm well aware that trailer editing is a big task - all that story and humor and stuff that you have to pack in, in order to get the people into the seats. But there were some glimpses of awesome in the teaser, so I have some hope. The Lego Batman Movie, going by the reviews, seemed to turn out more than just a good companion piece. Also, I think WAG's only non-Lego film - Storks - was pretty good, too. Perhaps this will kick some butt, too.

What say you?

Shufflin' Sony: 'Hotel Transylvania 3' Moves Up

Look at that, more release date shuffling!

Not too long after their recent slate roll out, Sony has announced that one of their animated pictures is moving up a few months. That film would happen to be Hotel Transylvania 3, which was originally set to open on the same day as Warner Animation Group's S.C.O.O.B. - September 21, 2018. The picture, which is about Dracula and the gang on a cruise ship, is now slated to open on July 13, 2018...

But that's the same day as Paramount Animation's Amusement Park, their first all-original, all-animated movie. The very movie that could be the one that establishes them as a legitimate player again. Methinks Paramount moves it yet again... But to where? Well, maybe early August. Two weeks after Mission: Impossible VI, maybe?

Sony filled Hotel Transylvania 3's old date with Goosebumps 2, which will likely come with the Sony Animation logo attached, despite it and the first one not being Sony Animation productions. January 2018 seemed a bit too soon, so it's cool to see it easing back into the pre-Halloween field... But why against S.C.O.O.B.? Both go for the families and are spooky-themed. Maybe one moves to mid-October, who knows.

It'll be settled eventually,  I think.

What say you?

Weekend Box Office Report: Steady Drops

The calm before the storm... The Lego Batman Movie - currently garnering rave reviews - is out in a matter of days...

Sing still sits in the Top 10, staying at #7. It dipped 36%, made $4 million, and now sits at $262 million. Worldwide, it has jumped up to $487 million. France and the UK recently got it, China, Russia, and Japan are next. I expect it to do very well in the first two of those three territories.

Good ol' Monster Trucks slipped 49%, $31 million here, $57 million everywhere. Like I said on another post, I expected it to do way worse. The more I think about it, the more I think it should've been like Paramount's own Super 8. A town-set monster flick made for roughly $50 million, why in the world did Monster Trucks have to cost $75 million *more* than that? Oh right, something about confidence in it possibly kickstarting a Transformers/Ninja Turtles-esque franchise.

Despite losing over 1,000 screens, Moana eased 46%. $242 million here, $554 million worldwide. Still hanging in there, looks like it'll settle for a sub-$255 million domestic gross. $600 million worldwide is in sight!

No update on Trolls' gross. With the Blu-ray out tomorrow, I reckon its run will end pretty soon. There wouldn't be any major change anyways. We still await the verdict from DreamWorks on whether it was a success or a loss...

Fox, The Bullfighter: Fox Pits 'Ferdinand' Against 'Star Wars'

Confidence? Or lack of faith that I find disturbing?

Fox has moved Blue Sky's Ferdinand, a new adaptation of the classic children's book about a bull who would rather smell flowers than participate in a bullfight, up a week. It is now set to open the same day as Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Literally, Fox is the bullfighter here... Star Wars will either charge this thing right out of the ring, or Ferdinand will somehow hold up. But here's the thing. This new Blue Sky film, to me, is more than just blockbuster counter-programming. I get it in a way. Star Wars is a PG-13 spectacle for everyone, while families who aren't willing to take their young'uns to it - or if it's sold out at their local multiplexes - can turn to Ferdinand. Worked for Fox's own Alvin and the Hipmunks 4, so why not this?

But I think it's more than that. As we all know now, not every animated family film is destined to magically pull big numbers out of a hat. Blue Sky's films, on average, cost about $90-100 million to make. The ideal situation? The film in question pulls about $250-300 million at the worldwide box office. Some of Blue Sky's recent films have barely topped $100 million domestically, and in one case, completely missed it.

That very film was last summer's Ice Age 5, the franchise is fortunately something of a hot commodity in other parts of the world. It was pretty much saved there, but something like Epic or Peanuts or Ferdinand? Well, those are arguably untested with worldwide audiences. Epic didn't soar overseas, nor did the film based on the iconic comic strip. So Ferdinand's foreign gross is totally up in the air as well, though I can see it doing well in Spain and parts of Europe given the setting.

In short, I don't want it to flop, because things happen when most animated movies flop. Artists may get laid off, or certain films aren't tried again. Blue Sky has yet to see a big flop. So I don't know about the slight date change. I think they should've kept it for the week after Star Wars, so that after Star Wars blasts everything to smithereens, it can then quietly have a nice start up.

Let's look at holiday legs...

Holiday family films tend to have very strong legs, like most holiday releases. The third Chipmunks movie opened much lower than its predecessors, but legs got it past $100 million stateside. The fourth one opened embarrassingly low, but had the legs to make it up to $85 million stateside. Paramount dumped The Adventures of Tintin faster than a moldy sandwich, but after such a terrible opening, it heave-ho'ed to $77 million. Yogi Bear? Same thing. Small-as-heck opening, climbed to $100 million. The Emperor's New Groove is perhaps one of the best examples of this. Disney left that one to die in mid-December of 2000, and lo and behold... After an abysmal opening, it climbed with its might, all the way up to $89 million. (Adjusted, that's: $15 OW / $139m DOM)

Some of those had reasonable budgets, some of them didn't, others had to rely on worldwide grosses. Tintin was thankfully saved by very strong overseas grosses, given the legacy of the comic series it's based on. Emperor's New Groove on the other hand was born out of cancelled movie that had already cost Disney greatly, thus it was pretty expensive, and worldwide grosses did not - unfortunately - come to the rescue. Let's hope Ferdinand isn't expected to make too much.

So, what's Fox's game here? Do you think Ferdinand could do well? Sound off below.

Say What? A Raunchy 2004 Danish Animated Film Hit Theaters This Weekend

Hey, if 90s Studio Ghibli films can be theatrically re-released nowadays, why not a decade-old Danish animated movie?

Terkel in Trouble, renamed The Trouble with Terkel for some reason, was released all the way back in 2004. You can tell by the look of it, and it definitely was an adults-only film. I've never seen it or even heard of it, but apparently it's supposed to be a bit of alright. Well, maybe the original Danish version. Apparently an English dub of this thing was already made... Back in 2006... And released theatrically in the UK...

I sure didn't get "could be decent" from the cheap, made-on-Windows Movie Maker trailer, but have a look...


It really reminds me of when I was the protagonist's age. I would lace almost everything I drew and wrote with coarse language and inappropriate stuff, thinking that made them "adult" and "cool".

Some new American reviews are up for the film, and they're pretty negative. The LA Times, for example, says it feels "painfully outdated". Yeah, before I found out how old this movie was, I kept thinking when watching the trailer... "Did they make this in like 2004 or something?"

Interestingly enough, this picture did get a limited US theatrical release before... Back in 2010! By the same distributor! Box Office Mojo, and those reviews, prove that this re-release is a thing...

Why it's opening in a tiny amount of theaters this weekend, I have no idea, but it's a rather weird come-and-go story in the land of animation. I guess Terkel is a big deal to someone, somewhere.

Have you seen it before? What say you?

Ready to Fly: 'Captain Underpants' Teaser Poster Surfaces

As they say, have no fear... The first poster for Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is here.

DreamWorks' Captain Underpants is a particularly interesting production. The studio outsourced their adaptation of Dav Pilkey's irreverent gross-out book series to Mikros Image in Montreal. Their plan was to get it made for a lower cost than their in-house films. It was a very smart move, for DreamWorks had been suffering for a while and losing lots of money on costly animated features that perhaps weren't destined to magically pull ridiculous numbers out of hat. Captain Underpants isn't quite an adult-skewing property, so I think they did the right thing.

The film also boasts a more unique animation style, and looks to be a mixed media kinda feature, using stop-motion, sock-puppets and (gasp!) traditional animation. With a smaller budget, I feel you can take more visual risks like that. It seems like DreamWorks won't shy away from outsourcing, as 2019's Everest will be done by their Shanghai studio for - presumably - a much lower cost. These kinds of movies will sit well with the mainline heavies, not dissimilar to how Disney Feature Animation's defunct Orlando unit made smaller pics (Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear) while the Burbank building unleashed the big, costly films.

Since The Lego Batman Movie is right around the corner, it's time to start plugging this June title. Fox and DreamWorks have currently been marketing The Boss Baby, due out in over a month. I figured they'd have to start the campaign for Captain Underpants soon, but the good thing is, they don't need to make Trolls numbers if the budget for this thing turns out to be something like $70 million. The Boss Baby is the mainline California production, so they need that to be the biggie. Whether it'll make its money back or not, remains to be seen. All I know is, it's all over my theater.

As many of you may know, this will be the last DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox. Universal will take control of the ship after that film is released. Their first DreamWorks movie is Larrikins, set to open a little over a year from now. Where's the concept art, DreamWorks? Where's the first look? What's going on with it?

Anyways, as I've said before, I certainly hope this "First Epic Movie" can stretch the fun of the books to 90 minutes, and engage both adults and kids alike. This movie is a part of Jeffrey Katzenberg's plan that was launched in early 2015, when he sought to be more involved with the animated movies again following the company's big collapse. His goal was to have the studio make innocuous comedy movies that were aimed at "kids and their mothers", and these two pics began production during that time. Katzenberg retired after Comcast bought DreamWorks, so maybe Captain Underpants will be the end of an era...

I dig the poster, though. That comic style is there, and the other images we've seen show how different the animation style will be, how more Peanuts Movie-esque it is. I'm looking to forward to the visuals for the time being, I'm on the fence about the story and writing.

What say you?

Rebuilding: 'Lego Movie Sequel' Switches Directors

The Lego Movie Sequel had one of its big pieces replaced...

The film, originally slated for a summer 2018 release, had been pushed to February 2019 a while ago. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the genius writing-directing duo behind the first film, weren't going to direct the sequel, but they were going to write it. Their script is currently being rewritten by BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg.

Up until now, the picture was set to be directed by Rob Schrab. He was one of the writers of Monster House, the creator of the comic Scud: The Disposable Assassin, and a worked on quite a few comedy shows here and there. He is now off the picture, due to... You guessed it! Creative differences.

His replacement is Mike Mitchell, who has a history with family films. Mitchell recently directed DreamWorks' Trolls with Walt Dohrn, and had also directed the studio's Shrek Forever After. He had even animated on a couple of their films, while directing some live-action films in the mid-to-late 2000s. He is also known for... Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, but he directed the live-action portion of Sponge out of Water. With Trolls, I think he showed some potential, so maybe he could make The Lego Movie Sequel work.

Again, the current draft of the script is being done by the BoJack Horseman creator, BoJack Horseman is a successful adult-oriented animated Netflix show that's actually smart and "adult". Now of course Lego Movie Sequel won't be just that, but I'm confident that Bob-Waksberg will breathe something fresh into the sequel, and knock it out of the park, despite the director change.

What say you?

(via The Hollywood Reporter)

Really Planning Ahead: Illumination Extends Slate to 2023

Holy crap! That's six years from now!

You read the title right, Illumination has added four new movies their slate, the last of which is set to open in the summer of 2023.

All of them are untitled, Box Office Mojo lists them as "Untitled Illumination Animated Film", as opposed to "Untitled Illumination Franchise Film." Could it be?? Is it possible that a majority of these movies will be original, non-sequel films? Maybe, maybe not... Perhaps a sequel rush after Grinch, and then a whole string of originals?

We shall see, but...

The dates.

Movie #1 - July 2, 2021
Movie #2 - July 1, 2022
Movie #3 - December 21, 2022
Movie #4 - June 30, 2023

I like that they're kinda-sorta pacing themselves with two-in-one-year thing. Double-whammies from them will come every two years starting in 2020, it seems. This past year was the first time Illumination readied two films for one calendar year, 2020 looks to repeat that (2018 was originally going to have two films), and now 2022. Will that turn into a pattern? Maybe, maybe not.

It's no shock, though... Illumination is a hit-making machine. Their lower budget movies, they really seem to strike a chord with the general public, no matter what kind of reception they get from critics and animation fans. Comcast probably has some algorithm or something...

Anyways, they're the first animation studio to claim dates in those years. Universal Pictures themselves were actually the first distributor to stake out a concrete 2021 date, for their tenth Fast & Furious installment. All of the other studios have yet to set anything in stone past 2020...

My theory on what will fill those slots? Something Dr. Seuss-based will, as they've been developing a Cat in the Hat movie for a while. The next two can go to Johnny Express and Flanimals, assuming both of those are still a go. Slot 4? Probably a sequel, Secret Life of Pets 3? You know it will happen.

What say you?

Filling Up: Open Road Picks Up 'Arctic Justice'

Do any of you guys remember Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad?

The project is from a Canadian production company called AMBI Group. It's set to be directed by former DreamWorks animator Dimos Vrysellas, and the scribes are Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker (The Nut Job 2, Escape from Planet Earth). It even has a full cast, and was floating around for a long while. The picture looks to be very cartoony and madcap, but I'm not quite sure about it. The writers' resume isn't the best, though like I said a while back, we can't assume that film's downfall was due to just the writers. Like most of these sillier animated titles, it could go either way.

The animation community first heard about it back in mid-2015, though I was not one of those folks! I first heard of it in April of last year, when a boatload of images and concept art pieces were unearthed. For a while, it didn't have a distributor. The reports said that the crew were looking to release the film in early 2018. Now, Open Road Films has fattened up their animation slate. They will be distributing the film, plus everything ToonBox/Red Rover has in the works. The recently-delayed Blazing Samurai will also be released by them. The more the merrier...

No concrete date has been inked. It and Blazing Samurai are TBD 2018 releases, though I'm sure they'll get dates once things fall into place.

The plot seems to have stayed the same too, but one of Open Road's heads decided to emphasize how topical the film is going to be, since it's about arctic critters taking on an evil walrus who wants to melt the polar ice caps and take over the world.

Now that could either work, or it could be unsubtle and forced. There's nothing wrong with a little environmental message or two, but the execution really matters. You could be subtle about it and weave it into your story in a meaningful way (WALL-E, I'll argue, tries not to hammer it), or you could be insincere about it (looking at you, Lorax!) and treat the audience like they're dumb. Some movies do that, unfortunately. Plus, your movie in question should be entertainment with something to say, not a boring, on-the-nose seminar.

All of that aside, this is one of those "who knows" kinda movies for me. The premise seems cool, and I dug a lot of the concept art, but how the writing will add up remains to be seen and heard.

What say you?

Crumbled Cracker: 'Animal Crackers' Delayed, Facing Issues

It looks like Animal Crackers is having some trouble getting to the big screen.

The film, the passion project of fx/animation veteran Scott Christian Sava, was mostly done up at Blue Dream Studios in Spain with help from several other units/investors. For a long time, we kept hearing that the CG picture - a fun-sounding story looking to emulate the feel of some 80s family films - was aiming for a late Q1/Q2 release this year. However, the film didn't seem to lock an American distributor, thus no concrete release date ever showed up.

From what I've heard, the filmmakers looked to Relativity Media, but we all know what Relativity has been going through since the summer of 2015. Despite getting out of bankruptcy not too long ago, Relativity pulled a couple movies from their slate this past November, one of which was a long-delayed Halle Berry action flick called Kidnap. Prior to its abrupt disappearance, it was set to open in December, and a trailer for the thing was rolling in theaters. The studio was also sold to Singaporean company called Yuuzoo.

Relativity never inked a date for Animal Crackers, but it was on their slate for a little while, something that flew right past my radar over the last few months. The crew had wanted this thing out by the middle of this coming April. April 21st, in fact. Believe it or not, but National Animal Crackers Day is a thing... It's April 18th. You learn something new everyday!

Anyways, Animal Crackers' animation work is all done. What's left? Sound and music, of course. All post-production stuff. Unfortunately, it won't be making that date. Sava himself spilled some beans on the movie's Facebook page...

This is nothing surprising, but rarely do you hear the filmmakers themselves say something like this early on. Sava further explained the problem in a later comment...

So now the desired date is the out-of-the-way Labor Day weekend slot. Animated films typically don't land around there, only the smaller ones. (Such as Lionsgate's US dub of Robinson Crusoe.) It's smart, though, because a lot of the good slots have been taken up this year. August is booked with The Emoji Movie and The Nut Job 2, and late September has The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Is he referring to Relativity themselves? Or another group of people? Cartoon Brew notes that Odin's Eye Entertainment was supposed to sell the film to potential buyers, but they no longer list it on their website. I had a feeling something was up, given the quietness, the lack of a firm release date, and a few other things.

Hopefully that "bad stuff" is settled, and that Sava's film eventually gets a wide US release. What say you?

Laying Down the Bricks: 'Wreck-It Ralph 2' Cast Details Surface

The sequel to Walt Disney Animation Studios' video game adventure Wreck-It Ralph is almost just a year away from hitting theaters. As expected, some new details are oozing out...

Wreck-It Ralph 2, unsurprisingly, will bring back its four main players: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, and Jack McBrayer. When the film was first announced this past summer, some were worried that the two latter two wouldn't come back, but I had a feeling all along that they'd be in numero due. I mean, why scrap two major characters in the first one? I guess it was all based on the concept art and the plot synopsis mentioning just Ralph and Vanellope.

Today, it was revealed that two good-sized names are part of the cast. First up is the voice of Ariel herself, Jodi Benson. This will be Benson's second Disney Animation role ever, as he hadn't lent a voice to anything produced by the studio after The Little Mermaid debuted in 1989. Benson mostly did voice work for Disney's direct-to-video sequels and TV shows in the 90s and 00s, and also voiced Barbie in cousin studio Pixar's Toy Story sequels. It's a bit unusual to me that Benson wasn't in any Disney animated films for nearly 30 years, but it's great to see her return to the house. I can only imagine what kind of character she'll be playing in this film.

The other new arrival is also no stranger to voice acting, James Corden. Corden's animated resume may not be great (Norm of the North, the English dub of Animals United, yeesh!), but he must have the chops, for the studio barely ever miscasts in my opinion. Give him the right script and he'd probably nail it. When you're given something like Norm of the North, what the heck are you supposed to do?

Now according to Den of Geek, John C. Reilly might be voicing other characters in the film. They also suggested the possibility of Ralph meeting other versions of himself, which is what I've been speculating for a long while. I love the idea of Ralph - who comes from a 1982 arcade game - meeting a mid-90s, more-detailed, console game version of Ralph, or a really detailed, hyper-realistic PS4/Xbox One-like Ralph.

This is played with in the first film, as the three game worlds are all visually very different from each other. There are little details and such that enhance this, such as the Nicelanders in Ralph's home world having limited movements and very simplistic, shape-based character designs. I have a feeling they won't pass that opportunity up. I think it'd be fun to see these 80s video game characters meeting future versions of themselves, and perhaps meet characters that were introduced in later games. Did Fix-It Felix, Jr. become some sort of big Mario-like adventure series in the mid 80s? Who knows!

I have a feeling some breaking news will come about in a month, because the film opens in March of next year. This year is basically 2015 all over again, because two Pixar films are opening, hogging up the usual November slot Disney Animation likes to take. So I guess we'll hear some real news on March 9th, some time before that. As for a teaser? Since the movie is a March release, and Pixar's got a film hitting in the summer... I think that's when we'll get our teaser. Zootopia's teaser debuted before Inside Out in summer 2015, so I see a similar roll-out for this one.

What say you?

Who's Lou?: New Details on Pixar's Next Short Surface

Who is the star of Pixar's next short? None other than... Lou...

Now, we got word on this one a while back, when director Dave Mullins did a little sketch of the titular character and presented it on Instagram. Now, we have a better look at it thanks to USA Today.

Who is "Lou"? Or better yet, what is Lou? Apparently a living amalgamation of things in a Lost and Found box.

The thing in question goes up against a schoolyard bully who steals his classmates' toys and items. It conceals itself with a red hoodie, and has baseballs for eyes. The story sounds like a much weirder Toy Story, and I also like that it's set to deal with bullying, something a Pixar short hasn't taken on just yet.

It's based on the director's personal experiences, which is unsurprising given the personal nature of some of the latest Pixar shorts. Mullins moved a lot when he was a kid, and how he felt on the new playgrounds he found himself in. Here's what he had to say...

"You either feel invisible because you don’t know the other kids or you’re embarrassed and you want to be invisible. I thought it’d be really cool to have a character who could hide in plain sight..."

On the bully, J. J., he said...

"They’re usually just acting out because they’re awkward or young and don’t have their moral compass set. In a weird way, the bullies sometimes feel invisible, too... If you can find out what their motivations are, maybe you can solve some things. That’s what I like about Lou: True happiness comes from giving. He gets J.J. to understand that and through that, what J.J. wants really is to be accepted by the other kids."

Oddball twist on a done-before premise, themes of bullying and selflessness... Yes, it's a Pixar short. I'm excited.

What say you?