‘Frozen 2’ First-Day Advance Ticket Sales Set Animated Film Record
Further evidence that Disney’s “Frozen II” is going to be a gargantuan hit at the November box office: Both Fandango and Atom Tickets have announced that the first day presales for the Chris Buck-Jennifer Lee-directed sequel have eclipsed those for all other animated films. While tracking has “Frozen II” opening to $100M over the weekend of Nov. 22-24, some B.O. prognosticators believe its higher at $125M. For Fandango, “Frozen II” is the online and mobile-ticket seller’s fastest-selling animated pic in its 19-year history, outpacing the presales of “Toy Story 4.”
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Amazon Orders Two Seasons of Critical Role’s Animated ‘Legend of Vox Machina’ Series
Critical Role’s upcoming animated series “The Legend of Vox Machina” — based on storylines in the group’s long-running role-playing show — has found a streaming home: Amazon’s Prime Video. The series follows a seven-member group who are on a quest to save the realm from terrifying monsters and dark magical forces, only to discover they become a found family in the process. The adult animated action-comedy series is being produced by animation house Titmouse.
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Justin Bieber’s ‘Cupid’ Gets Director As Mythos Studios Ramps Up First Three Films
Mythos Studios, the big-ambition animation studio established last year by Marvel Studios Founding Chairman David Maisel and SB Projects founder Scooter Braun, announced the creative teams leading the company’s first three feature films. Music video veteran Pete Candeland will direct Cupid, the animated musical about the famed god of desire from classical mythology and stars the previously announced Bieber as the voice of the headstrong winged archer whose parents are Venus the goddess of love, and Mars, the war deity.
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STX’s ‘UglyDolls’ To Launch First Weekend Of May
STX Entertainment is jumping its family animated feature UglyDolls to May 3, up a week from May 10. Kelly Asbury directs the animated pic based off David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim’s plush toy line.
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Illumination-Universal’s ‘The Grinch’ To Steal $50M+ Opening – Early B.O. Forecast
Illumination and Universal’s animated feature The Grinch landed on tracking this morning, and it’s safe to say that the Yarrow Cheney-Scott Mosier directed movie is headed to a $50M-range opening. Given the Dr. Seuss and Illumination brand, it would not be shocking if that projection continues to mushroom.
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Illuminating Dr. Seuss’s Mean One! The new CG-animated feature The Grinch digs deeper into the world of the favorite holiday curmudgeon.
Pasek and Paul Writing Songs for Blue Sky’s First Animated Musical
Karen Disher (“Daria”) and Steve Martino (“The Peanuts Movie”) will co-direct the picture from a script by Tim Federle (“Ferdinand”) with Oscar winners Benji Pasek and Justin Paul set to write the songs for the upcoming Blue Sky Studios project. The family film has the working title “Foster” and will reunite the musical duo with their “La La Land” producer Marc Platt. It hits theaters on March 5, 2021.
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Animation Magazine Interview: "Into the Deep End"
DreamWorks’ new Netflix series Trollhunters digs into a rich mythology mixed with scary moments, humor and character developed by creator and executive producer Guillermo del Toro. Del Toro conceived the project as an animated film he would direct and brought aboard collaborators such as Rodrigo Blaas, whose animated short Alma caught his eye; Christine Steinberg (Rise of the Guardians); Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, the Green Lantern movie); and Dan Hageman (The Lego Movie).
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CS Interview: Director Chris Wedge Talks "Monster Trucks"
This weekend, Paramount Pictures will release "Monster Trucks," the live-action debut of lauded animation director Chris Wedge (Ice Age, Epic), founder of Blue Sky Studios. "Monster Trucks" is a super fun kids movie in the spirit of ’80s Amblin films or Disney live-action movies of the ’60s and ’70s. Stars Lucas Till, Jane Levy and Thomas Lennon are all terrific, and the cute monster Creech is an adorable and inventive big screen creature.
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Netflix's 'Trollhunters' Review: Guillermo del Toro Crafts an Animated Adventure Classic
If the rest of Netflix's new original content is half as good as 'Trollhunters' (which boasts former Pixar animator Rodrigo Blaas, who directed the short film 'Alma,' as a showrunner), then we're in for a immense treat. 'Trollhunters' manages to craft a joyful, yet high-stakes fictional world where a wonderful, dangerous magic is just out of sight, ready to take you if you let it.
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