![]() "I think Epic is a visual masterpiece and has some beautiful ideas about the preservation of nature. I had such a great time on this movie that I've decided from now on, I will only make eco-relatable films," O'Dowd jokes. ![]() "We were there as the comic relief hopefully that's what we did. The movie is really about so many things, like passion and kindness which is important for kids."īringing the humour is Chris O'Dowd ( Bridesmaids, Sapphires) and Aziz Asnari (Parks and Recreation) as a slug and a snail, respectively. "But on a serious note about the underlying messages of the film I love nature, it's exciting for me. ![]() And now that I've done my first animated film, it would be typical if they see it and then say, 'Can we watch Ice Age, please?"' he laughs. "It's lovely to be able to do something the kids can go and see," he says. The single father of two young boys, aged 10 and 3, jumped at the opportunity to join such family friendly fare. This role as a samurai-like warrior and leader of the Leaf Men is certainly a change of pace for Colin Farrell, who most recently starred in Dead Man Down, and Seven Psychopaths. ![]() Budgeted at US$100 million ($126 million), it's already taken in US$236 million at the international box office In bringing the characters to life on Epic, Wedge culled an impressive cast including Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Christoph Walz, Steven Tyler, Chris O'Dowd, Jason Sudeikis, and Beyonce Knowles. Wedge won an Oscar for the short film, Bunny, in 1998, and his 2002 Oscar nominated hit, Ice Age, ensured a bright future for Blue Sky Studios (which he co-founded) and led to the Ice Age franchise, Robots, and most recently, the hit animated movie, Rio. I wanted to make a big, epic adventure movie." "It was an opportunity to go to a place, do an Avatar, and find a world you didn't expect. Epic isn't cute, it's not about humans bulldozing over the forest and chasing out little critters," he says. "There will always be comparisons to other movies but that is not one I care for. If the premise sounds similar to an earlier eco-themed animated fantasy, 1992's Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, you might refrain from mentioning it to Epic director Chris Wedge. The latest animated 3D offering from Blue Sky Studios, Epic, is based on the 1996 William Joyce novel, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, about a magical world in which tiny inhabitants of the forest are threatened by an evil force. The studio’s most recent release was 2019’s Spies in Disguise, which quietly grossed just over $171.6 million at the global box office.īlue Sky was founded in 1987 by a group of animators that included Chris Wedge, who won an Oscar for the 1998 animated short Bunny.The animated feature Epic lets the guys behind Ice Age branch out into a forest fable, writes Michele Manelis But it seems doubtful, at least through the current lens of this protracted pandemic, that theatrical exhibition will ever again be its nexus.īlue Sky’s current project, adaptation of the graphic novel Nimona, will cease production. Revenue was then further accentuated by the DVD boom.ĬGI animated family content certainly isn’t going away amid changing viewer consumption habits-the streaming performance of Pixar’s Soul on Disney Plus is testament to that fact. “Ice Age” was a pivotal asset in what was historically one of the motion picture business’ more profitable paradigms-the CGI boom of the aughts, where computer-animated family films with star-studded voice casts earned billions of dollars in a global box office for which their formats traveled particularly well. Both executives will be leaving the company amid cuts that total 450 employees.īlue Sky Studios was best known for producing the five-film “Ice Age” feature animation franchise, which grossed more than $3.22 billion in global box office revenue alone from 2002 - 2016. When Disney purchased Fox, Walt Disney Animation Studio president Andrew Millstein joined Blue Sky as co-president, alongside co-president Robert Baird.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |