Latest news with #ParamountAnimation
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ice Spice Cast in Upcoming ‘SpongeBob Squarepants' Film, Will Contribute New Original Song
Ice Spice is taking a trip to Bikini Bottom soon, with the rapper officially securing her spot in an upcoming SpongeBob Squarepants movie. Per Deadline, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation announced on Tuesday (June 9) the new cast for the upcoming film The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. Spice was announced alongside Regina Hall, Sherry Cola, Arturo Castro and George Lopez as the newest cast members to join the project. The four-time Grammy-nominated rapper will also record a new, original song for the film, which is set for a December release. More from Billboard KATSEYE Heats Up 'Gnarly' Summer with Ice Spice Remix: Stream It Now Jewish Groups Withdraw From 2025 San Diego Pride Festival Over Kehlani's Support For Palestine Elizabeth Hurley Gushes About Being 'In Love' in Birthday Suit Picture Amid Billy Ray Cyrus Romance The rapper reacted to the news on her Instagram Story, writing, 'yay!!!' to express her excitement. It serves as a full circle moment for Spice, who dropped off the single 'Bikini Bottom' back in 2022. The track appeared on her debut EP Like…?, which reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200. The news comes as Spice is rumored to be dating Sauce Gardner. Back in April, The Bronx rapper posted a since-deleted selfie to her Instagram featuring herself posing with Gardner in front of a mirror. The pair had been fueling dating rumors for months after Sauce posted a photo with Ice Spice on Instagram. Earlier that month, the two attended Adin Ross' boxing event and were awkwardly left hanging on the kiss cam. Musically, Ice Spice made her latest appearance on KATSEYE's 'Gnarly' remix, marking her first release of 2025. The rapper will also appear alongside Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky in Spike Lee's upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Perth Now
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Transformers One gets disappointing update from director Josh Cooley
Transformers One director Josh Cooley has said a sequel isn't happening. The 46-year-old filmmaker had helmed the 2024 flick for Paramount Animation, though Cooley has now said the studio is "not interested" in making a follow-up to Transformers One. Speaking on a panel at the Transformers convention BotCon, the director said: 'I wish I had something to announce, but I do not. What I've been told is that Paramount Animation is not interested in making a sequel. 'That's what I was told. I wish we could. I have ideas, too. So it would have been cool. We'll see what happens. You never know.' Transformers One - which stars Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Tyree Henry and Jon Hamm - explores the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron as allies on Cybertron before a rift turned them into enemies. As war brews, their choices shape the fate of their world - and the future of all Transformers. When Transformers One released in September, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura teased the film could be the start of a trilogy. When Collider asked di Bonaventura and Cooley if a trilogy was possible, the producer said: 'I don't think anything's changed for us. 'The truth of the matter is you never get to the second movie unless everybody shows up at the box office. We both said to ourselves, 'This is way too hard to make one good movie to start thinking a lot about the second movie.'' While the picture was received well by critics, Transformers One had a disappointing performance at the box office. On a production budget of roughly $75 million, Transformers One pulled in $129.4 million, making it one of the lowest-grossing movies in the franchise. Di Bonaventura – who has been attached to the Transformers series since 1986's The Transformers: The Movie – teased Transformers One had several plot threads about Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron (Henry) that could easily be picked up in a future film. He said: 'Along the way, there were ideas that we were like, 'Well, that can't fit in here. Let's hold onto that. Let's not forget that idea.' Although I'm sure we've forgotten some of them.' Cooley agreed and added they were definitely playing with the idea of making sequels to Transformers One, but emphasised that he and di Bonaventura were going to wait to 'see what happens' with the movie. He said: 'I can't help but ... Yes, we were thinking of this one story for this moment, for this movie, but it's about towards the last year of a film where I can't help but go like, 'Well, how would this [to] naturally progress?' 'So we've got some ideas, we talked about a few things, and we'll see what happens.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nickelodeon, Paramount Animation Smurf Up Annecy Crowds With Packed Slate and Exclusive SpongeBob SquarePants Preview
Annecy crowds were in for a treat as Ramsey Naito, President of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, and longtime festival supporter, opened the studios' 2025 showcase with a preview of the upcoming projects. 'PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie,' 'The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2' are all in active development. 'PAW Patrol' is set to hit theaters July 24, 2026, followed by Aang's animated return on Oct. 9. Fans of pizza-loving martial artist turtles will need to wait until Sept. 27, 2027, for the next 'TMNT' bigscreen appearance — or will they? Read on to find out. More from Variety Cartoon Network Studios Icons McCracken, Tartakovsky, Sugar, Quintel, Ward and Muto on The Studio, State of the Industry and What Inspires Them Taicca and Gobelins Paris Announce Partnership at Annecy to 'Nurture Original Stories from Taiwan': 'Dream Bigger and Reach Further' 'Arcane' Producer Fortiche Teaming With ARTE France on Coming-of-Age Mini-Series 'Miss Saturne' Naito, one of the most prominent animation executives in Hollywood today, expressed her excitement about returning to Annecy. She also unveiled new additions to the cast of 'The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.' Joining the regular cast and Mark Hamill are Regina Hall ('Scary Movie,' 'Girls Trip'), Sherry Cola ('Nobody Wants This,' 'Shrinking'), Arturo Castro ('Tron: Ares,' 'Matchbox'), George Lopez ('Lopez vs Lopez,' 'The Underdoggs'), and four-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum rapper Isis 'Ice Spice' Gaston, who also contributes an original song. Before diving into SpongeBob, Naito turned attention to a tiny mushroom village in a magical forest, home to the most famous blue characters on Earth (apologies to Pandora). Director Chris Miller returned to Annecy to present the first 20 minutes of his upcoming summer tentpole 'Smurfs,' ahead of its July 18, 2025 release. Last year, he showed early footage at MIFA. Now, with the film nearly complete, Miller spoke about the project's unique blend of CG and 2D animation. 'I'm delighted to bring the Smurfs back to the big screen with a project blending CG and 2D animation so closely,' said Miller. 'For me, animation isn't all about pixels and keyframes. It's about moving an audience and infusing every frame with the same heart, color and charm that Peyo put in his original ideas more than 60 years ago.' Production is already underway on Season 4 of the CG-animated TV series. Nele De Wilde, CCO of Peyo Company, noted how closely the studio collaborated with Paramount, eight years after Sony Pictures Animation's 'Smurfs: The Lost Village.' 'Paramount were very respectful of our input,' said De Wilde. 'Friendship, helping each other and respecting nature are timeless values at the core of the Smurfs' identity. Paramount was committed to bringing these ideas to life in a modern, adventure-packed film.' These values also spoke to Rihanna, who voices Smurfette. 'That's gangster,' said her partner A$AP Rocky to Variety earlier this year. The film's musical energy and visually rich medieval-fantasy setting, powered by Cinesite Montreal's animation, promise to get kids 'Smurfin' all day long.' The story centers on a Smurf with no name who seeks to discover his unique identity, aided by Smurfette, Hefty and other classic characters. Gags like 'Quiet,' 'Soundtrack' and 'Shark-Taming Smurf' had the Annecy audience in stitches. A standout moment introduced Razamel, Gargamel's equally inept brother, as a new villain. By the film's end, the Smurfs tumble through a multiverse portal into real-world Paris, to Grouchy's great dismay. The film will premiere in Brussels on June 28, 2025, painting the city blue ahead of its global rollout. Next up, director Derek Drymon shared a behind-the-scenes look at 'The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.' A SpongeBob veteran, Drymon returned to the franchise after co-directing 'Hotel Transylvania 4' in 2022. 'We wanted to recapture the spirit of the first season,' said Drymon. 'I'm so thankful to Paramount for backing a creator-led project. What wins the day is being a kid, and that's what we infused in this feature.' Audiences were treated to the first full act, in which SpongeBob finally grows tall enough to ride a rollercoaster but backs out at the last moment, only to be pulled into an even scarier pirate adventure with the Flying Dutchman. He then signs away his fate and plunges into the Underworld. Blending 3D animation with cutting-edge 2D, this visually dynamic installment follows in the stylistic footsteps of 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines' and 'Spider-Verse.' It will hit theaters Dec. 19, 2025. Following a brief Q&A with Miller and Drymon, moderated by Paramount SVP Emily Nordwind, audiences got one last surprise: two never-before-seen shorts. 'Order Up,' a dialogue-free SpongeBob short directed by Sean Charmatz ('Orion and the Dark'), will debut in front of 'Smurfs' in July. The slapstick comedy had been sitting in the Nickelodeon/Paramount vault for nearly a decade. The second short, 'Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey,' is a 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' tale directed by Kent Seki. With a visual style similar to Jeff Rowe's 'Mutant Mayhem,' this installment takes a comedic look at artificial intelligence and will premiere alongside the new SpongeBob film in December. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘We Did Not Make ‘Animal Farm' for Any Algorithm': Director Andy Serkis on Animating Orwell
'Animal Farm' has always been, since its first publication in 1945 by British novelist George Orwell, both a timeless tale and a story of its time. It is no surprise, then, that Andy Serkis' animated adaptation feels so deeply rooted in our own contemporary world. Bringing the film to its global premiere at the Annecy Animation Festival yesterday, Serkis appeared moved and delighted to present 'Animal Farm' in front of a packed Bonlieu. The film features a star-studded cast led by Seth Rogen (voicing a rowdy/eerie version of Napoleon), Gaten Matarazzo (Lucky), Woody Harrelson (Boxer) and Laverne Cox (Snowball), along with talents such as Iman Vellani, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close and Serkis himself. More from Variety Nickelodeon, Paramount Animation Smurf Up Annecy Crowds With Packed Slate and Exclusive SpongeBob SquarePants Preview Cartoon Network Studios Icons McCracken, Tartakovsky, Sugar, Quintel, Ward and Muto on The Studio, State of the Industry and What Inspires Them Taicca and Gobelins Paris Announce Partnership at Annecy to 'Nurture Original Stories from Taiwan': 'Dream Bigger and Reach Further' Back for the second year at an event that he, according to artistic director Marcel Jean, 'immediately fell in love with,' Serkis spoke with Variety about the film, decades in the making. Firstly, what compelled you to adapt this particular story? I have such strong memories of reading the book when I was around twelve. Along with the 'Hobbit' book, those were the two books that really resonated with me. Then I saw a theatrical production at the National Theatre in London in the 1980s, and I thought, wow, there's a way of telling this story visually as well. Smash cut to 2011, when I was working on 'The Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' and we were shooting the sequence where Caesar, the character I was playing, leads the apes to freedom in a sort of rebellion. And suddenly I realized that there hadn't been a cinematic representation of 'Animal Farm' for a long time. We started to work on it and did a lot of experimenting, which led us to realize that animation was the right medium for this adaptation. That allowed us to keep the innocence of the storytelling that the original book had, while being able to say much more than live action would allow us to do. In live action, such a story would necessarily have been darker from the outset. Whereas with an animated movie, breaking those ties with reality and keeping Orwell's book, which he described as a fairy tale, in that realm gave us much more freedom to still have emotional engagement with the characters, keep it innocent, and then progressively let the darker themes come in underneath that. Humor also plays a great part in your modern adaptation, especially through Napoleon's character. Why was it important to you? We didn't want to create a cardboard cutout sort of villain from the start, where it was obvious that he was scheming, plotting and planning. Our world is a lot more complex now. The notion of truth is almost destroyed so that we are blinded by what is happening. When we started writing Napoleon many years ago, there was already a sense that the world was changing and that the pillars of our society we took for granted were already being undermined and destroyed. Having a charismatic leader who leans on funny at the same time seemed to work for us. I've said it many times, but the book is 80 years old, and it still feels as fresh and relevant today as it ever was. How have your casting choices shaped this adaptation, if they have in any way? They definitely have. We spoke to Seth Rogen about 12 years ago, when it was still going to be a performance-capture live-action film, same for Jim Parsons and Glenn Close as well, and they remained loyal to the project even though it took such a long time to complete. When we decided to turn it into an animated movie and things started to ramp up, we wanted great actors who could really embody the roles fully. We brought Steve Buscemi, Iman Vellani, Laverne Cox on board. In truth, we felt so blessed because everyone wanted to do it because of the passion for the book they had. To whom did you create this film for? What audience did you have in mind when building this project? I would say this is a film for people of all ages. We've screened it for young kids, and they absolutely loved it, and I think it's because it's not patronizing to them. It actually asks them to put themselves in the central character's position. That was a big decision on my part, to find a central character that is innocent, becomes corrupted and realizes that he is corrupted. I wanted to take our young audience into that world where they have to do some adult thinking, and vice versa. Family films tend to either be patronizing to children or feel like they have to satisfy the adults, and it feels like it's just doing a job of ticking boxes. We did not make this film for any algorithm. We made it because we feel that this is the right way to tell a story. Orwell wanted to write for young inquiring minds who had to make tough decisions, and that guided us for this adaptation. How has working with the animated medium shaped your vision of cinema? I've always loved animation, back to my very first memories of watching Disney classics such as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' or 'The Aristocats.' It's the first time you get to experience emotions other than your own in a shared environment, and it transports you. Even though it didn't start as one, I'm so glad that this project ended as an animated movie, and I've learned a huge amount as a director. I'd definitely like to do more animation, but at the same time when we were into production, I thought I would never want to do animation again. Animation is a very long process, but in it you learn to value every single frame, because everything in them is thought precisely and woven carefully. Every decision has to be made because you're basically creating every single pixel on screen, and that's a beautiful thing. It makes you realize how valuable every moment is. Going back to Lucky's character: Around the end of the film, Lucky rouses all animals by asking them to remember what brought them together in the first place. As human beings, what would you want us to remember today? To really remember that truth is something to be valued. Honesty, selflessness as well. We have all become self-driven, and I think it's worth reminding ourselves that there is satisfaction to be had in working not for yourself but for the benefit of others. That all sounds very woolly and, in a way, utopian. But I do think that there are certain core human values that are slipping away, and I think that our story somehow questions that. Best of Variety 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Regina Hall, Ice Spice Join New ‘SpongeBob' Movie
That pineapple under the sea is getting pretty crowded. Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation on Tuesday unveiled new cast additions for their upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants movie, with Regina Hall, Sherry Cola, Arturo Castro, George Lopez and Ice Spice joining the ensemble. The four-time Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum-selling rapper will also contribute an original song to the film. More from The Hollywood Reporter ITV Studios Names Tim Carter Managing Director, Unscripted, U.K. Disney+ Names Angela Jain Content Chief for EMEA Amid Slate Growth Push 'The Simpsons,' Matt Groening Honored as "Icon of Animation" at Annecy They join returning cast members Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) and Mark Hamill (Flying Dutchman) in the feature directed Derek Drymon and written by Pam Brady and Matt Lieberman. The log line for the film has SpongeBob and friends journeying to the depths of the ocean to face the ghost of the Flying Dutchman. The film is set for a December release. Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, made the cast reveal at a studio showcase at the Annecy international animation festival in France on Tuesday. The event included sneak peeks at upcoming Paramount and Nickelodeon features and series, including Chris Miller's Smurfs movie, PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2. Drymon presented the complete first act of The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, and Miller showed the opening 20 minutes of Smurfs, which will bow theatrically on July 18. Smurfs stars Rihanna as Smurfette — who Miller said exhibited 'a deep knowledge of Smurf lore, she knew way more than I did.' The film's voice cast includes John Goodman, James Corden, Nick Offerman, Sandra Oh, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Sedaris, Daniel Levy, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Winter, Maya Erskine, Billie Lourd, Xolo Maridueña, Marshmello, Jimmy Kimmel and Kurt Russell. The event concluded with the premiere of two animated shorts. SpongeBob: Order Up, directed by Sean Charmatz will screen theatrically ahead of Smurfs this July. Chrome Alone 2: Lost in New Jersey, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles short directed by Kent Seki, will premiere alongside The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants in December. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
