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By: Jerry Beck,
on 7/5/2013
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Despicable Me 2, which debuted in the United States on Wednesday with a mammoth $34.3 million, is headed into what is guaranteed to be a huge opening weekend. The film is the fourth effort from Illumination Entertainment, the studio run by Chris Meledandri, who is the former 20th Century Fox Animation president responsible for films like Ice Age and Horton Hears a Who!.
Critical reaction to Despicable Me 2, directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, has been decent though not spectacular, which is quite similar to another recent animated follow-up, Pixar’s Monsters University. The critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 75% with an audience rating of 89%. Variety labeled the film an “endearing if slightly less inspired sequel,” while the NY Times stated that it was “consistently diverting and so cute you’ll want to pet it” while cautioning that “it is also weightless and lacks a center.” The note sounded by most critics is that it’s ultimately a likeable film, as summed up by the Village Voice: “It’s breezy and affable without ever going completely soft.”
And now it’s your turn. After you see the film, report back here with your thoughts in the comments below. As always, this talkback is reserved for readers who have seen the film and wish to share their views with others in the animation community.
(Despicable Me 2 billboard via Daily Billboard)
A new trailer released today for Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 2 directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud:
Illumination Entertainment, the company responsible for Despicable Me and The Lorax, announced this week that it will produce a CGI remake of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The book has been adapted into film multiple times, most famously by Chuck Jones in a 1966 TV special (pictured above).
The new feature, which has no release date or writer yet, will be directed by Pete Candeland, who is best known for directing the Gorillaz music videos.
Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri produced his first Dr. Seuss project, Blue Sky’s Horton Hears a Who!, while he was the head of Fox Feature Animation. In addition to the Grinch project, Melendandri is developing a CG adaptation of Seuss’s Cat in the Hat and a live-action Dr. Seuss biopic.
Read more details about the Grinch film at Variety.
Apparently, somebody wasn’t having a good time on the production of Illumination Entertainment’s The Lorax.
(via Aryeh David Zucker on Cartoon Brew’s Facebook page)
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Post tags: Illumination, The Lorax
By: Jerry Beck,
on 3/18/2012
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In a rare trifecta, animation artists ruled the top three spots at the box office this weekend. The number one spot, with an estimated $35 million, belonged to the TV adaptation of 21 Jump Street. It heralded the live-action feature directing debut of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were the co-creators of MTV/Teletoon’s Clone High and the directors of Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Second place went to Illumination Entetainment’s The Lorax which earned an estimated $22.8M in its third weekend, pushing its total to a robus $158.4M. Rounding out the top three was Andrew Stanton’s John Carter, which dropped 55% from its first weekend to an estimated $13.5M. The Disney flop’s two-week total is $53.2M and is headed to a final domestic tally of $90-100M.
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Post tags: 21 Jump Street, Andrew Stanton, Chris Miller, Illumination, John Carter, Phil Lord, The Lorax
Illumination Entertainment’s The Lorax exceeded expectations and debuted in first place with a stunning $70.2 million last weekend. That places it in eighth place for all-time biggest openings for an animated film, and fourth-best for a non-sequel animated film. The success of the film validates the producer-driven approach to animated filmmaking taken by Illumination head Chris Meledandri, who exercises tight control over the casting, writing and creative direction of his films. It’s a page straight of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s DreamWorks playbook and, for better or worse, Meledandri is proving that it can work for producers without the initials JK.
Meanwhile, in its third weekend, Studio Ghibli’s The Secret World of Arrietty grabbed $1.5 million from 1,431 US theaters. The film landed in 14th place, but had the lowest per-theater average of any film in the top 20. Its US total now stands at $16.8 million.
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Someone on the Chinese video site Sina posted this work-in-progress trailer for The Lorax from Illumination Entertainment, whose earlier films were Despicable Me and Hop. Some shots are incomplete and unfinished, but it’s worth a look:
The Lorax, which is slated to open March 2nd, 2012, is directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda. It’s the second Seuss adapation for Illumination founder Chris Meledandri, who previously produced Horton Hears a Who! while running 20th Century Fox Animation. Danny DeVito voices the Lorax, and Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms and Betty White provide additional voices.
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I've been waiting a long time for this animated movie,
The Secret of Kells. Wasn't able to see it in theatres, but our mail order DVD arrived the other day. I've only watched it once so far, with a few of the short extra features. I'm especially looking forward to the commentary.
The Book of Kells is a 8th-9th century illuminated Gospel book, now housed in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, whose website tells us
"
The Book of Kells (Trinity College Dublin MS 58) is celebrated for its lavish decoration. The manuscript contains the four Gospels in Latin based on a Vulgate text, written on vellum (prepared calfskin), in a bold and expert version of the script known as "insular majuscule".The place of origin of the Book of Kells is generally attributed to the scriptorium of the monastery founded around 561 by St Colum Cille on Iona, an island off the west coast of Scotland. In 806, following a Viking raid on the island which left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath. It must have been close to the year 800 that the Book of Kells was written, although there is no way of knowing if the book was produced wholly at Iona or at Kells, or partially at each location."
This is the inspiration for the story told by this Oscar-nominated film, its hero a young boy named Brendan who is fascinated by the art of illumination. His uncle, abbot of the monastery at Kells, a disillusioned former illuminator, is bending all the community's efforts on erecting a wall against the threat of Viking attack. When Brother Aidan, survivor of the massacre at Iona comes seeking refuge and bringing the partially complete gospel book, Brendan must decide whether to face his fears and defy his uncle to help Aidan complete the book. Brendan is aided by a forest spirit and the white cat Pangur Ban (made famous in an ancient Irish poem.)
0 Comments on The Secret of Kells as of 1/1/1900
Today, Toy Story 3 surpassed Finding Nemo as the top grossing domestic Pixar feature. However, as Box Office Mojo points out, “it will still rank in the bottom half in terms of estimated attendance.” In other words, an evening at the movies in the United States increasingly becomes an elitist activity for middle and upper-class audiences who can afford to pay inflated prices.
The big surprise at the box office was the stellar debut of Despicable Me which opened with an estimated $60.1 million. Even the most generous estimates pegged this in the $30-40 million range. Score one for producer-driven Katzenberg-style filmmaking. Looks like this won’t be the last we hear from Chris Meledandri and Illumination.
I went in to see Despicable Me with very low expectations… and came out very pleased with the film. It’s not Pixar… but it’s in the same ballpark Sony Animation plays in. The visuals are wonderful (Mac Guff, the Paris-based studio behind the neglected Dragon Hunters did the animation), particularly the layouts and color design, and though the story isn’t important, it is fun. It’s a kid’s film - and a good start for Universal’s new Illumination Entertainment.
But what did you think? The film opens this weekend and now its time for you to have your say. Comments accepted only by those who have seen the film.
