Famous 5 (released internationally as Famous 5: On the Case) is a 2021 American computer-animated mystery adventure action comedy film loosely based on the novels of the same name created by Enid Blyton. The film serves a continuation to the 2008 British-French show, Famous 5: On the Case. It stars the voice of Hailee Steinfeld, Rihanna, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Shawn Mendes and Frank Welker as Timmy the Dog. It was directed by Stephen Gaghan, who is collaborated on Dolittle, from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, Rodney Rothman and Christopher McQuarrie, and a story by Phil Lord and Gary Ross.
Produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Movie Land Animation Studios, Lord Miller Productions and Pascal Pictures, which is William Renschen, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Christina Steinberg, the film will be release in theaters on March 5, 2021 in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label in IMAX, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema and 2D theaters, and digitally on Netflix in other territories (except China) on March 26, 2021, and we also have a premium video-on-demand release on the exact same day. The film was noted for introducing Movie Land Animation Studios' first openly LGBTQ lead character. The film received critical acclaim for its animation, story, themes, humor, voice acting, and LGBT representation. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $321.1 million against its $97 million budget.
A sequel, Famous 5: A New Mystery, was released on November 4, 2022, to more successful at the box office and critical acclaim from critics.
Plot[]
TBA
Cast[]
- Hailee Steinfeld as Allie Campbell, a 12-year-old daughter of Anne Kirrin, who moved to California after university and is now a successful art dealer. Allie, who was born in California before moving to Falcongate, is a happy shopaholic and uses her cellphone to stay in contact with America.
- Rihanna as Jo Misra, a 12-year-old daughter of George Kirrin, and like her mother before her is a tomboy and prefers to shorten her name to a more masculine form. She is of Anglo-Indian heritage; her father is a man named Ravi whom George met in the Himalayas. Being a lesbian character, Jo is Movie Land Animation Studios' first openly LGBTQ main character, along with Dylan.
- Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Dylan Kirrin, an 11-year-old fan of gadgets and aspiring entrepreneur who likes to look for ways to make money. Being a gay character, Dylan is Movie Land Animation Studios' first openly LGBTQ main character, along with Jo.
- Shawn Mendes as Max Kirrin, a 13-year-old adrenaline junkie, who enjoys sports such as mountain biking and skateboarding.
- Frank Welker as Timmy, Famous Five's trusty pet dog.
- Michael Peña as the voice of Timmy
- Ella Eyre as Courtney
- Michael Dwayne Cohen as Dane Dunston, they are neighbours of the Famous Five, who are the same age as them, but are spoiled, pampered and arrogant due to their father's wealth. They typically have their comeuppance whenever they appear, but have been shown to team up with the five on occasion.
- Charlyne Yi as Blaine Dunston
- Rachel Bloom as Constable Stubblefield
- Christina Hendricks as Jessica Pascal, Dylan's girlfriend in Los Angeles.
- Maya Erskine as the narrator
- Genesis Rodriguez as Officer Lizzie, named for Lizzie Waterworth, the original voice of Dylan Kirrin.
- Awkwafina as Mrs. Downey
- Rashida Jones as George
- Tracy Morgan as Reggie the Goat
- Keegan-Michael Key as Roddy the Goat
- Zac Efron as Ravi Misra
- Jamie Chung as Sam Misra
- Katie Crown as Dinah Raftery
- Amanda Seyfried as Daniella Kirrin
- Rita Ora as Brandine Hobbs
- Ryan Reynolds as Constantine Tarlev
Production[]
Development[]
Development for a film adaptation of Famous 5: On the Case was announced in August 2014. It will be directed by Stephen Gaghan, and with screenplays by Nicholas Stoller, Rodney Rothman and Christopher McQuarrie, and a story by Phil Lord and Gary Ross. In October 2014, Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to produce and distribute a film based on the Famous Five series. On December 12, 2014, Movie Land Animation Studios announced that the show will be the CG animation style one, with animation being made at its visual effects company, Movie Land Digital Production Services (MLDPS).
Following the commercial failure of Wonder Park, while receiving mixed-to-negative audience reception, with all of the sudden in October 2019, Sony Pictures acquired rights to the film, with William Renschen was added as a producer, as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Animation. Almost all of the production team remained unchanged and intact. In December 2019, it was announced that the film would be released in June 2021. In September 2020, it was move up to March 5, 2021.
Casting[]
In June 2019, the majority of the voice cast was announced. On August 12, 2019, Hailee Steinfeld, Rihanna, Tenzing Norgay Trainor and Shawn Mendes joined the cast of the film. The next day, Frank Welker joined the cast as Timmy the Dog. On January 1, 2020, Michael D. Cohen, Charlyne Yi and Rachel Bloom has joined the cast.
Animation[]
The character animation and computer graphics were fully created by Movie Land Digital Production Services (MLDPS) in San Francisco, California, led by MLDPS's international studio in Mumbai, Pune, Singapore, Vancouver, Montréal, Sydney, Melbourne, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and London, with William Renschen, Nigel Sumner and Vanitha Rangaraju were served as a visual effects supervisors, using Pixar RenderMan, Blender, Inc. and Autodesk Maya. The production team used computer animation to create a CGI version of the characters from the show, Famous 5: On the Case.
Lord revealed that design work for the characters in the film had begun by August 7. 2018. In December 2018, comic book artist Kris Anka revealed that he was working on Famous 5. Lead animator Nick Kondo announced the start of production on the film on March 2, 2019. The team also faced a demanding task in designing visual effects for the water ballons for the film and production was also affected by the unavailability of certain animators who were being used to complete Cool Girls months prior, as well as the amount of time lost due to Sony moving the film's release date ahead by more than half a month.
Music[]
On September 23, 2020, Henry Jackman, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Lorne Balfe and Tom Holkenborg signed on to compose the film's score. The soundtrack was released on March 5, 2021 from Sony Classical Records.
Release[]
Famous 5 was originally scheduled to be released on June 18, 2021, On September 18, 2020, the film was moved up to March 5, 2021, taking the release date of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film in the United States has been rated PG "for frenetic sequences of animated action violence, thematic elements, and mild language" by the MPA. On September 24, it was announced that Famous 5 would have its world premiere at Regency Village Theatre on February 26, 2021 in the United States. The film was first released in China on January 29, 2021.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony announced to keep the theatrical release date in theaters, while the film would also premiere digitally through video on demand in the United States and China the same day. In February 2021, Netflix acquired international distribution rights to the film, excluding the United States, Canada, and China. Between the Netflix and the VOD deals, Sony recouped the entire production cost of the film. The film was released internationally on Netflix on March 26, 2021.
Marketing[]
An official logo was released on December 18, 2019. On June 19, 2020, a teaser poster was released. The next day, the teaser trailer was released online. The official trailer was released on October 23, 2020. The final trailer was released on January 4, 2021.
Merchandise[]
TY, Inc. made a deal with Sony, with the only plush toy, Timmy the Dog, became available exclusively at Build-A-Bear Workshop in February 2021 and then moved to Best Buy on March 5, 2021. The video game, Famous 5: The Video Game, was released on March 5, 2021 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S by Outright Games.
Home media[]
Famous 5 was released to download on May 4, 2021, followed by the DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on May 18, 2021, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. It was first released to rent on March 5, 2021 the same day as the film's theatrical release. Only at Target, the Blu-ray version came with the alternate slipcover and the hardcover book.
Famous 5 was then released on Netflix in the United States on September 2, 2021.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Famous 5 grossed $120.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $200.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $321.1 million.
In the US and Canada, the film was released alongside Chaos Walking, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Boogie,[1][2] and was initially projected to gross $6-$7 million in 2,045 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after making $2.5 million on its first day, due to the re-opening of New York City theaters, weekend estimates were raised to $8.3 million. On its debut weekend it took $8.5 million, topping the box office.
Critical responses[]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 180 reviews with an average rating of 8.20/10. Using a weighted average calculator, Metacritic assigned the film a score of 97 out of 100, based on 130 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
More coming soon!
Accolades[]
TBA
Sequel[]
A sequel to the Famous 5 film, entitled Famous 5: A New Mystery, was released on November 4, 2022, although he will still be involved as producer and screenwriter, as well as Tenzing Norgay Trainor reprises his role as Dylan, and was served as executive producer and screen-player of the film.
References[]
- ↑ Truitt, Brian (March 4, 2021). What to stream this weekend: 'Coming 2 America,' 'Raya and the Last Dragon,' new 'Spongebob'.
- ↑ 65 Movies We Can't Wait to See in 2021 In fact, we couldn't wait to see a lot of them last year. But here we still are (January 5, 2021).
External links[]
- Official website
- Famous 5 at IMDb
| v - e - dFamous 5 (2021 film) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Template:Stephen Gaghan
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
