Sony Animation's 2016 Film… Unveiled?

Earlier this year, after Disney and Fox announced their big animation slates, Sony Pictures Animation quietly put it out there that they had two untitled films scheduled for release in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Since they have so many projects in development, one could've only wondered which one would move forward. Would it be something safe like ALF or Manimal? Or would it be something surprising and unexpected? Would they have put an original story like Instant Karma in the 2016 spot?

For a while, I thought that the film in question would be the abruptly delayed Popeye, the one that Genndy Tartakovsky was supposed to direct. With Sony Animation having two animated films - The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania - ready for release in 2015, it seemed likely. But word on Popeye is scarce nowadays, though it is possible that it'll show up sometime soon. However, I think we now have a good idea of what Sony Animation's September 2016 release is going to be…

Kazorn & The Unicorn…

An original film directed by Kelly Asbury, longtime animation veteran who was the director of Gnomeo & Juliet and Shrek 2, it was announced a year and a half ago. It seemed like it would be one of those projects that would just sit there, because a few of the big studios are announcing that all of these projects are in development and yet many of them just don't move forward. Look at DreamWorks. They announced stuff like Dinotrux and Maintenance way back in 2009/2010-ish, no word on what's going on with them. They just secure these things for the future, meaning we'll see those movies sometime in… I don't know, 2019? 2020? 2021? 2022?

My Rotoscoper comrade Morgan Stradling found this when perusing Sony Animation's website…

She also pointed out that Asbury was now part of the filmmakers page on the site. Notice how Kazorn is next to Hotel Transylvania 2, the latest film to have a release date set in stone on Sony's slate…

But also… Popeye is on there, and it's before The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2, so apparently it's still holding up. It's not in limbo, it's not nearing cancellation. After all, they wouldn't want to screw Tartakovsky out of a potential smash. Tartakovsky is an animation mastermind, and he salvaged Hotel Transylvania and it was a big hit - their biggest at the domestic box office, actually. Popeye, especially under his wing, would be too good to throw out. Cartoon Network screwed him over twice, first canceling Samurai Jack and then pulling the plug on Sym-Bionic Titan nearly a decade later; Sony better not make that same mistake! Having Tartakovsky on board to direct features for you is nothing to take too lightly.

Now I wonder…

Will Sony release two films - Popeye and Kazorn - in 2016? Or will Sony have Kazorn ready for 2016, and Popeye ready for 2017? Or vice versa?

It's also interesting to note that Kazorn & The Unicorn will be produced by Sam Raimi, and its co-director is Troy Quane, longtime animator and storyboard artist who has worked on films such as Osmosis Jones, Enchanted and 9. It intrigues me because it's their first all-original film (not counting Aardman's Arthur Christmas) since 2007's Surf's Up… Wow! Color me excited, I'm glad Sony is willing to step out of the sequel/Smurfs pool for a minute and try out something cool. Hey, it worked for Surf's Up and Cloudy!

Hopefully we'll see some of the more off-the-wall stuff on their development docket move forward as well. What do you think?

The Popeye Problem

Sony Pictures Animation has a computer animated film based on Popeye in the works, I'm sure you've read about it somewhere. This film was originally scheduled for a fall 2014 release, September 26th to be specific. Genndy Tartakovsky, animation genius and director of the studio's highly successful Hotel Transylvania, is directing it. With how successful Hotel Transylvania was - a project that he salvaged with very little time - it seemed like this film would definitely hit theaters next autumn, right?

Wrong.

This past May, Sony Animation announced that film was delayed. To what date? All they said was 2015, so the exact date is to be determined. Sony Animation has two films coming out in 2015: The Smurfs 3 (which was recently moved from July 24 to August 14) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (September 25). Sony Animation has never had three films ready for release in a calendar year, only DreamWorks has achieved that feat.

This initially lead me to believe that Popeye would be Sony Animation's currently untitled fall 2016 release, but... It's also possible that Popeye will end up making one of the 2015 releases move. Plans always change when it comes to feature animation and scheduling.

• Popeye will take The Smurfs 3's August 2015 spot and send that unnecessary sequel to August 2016. Sony Animation may have only one film announced for a 2016 release right now, but they can always add another one. Not like anyone really wants The Smurfs 3 anyway...
• Hotel Transylvania 2 may end up moving, because Popeye is apparently far enough along to be completed in time for a fall 2015 release. Hotel Transylvania 2? We've heard very little about it; a director hasn't even been attached yet.
• None of the 2015 films will move. Popeye will end up coming out sometime in 2016 - either fall or late summer.
• Sony will go big and release Popeye in 2015 alongside The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania 2. 3 in a year!
• The project is in real trouble, and Sony won't have it completed for a long while. After all, The Familiars - once set for early 2014 - has been off of their slate for a while with no sign of it being completed any time soon since the director is handling another project somewhere else.

What do you think? Cast your vote in the latest poll!

Sony Makes Their Move

Not too long after Disney and Fox announced the upcoming slates for their animation studios, Columbia has now secured two dates for Sony Pictures Animation: September 23, 2016 and September 22, 2017. I pretty much saw this coming, since Sony always nabs the late September spot for their films.

If you ask me, the 2016 film should be Popeye. No way that film comes out in 2015, since Sony has two films coming out that year: The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania. There's a possibility that they may do 3 films a year, but for now, I think Popeye should be the 2016 film. As for the 2017 film? It could be anything... The fan of original ideas in me hopes it's Doug Sweetland's The Familiars (he's currently directing Storks for Warner Bros. Animation), but it'll probably be a sequel or a film based on a well-known property. The studio has been rather gung ho about the likes of ALF and Manimal...

What do you think the 2016 and 2017 films will be?

Out At Sea

Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming animated film based on the legendary sailor man Popeye has been removed from their release schedule, leaving 2014 blank. The film was initially pegged for a September 26th release, which seemed perfect since they tend to occupy that spot each year when it comes to a non-Smurfs release.

I'm bummed about this because I was actually curious about this one. I know I tend to be critical of animation studios that take beloved characters from the past and modernize them, but I didn't think this was going to happen with Popeye. Genndy Tartakovsky is going to direct it, as he had salvaged Hotel Transylvania, a film that could've been much worse than it was. He successfully made the animation good and the film certainly was frenetic, I was curious to see what he would bring to the table for the Popeye film. Tartakovsky, of course, is the man who created Dexter's Laboratory and Samuari Jack and he also heavily contributed to Craig McCracken's The Powerpuff Girls.

Tartakovsky wanted to go against the grain with Hotel Transylvania, going for cartoony slapstick and exaggerated takes that you would see in a Tex Avery cartoon. He respects classic Hollywood cartoons and what made them great, which was I wasn't worried about Popeye. He would definitely make it worthy of the original Fleischer Brothers cartoons while also pushing the boundaries for what you can do in computer animation. I fully believe that the medium can do the things that the classic hand-drawn cartoons did, contrary to what some might think. A lot of recent films show that you can do that with the medium.

Anyways, now that Sony Pictures Animation doesn't have a film set for release in 2014, will they add one to the line-up? The Smurfs 3 could be moved to late July/August 2014 since that slot is free, but it's already mid-2013 and it hasn't been worked on so they can't just hastily move it forward out of nowhere... Or can they? Hotel Transylvania 2? Probably not, but you never know. Maybe they'll just sit this one out. After all, they didn't have a film ready for release in 2010.

It's not off the schedule for good though, as Box Office Mojo simply has a 2015 date next to it, not TBD. I doubt that they'll release it in 2015 since The Smurfs 3 and Hotel Transylvania are already opening that year, and I don't see Sony Animation having three films ready for 2015... Heck, even DreamWorks doing that was a big feat. Popeye may end up coming out in 2016 unless one of the 2015 films is moved to either 2014 or 2016.

I just hope we don't have to wait too too long...

Move Over

Though these dates for the following four animated films were announced a while back, it seems like the studios behind them aren't sure where to put their upcoming films. Mainly DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation and Laika...

Sony Pictures Animation's computer animated Popeye film is scheduled for release on September 26, 2014. They got that date first, but all of a sudden, Laika's next film (currently untitled) was announced. It's also slated to open the same day.

The same situation will occur at the same timeframe in 2015. DreamWorks' B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations was originally given a November 6th release date, but the company wisely moved it to September 25th in order to get it out before Halloween. Guess what else is opening that day: Hotel Transylvania 2 from Sony Pictures Animation.

I have a feeling that there will be some movement soon. Who will move? Here's my theory.

Laika's untitled project will end up being given an August 2014 release, since ParaNorman was an August release. ParaNorman might not have done so well at the box office, but I don't think this will deter Focus Features from releasing the next film in August. It's still a lucrative time of year, and it's away from all the heavy competition. Sony Pictures Animation always settles for the late September release date since Open Season, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania were all late September releases.

In 2015, I think Sony Pictures Animation will also keep the late September spot. Again, Sony usually has that date and Hotel Transylvania 2 opening that day would make perfect sense since it has Halloween-themed material in it. DreamWorks' B.O.O. is of course about ghosts, where will that go? September 25th seemed like the perfect day to release it, unless they decide to pull a Don Bluth and go head-to-head with Sony's film. That would make it the first big duel in feature animation since All Dogs Go To Heaven opened against The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Animated films opening weeks away from each other is the norm nowadays given the amount of competing studios, but two films from rival studios opening on the same day? That probably won't happen, but where else will B.O.O. go? DreamWorks could release it in early-to-mid October and still score a hit. Maybe they'll move it to the beginning of September, so it has time to breathe before Hotel and then the two can go head-to-head before Halloween arrives.

That all being said, I think Sony will keep the late September weekend for both 2014 and 2015. What do you think will move? And where will these films be moved to?

Genndy Tartakovsky to Direct "Popeye"

When Sony Pictures Animation first announced that one of their upcoming animated films was going to be a computer animated update of Elzie Crisler Segar's classic comic strip Popeye (though many people remember the original short subjects that were made by the Fleischer brothers), I was rather unhappy. There has been a rather unhealthy trend of updating classic comic strip or cartoon characters for modern audiences, but in CGI. Of course, the dreadful Alvin and the Chipmunks films kicked this off, then we got Yogi Bear and The Smurfs.

I thought that this would be more of the same, since the Popeye cartoon short subjects were pure brilliance (some of which were rather groundbreaking for their time, too). However, Genndy Tartakovsky is going to direct the film, which gives me some hope. However, I can't really say much more until a trailer for this film actually premieres, whenever Sony plans on releasing this film. They've already got two films planned for release in 2014, so maybe 2015 at the earliest.

Genndy Tartakovsky, in case you did not know, created Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Star Wars: Clone Wars. He also worked on several other Cartoon Network shows in the 1990s such as Cow & Chicken and The Powerpuff Girls. He directed Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming fall release, Hotel Transylvania, which is looking better than before thanks to the recent trailer. The writers (David Ronn and Jay Scherick), however, also helped write the script for The Smurfs. That makes me a wee bit worried, but we don't know yet. The film will also be a co-production with Arad Productions (formed by Avi Arad, the well-known Marvel producer).

What do you think? Are you satisfied with Genndy Tartakovsky being the director? Do you think a CGI Popeye film was necessary? Or not? Sound off!