'Playmobil'/Deadline/Release Dates Rant

(WARNING: I will go off-topic a lot in this article, so be prepared for that)

Is anyone familiar with Playmobil?

For those who don't know, Playmobil was a line of toys started by a German inventor named Hans Beck back in 1974. It took its influence heavily from Lego, since each set would come with parts that you put together to create one object. To this day, it remains as one of Lego's biggest competitors alongside Mega Bloks and K'NEX.

Flash-forward to 2014, when The Lego Movie was released in theaters.

Everyone thought it would be another one of those cheap, Sony Animation-style cash-grab pictures, but when it came out, not only did it get critical acclaim, but it had also made $470 million at the worldwide box office on a $60 million budget.

As expected, this lead Warner Bros. to start a huge franchise off of this film. Two spin-offs, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, were released earlier this year. A proper sequel is slated for 2019, and another spin-off titled The Billion Brick Race is currently in development.

This would then lead to other studios wanting to cash in on that success. One infamous example, also from earlier this year, would be Sony Pictures Animation's The Emoji Movie. It was panned by critics who basically said that it was one of the cheapest attempts to be "hip" with today's kids(typical Sony Animation, amirite?).

Going back on topic, the success of The Lego Movie not only encouraged Sony to make a film about those little faces that the kids like to send each other, but it also appears to have convinced Open Road Films that a movie based on one of Lego's competitors was commercially viable.

As such, Open Road had penciled in a release date for January 18, 2019. Sounds about right, since all the most anticipated films come out during that month!

Like that!

However, roughly a month later, 20th Century Fox decided to go in and slate Blue Sky's Spies in Disguise(back when it was known as Pigeon: Impossible)for that 1/18/2019 slot.

This posed a problem for Open Road Films, since their animated films don't quite have the audience appeal of something from a major distributor like Fox. The Nut Job did well enough to warrant a sequel, but said sequel went belly-up at the box office. Spark: A Space Tail was barely given a release at all. Duck Duck Goose probably won't do well either, ditto Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad and Blazing Samurai. That is, assuming the latter gets made...

Anyways, about a month ago, Open Road finally decided to move Playmobil to a new release date. The date they chose was April 19, 2019. While that is one week after DisneyToon's untitled Cars spin-off with an outer space theme, it's still better than going against what should be another family picture from Blue Sky.

Here's where the rant comes in...

Here's proof, in case it fell off anybody else's radars.

When Deadline reported the release date change, it fell off some people's radars. One notable example is the inspiration for this blog, Kyle Ostrum of Kyle's Animated World. He had not heard about it until his birthday came two weeks later. For the occasion, I decided to tell him in the comments of the article he had posted that day.

Another site that did not hear about it until I sent them an e-mail telling them so was Rotoscopers, a site that I was really into from 2013-early 2016. Their calendar has a lot of clustercusses to begin with, such as Arctic Justice being slated for 1/26/2018. To my understanding, Open Road never officially set a release date for that movie. Not to mention, the site doesn't really like to put release dates in their articles. One notable example I can think of it the untitled Disney Animation that was slated for 11/27/2019 before eventually becoming the untitled sequel to Frozen. The date was announced in August 2015 by Exhibitor Relations, and even Kyle Ostrum did an article about it then. However, since I had not heard of Kyle's Animated World until February 2016, I had not known that there was a Disney Animation film slated for 2019 until then. Meanwhile, I had known about the untitled Disney Animation film that was, and still is, slated for 11/25/2020. Looking back, it always struck me as odd when thinking "why isn't a Disney Animation film coming in 2019?"

Honestly, and this brings me to my next subject in terms of sites, I chalk it up to the fact that in October 2015, Variety(not the next site I'm bringing up, scroll downwards for that)had rolled out a huge Disney slate that went up to 2020. This is what Disney's 2017-2020 slate looked like once the news rolled out(films that were just added will be in blue):

03/17/2017-Beauty and the Beast
05/05/2017-Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
05/26/2017-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
06/16/2017-Cars 3
07/07/2017-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
07/28/2017-Spider-Man: Homecoming
11/03/2017-Thor: Ragnarok
11/22/2017-Coco
12/22/2017-Untitled Disney Fairy Tale

02/16/2018-Black Panther
03/09/2018-Gigantic
05/04/2018-Avengers: Infinity War Part I
05/25/2018-Solo: A Star Wars Story
06/15/2018-Toy Story 4
07/06/2018-Ant-Man and The Wasp
11/02/2018-Untitled Disney Fairy Tale
11/21/2018-Untitled Walt Disney Animation Studios Film

03/08/2019-Captain Marvel
03/29/2019-Untitled Disney Fairy Tale
04/12/2019-Untitled DisneyToon Film
05/03/2019-Avengers: Infinity War Part II
06/21/2019-The Incredibles 2
07/12/2019-Inhumans
11/08/2019-Untitled Disney Fairy Tale
11/27/2019-Untitled Walt Disney Animation Studios Film

03/13/2020-Untitled Pixar Film
05/01/2020-Untitled Marvel Film
06/19/2020-Untitled Pixar Film
07/10/2020-Untitled Marvel Film
11/06/2020-Untitled Marvel Film
11/25/2020-Untitled Walt Disney Animation Studios Film

You may notice the untitled Disney Animation films slated for 2018 and 2019 were not highlighted. This lead people to assume that those movies were no longer happening. It even got to the point where Box Office Mojo took them off their calendar entirely! I feel like Kyle Ostrum elaborates perfectly here.

Going back to the main subject, Box Office Mojo apparently did not hear that Playmobil moved. In fact, they still have it slated for 1/18/2019! Even after I recently sent them an e-mail discussing it, with links and everything! I thought that if it worked for Rotoscopers, it'll work with Box Office Mojo. But, here we are!

Now, here's where things get hilariously bad! Yesterday, Deadline posted an article that an actress, whose name escapes me at the moment, was going to lend her voice to Playmobil. Sounds interesting and all, but then you get to the part where the movie comes out, and look what it says!

Please tell me why Deadline, a site who reported on the date change, still thinks the movie is slated for January 18, 2019!

If anything, they probably forgot about the news and got the date info from Box Office Mojo. Like I said, they still have it slated for 1/18/2019. It reminds me of when they reported that Sherlock Gnomes had moved from 1/12/2018 to 3/23/2018. When stating what else was coming out that day, they had mentioned both Isle of Dogs and Anubis. Given that the date change happened in May 2017, the info was indeed correct.

However, the article also said that there was an Untitled Fox/DWA/Blue Sky set to open that day...one of the ten dates that was claimed back in 2013...

Angry rant mode incoming! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!

BOTH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED MOVIES ARE FOX RELEASES! 

The latter may have been postponed indefinitely, but the former is still on. As a matter of fact, Box Office Mojo still has the 6/29/2018 and 7/20/2018 films on their schedule!

Let's look at the other nine dates that Fox claimed back in 2013...

March 10, 2017-None here. I mean, you could argue that DreamWorks' The Boss Baby technically fills this slot, though that came out on March 31, 2017.

June 16, 2017-Nothing. DreamWorks' Captain Underpants movie could be here, but that was released on June 2, 2017. I didn't think Fox would use this date anyway, since Pixar had it for an untitled film that would eventually become Cars 3.

July 21, 2017-Nothing here. Besides, this release date would have placed it one week before Sony Animation's The Emoji Movie.

November 3, 2017-Not a damn thing! This date could have technically been used, since it's spaced out from both Sony Animation's The Star and Pixar's Coco. Had DreamWorks not gone through their big fallout in late 2014/early 2015, I could see, let's say, The Croods 2 filling this slot.

December 22, 2017-You might say that Blue Sky's Ferdinand would fit here, but that's opening the week before.

June 29, 2018-This date is technically breathable, having it after Pixar's Incredibles 2 and before Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. However, I can't see Blue Sky or DreamWorks using this slot, especially now that the latter is owned by Universal. Each studio's next films, Spies in Disguise and How To Train Your Dragon 3 respectively, are not out until 2019. Plus, Fox Animation themselves have movies slated through 2020, so this date is definitely a no-go.

July 20, 2018-Not a breathable date whatsoever, being sandwiched between Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Warner Animation Group's Teen Titans Go! To The Movies.

November 2, 2018-Illumination's adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas is penciled in for the week after.

December 21, 2018-Sony Animation's Spider-Man: The Animated Movie comes out the week before.

It's quite amazing how only one release date was used, but the other nine have to go to waste. Makes me wonder who's going to pull that off next.

Back to Playmobil, I anonymously commented on the date change. It's not on the article now, but if you want to see proof that I wrote it, here's a screenshot:

After that had gone through, this happened:

Even with this whole fiasco, I still think the film will move back another week to 4/26/2019. That way, it'll be placed two weeks before the outer-space Cars movie, as opposed to one week. STX's Uglydolls adaptation will then open two weeks later. It'll be a win-win situation for all studios.

From here on out, if any more Playmobil-related screw-ups come about, I will put them in a photo album below:

UPDATE: (12/07/2017, 8:41 PM EST)

Not really a screw-up, but I thought I would mention it anyways...

Deadline just reported that Paramount Pictures has added two new movies to their slate, Instant Family and Pet Sematary. The latter of the two is slated for 4/19/2019, which is the same day as Playmobil. 

When talking about what Pet Sematary would be competing against, this is what the article says, and has always said:

Finally getting the message, eh, Deadline?

Box Office Mojo, take notes!

UPDATE: (04/03/2018, 9:26 PM EST)

Took Box Office Mojo long enough! I still think Open Road(who is apparently releasing the movie under Global Road now)is going to move the film though, since Spies in Disguise recently landed in that slot. Methinks it'll go to August 2019. Either that, or Fox will move Spies to July 2019. The former is more likely than the latter in my opinion.

However, the good thing is that it is no longer stuck on BOM's radar. Now all they need to do is schedule Paramount/Skydance's Luck for March 19, 2021, and then I'll be a happy camper!

What say you?

Louis C.K. Dropped From 'Secret Life of Pets 2'; My Theories

WARNING: The following predictions are ones that I do not necessarily think will come true, so think of this post as something that I simply could not resist putting up.

It seems as if sexual harassment is becoming a problem among most celebrities, from Harvey Weinstein to Kevin Spacey. Even the lesser known celebrities are having their careers cut short, such as The Loud House creator Chris Savino.

Among these celebrities that are facing this form of career-ending scandals is none other than comedian Louis C.K. You may know him from his stand-up specials on HBO. However, if you're an animation junkie like I am, you may know him as the voice of Max, the Jack Russell terrier from Illumination Entertainment's 2016 film The Secret Life of Pets.

Grossing $875.5 million at the worldwide box office, distributor Universal Pictures has a sequel slated to be released on June 7, 2019. Up until now, it seemed as if everyone from the first movie would return, such as Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Lake Bell, the whole-nine-yards...

However, just yesterday, Illumination announced that Louis C.K. will no longer be voicing Max in The Secret Life of Pets 2. This comes right off the heels of companies like HBO and TBS cutting ties with the former comedian.

After the news broke out, I thought that Illumination/Universal would move the film to a new release date so that they have time to find a replacement for C.K. But then, I whipped up a little theory...

It's almost as if the pets are reading this post and are now
getting excited about my theory, haha.

As many an animation fan may know, Illumination/Universal originally had The Secret Life of Pets 2 penciled in for July 13, 2018, a date that they had previously staked out for an untitled film. This was back in August 2016 when the film had crossed $400 million at the worldwide box office. But in January 2017, the film was pushed back to another date that the two studios had, which was 7/3/2019(Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation now occupies the 7/13/2018 slot). It was then moved up to its current date, 6/7/2019, that following August.

In hindsight, 2018 did seem a bit too soon for a Pets sequel since it was only two years after the original, so the pushback to 2019 did make sense in that respect...

Although, with what's happening right now with Louis C.K., I'm thinking that Illumination sort of low-key knew about the situation and pushed the film back a year so they could use that extra time to find a replacement for Max.

For those who are not in the know, Illumination has a very specific strategy when it comes to making movies: a single frame of animation is not made until the story is determined. It is true that when scenes have to be re-animated, the budget becomes bigger than what was originally intended. If your movie doesn't make anywhere near the final budget on opening weekend, then you're in trouble. I feel like YouTube user Imaxination1980 establishes that quite well in one of his "Animation Rambles" when talking about Secret Life of Pets 2(skip to 4:57):

As you can see, that video was made back when the film was still slated for a 2018 release. "Were they so confident in Secret Life of Pets 1 that they already locked the story of the sequel?", he asks. At that time, they were most likely working on the animation for the film. I'm guessing that a good chunk, if not all, of those scenes had Max in them.

Another thing that comes with animation is voice acting. I remember seeing a video on YouTube of Kevin Hart, the voice of Snowball the bunny, recording his lines for the sequel. The video is gone now, since the channel I found it on was someone pretending to be Kevin Hart. You might be able to find it on his Instagram or something, but more on that later. Anyways, if they recorded Snowball's lines, then they probably recorded Max's lines as well. That was another video that came out when the film was still slated for 2018, so they probably have animation of Max's mouth being synced up to Louis C.K.'s voice by now.

(Side note: If you don't believe me about the Kevin Hart video, I can remember a scene he recorded which presumably had him telling Max about his owner, whose name escapes me at the moment, having an Advanced Spelling quiz. He said some of those words were hard, but he thought she would ace it. You really can't make this up...)

So yes, I think that Illumination moved Pets 2 to 2019 because they knew about C.K.'s little shenanigans before they started being revealed to the public. For all we know, they may have a new voice actor already. In fact, he might be recording his lines right now as we speak! This will inevitably lead to Max's mouth being re-animated to match the dialogue of whoever the new voice actor is. With that in mind, don't be shocked if the film comes back with a budget slightly higher than the first film($75 million). The fact that it moved up to 6/7/2019 probably happened because the process is going slightly faster than expected.

Although, what if it were to get moved up again? Like I said at the beginning of this post, the predictions may or may not come true, but I did come up with a scenario for if it did happen:

Consider. Universal's other animation studio, DreamWorks, doesn't have anything to release next year. Their next film, How To Train Your Dragon 3, is slated for March 1, 2019. I'm thinking that maybe the film will move up to November 9, 2018(not saying they should rush or anything...), and that Pets 2 will aim for that date. Sounds about right, but wait a minute!

Illumination's next film, Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, is slated to be released that day. You may argue that the film was once to set come out this year(on this very weekend, actually!), and they pushed it back to give it more time. Honestly, I think they did it because distributor Universal was just going to buy out DreamWorks and they were thinking about putting, let's say, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie in the 11/10/2017 slot. Had they gotten the movie instead of letting Fox keep it, then it probably would have happened, as it opened weeks away from Despicable Me 3, another Universal release.

Going back on topic, Grinch could likely use another pushback to 2019 in order to make a better film than The Lorax. Plus, if there are any story issues to resolve, they can only be slight so that the film doesn't go past the normal Illumination budgets.

If anything, I can see this happening(titles in bold are for Illumination films):

11/09/2018-How To Train Your Dragon 3

03/01/2019-The Secret Life of Pets 2

06/07/2019-Everest

11/08/2019-Dr.  Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

That looks good enough. I have Oriental DreamWorks' Everest coming out on Pets 2's current date so that it doesn't open near Sony Pictures' Angry Birds Movie sequel. Plus, if this theory does come true, then Pets 2 will be Illumination's first March release since Dr. Seuss' The Lorax back in 2012...

Another theory I've thought of is The Secret Life of Pets 2 switching release dates with Minions 2, slated for July 3, 2020. I think this would happen if Illumination only found out now about what Louis C.K. is up to. Plus, Minions 2 seems to be moving at a faster rate with its new co-writer, so I can see it moving ahead of Pets 2 if they need more time to recast Max. Despicable Me 4 could then be slated for the 7/2/2021 slot that Illumination has for an untitled release. It'd be a repeat of 2015-2017 for them(Sing 2 comes out Christmas Day 2020), but given how sequel-heavy they are, I wouldn't rule it out.

With that said...

11/09/2018-Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

06/07/2019-Minions 2

07/03/2020-The Secret Life of Pets 2

12/25/2020-Sing 2

07/02/2021-Despicable Me 4

07/01/2022-Johnny Express

12/21/2022-Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat

06/30/2023-Minions 3

"Your f**king kids love those little s**ts!"

In the end, these are all just theories. I say there's a 50/50 chance that one of them will come true, meaning a slate change probably won't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen. The film schedule is an ever-changing thing, so who knows?

All-in-all, I look forward to hearing who Illumination has in mind for Max's new voice actor. I can only contemplate over who it will be, but if you have any ideas, feel free to leave them down in the comments.

Until next time!

Predicted Animation Slate(02/17/2019)

ORANGE=The movie is fine where it is

BLUE=The movie does not have a US release date

GREEN=The movie has a US release date, but not the one mentioned here

PURPLE=An untitled film is set for this date

RED=The movie is not only untitled, but it is also not the date mentioned here

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World - February 22, 2019

Wonder Park - March 15, 2019

Charming - March 29, 2019

Missing Link - April 12, 2019

Uglydolls - May 3, 2019

The Secret Life of Pets 2 - June 7, 2019

Toy Story 4 - June 21, 2019

The Angry Birds Movie 2 - August 16, 2019

Spies in Disguise - September 13, 2019

Abominable - September 27, 2019

The Addams Family - October 11, 2019

Arctic Dogs - November 1, 2019

Frozen 2 - November 22, 2019

Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie - December 6, 2019

The Call of the Wild - December 25, 2019

The Extincts - January 10, 2020

Nimona - February 7, 2020

Trolls World Tour - March 6, 2020

Peter Rabbit 2 - April 3, 2020

The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge - May 22, 2020

The Mitchells vs. The Machines - June 5, 2020

Onward - June 19, 2020

Minions 2 - July 3, 2020

Monster on the Hill - July 17, 2020

Bob’s Burgers - July 31, 2020

Scooby - August 7, 2020

Wish Dragon - September 4, 2020

The Croods 2 - September 18, 2020

Ron’s Gone Wrong - October 16, 2020

Vivo - November 6, 2020

Dragon Empire - November 25, 2020

Sing 2 - December 25, 2020

The Beastlies - January 29, 2021

The Boss Baby 2 - February 19, 2021

Foster - March 5, 2021

Luck - March 19, 2021

Sony Animation Co-Production - April 9, 2021

DC Super Pets - May 21, 2021

Pete Docter Film - June 18, 2021

Despicable Me 4 - July 2, 2021

Hotel Transylvania 4 - July 16, 2021

B.C: Back to Civilization - August 6, 2021

Spooky Jack - September 17, 2021

Goosebumps 3 - October 15, 2021

Jon Saunders Film - November 12, 2021

Byron Howard Film - November 24, 2021

Space Jam 2 - December 22, 2021

Sony Animation Co-Production - January 14, 2022

Ice Age 6 - February 4, 2022

Wonder Park 2 - March 18, 2022

Shrek 5 - April 15, 2022

Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat - May 20, 2022

Mark Andrews Film - June 17, 2022

Super Mario Bros. - July 1, 2022

Untitled Gorgon Project - July 15, 2022

Sony Animation Co-Production - August 5, 2022

The Lego Batman Movie 2 - September 23, 2022

Shedd - October 14, 2022

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 - November 11, 2022

Gigantic - November 23, 2022

Pharell Williams Musical - December 21, 2022

Sony Animation Co-Production - January 20, 2023

Spies in Disguise 2 - February 10, 2023

Split - March 10, 2023

Mice & Mystics - April 7, 2023

The Jetsons - May 19, 2023

Brian Fee Film - June 16, 2023

The Secret Life of Pets 3 - June 30, 2023

The Mitchells vs. The Machines 2  - July 21, 2023

The Flamingo Affair - August 4, 2023

Abominable 2 - September 22, 2023

Sony Animation Co-Production - October 13, 2023

The Funko POP Movie - November 10, 2023

Zootopia 2 - November 22, 2023

Black Knight - December 15, 2023

The Predictions

THE PREDICTIONS

(as of 12/13/2018)

If you are one who enjoys following movie release dates and such, you'll know that nothing is ever concrete. A film may have a date set, and then all of a sudden, the studio behind said film either pushes it back, moves it up, or gets rid of it entirely!

This may happen for many reasons, whether it's to give the film more time, or to avoid competition. This list will mainly focus on the latter, while also giving predictions for studios' untitled films.

My only rule here is to not alter a certain film's predicted date if a trailer for the film in question is out, since that normally indicates that the studio is okay with where it is.

So without further ado, let the predictions begin!

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

11/22/2019-Untitled Frozen Sequel

11/25/2020-Untitled

11/24/2021-Untitled

11/23/2022-Untitled

With two sequels opening back-to-back, I reckon that the Fall 2020 release will be Dragon Empire. WDAS story man Paul Briggs was asked on Twitter if he was working on the untitled 2020 picture, and his response was "...I am". Both him and Dean Wellins are attached to the project, so this tells me that it will drop on November 25, 2020.

As for the untitled Fall 2021 picture, I reckon that will be the movie that Byron Howard is directing with Lin-Manuel Miranda songs.

I still believe that the temporarily-shelved Gigantic will eventually happen. I say 2022 is when we are getting it. Disney seems to like releasing fairy tales every three years (Tangled in 2010, Frozen in 2013, Moana in 2016, Frozen 2 in 2019).

With everything in mind, the earliest that the sequel to Zootopia comes out, I think, is in 2023. There are so many other projects lined up at Disney right now, so I think this date is the most likely.

So, with that said...

11/22/2019-Untitled Frozen Sequel

11/25/2020-Dragon Empire

11/24/2021-Untitled Byron Howard Film

11/23/2022-Gigantic

11/22/2023-Zootopia 2

PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS

06/21/2019-Toy Story 4

03/06/2020-Onward

06/19/2020-Untitled

06/18/2021-Untitled
03/18/2022-Untitled
06/17/2022-Untitled

To start things off, I can see the Summer 2021 film being Monsters Inc director Pete Docter's next project(it probably will not be Newt, before somebody chimes in). Aside from the monster tale, Docter had also directed UP, which came out in 2009. Six years later, in 2015, he released Inside Out. If he waits another six years, then his next project will be ready by 2021.

Also, before you bring up me forgetting the Summer 2020 picture, I just want to say one thing. Since Disney now owns Fox, I reckon that Blue Sky will get both that date and 6/17/2022 instead of Pixar. More on that later.

Since I don't think the Summer 2022 movie will happen due to Disney's buyout of Fox, I'm going to say that Brave finishing director Mark Andrews' upcoming film will come out on March 18, 2022, nearly ten years after the Scottish fairy tale.

Still, that leaves only three of the four originals that Morris said would be opening back-to-back. Brian Fee has one in the works. I reckon that will open in the Spring of 2023, exactly six years after his directorial debut(Cars 3)given how Pixar always goes for mid-June slots.

So, with that said...

06/21/2019-Toy Story 4

03/06/2020-Onward

03/05/2021-Untitled Pete Docter Film

03/18/2022-Untitled Mark Andrews Film

03/17/2023-Untitled Brian Fee Film

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION SKG

02/22/2019-How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

09/27/2019-Abominable

04/17/2020-Trolls World Tour

09/18/2020-The Croods 2

03/26/2021-The Boss Baby 2

09/17/2021-Spooky Jack
12/22/2021-Untitled
04/15/2022-Untitled
04/07/2023-Untitled

You may say that The Boss Baby 2 is fine where it is, but I beg to differ. Paramount has a movie from Ilion called Luck penciled in for the week before, and despite the box office troubles that they have been through, I can kinda see them sticking with that date since it falls right into the St. Patrick's Day territory. I mean, the film is called Luck for crying out loud, so that pretty much seals the deal! With that said, I think it should move to mid-April like how Trolls World Tour did.

Since the Shrek franchise turns 20 years old in 2021, you can bet your bippy that DreamWorks will have the fifth movie out by that December 2021 date. Either that, or The Boss Baby 2 will move there and Shrek 5 will take the traditional May slot...

William Joyce recently confirmed that a sequel to Rise of the Guardians is currently "making progress", and Chris Meledandri has an interest in reviving other DreamWorks franchises like Shrek, so I think this film could take the April 2022 slot.

As for that April 2023 slot, I think that will go to an original project that DreamWorks has on their development slate. My money's on Mice & Mystics, the last project they announced.

When it comes to future DreamWorks films, I think they'll add two more films to 2023. We'll get an Abominable sequel in the Fall, followed by Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves around Christmastime.

So, with that said...

02/22/2019-How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

09/27/2019-Abominable

04/17/2020-Trolls World Tour

09/18/2020-The Croods 2

04/16/2021-The Boss Baby 2

09/17/2021-Spooky Jack

12/22/2021-Shrek 5

04/15/2022-Rise of the Guardians 2

04/07/2023-Mice & Mystics

09/22/2023-Abominable 2
12/22/2023-Puss in Boots 2: Nine Lives & 40 Thieves

SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

12/14/2018-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
01/10/2020-The Mitchells vs. The Machines
02/07/2020-Peter Rabbit 2
04/03/2020-Untitled

07/24/2020-Untitled

09/25/2020-Untitled

11/06/2020-Vivo

Untitled July 2020 has big competition like the third SpongeBob SquarePants movie and (to a potentially lesser extent) an untitled Universal event film opening right before it, not to mention Jungle Cruise and an untitled DC movie opening the same weekend, so it is likely moving at this rate. The first weekend of June should work out before the inevitably huge Pixar film comes crashing in two weeks later.

The untitled film set for 9/25/2020 is currently opening one week after DreamWorks' The Croods 2, and since marketing monster Universal will be distributing that one instead of Fox or Paramount, I say Sony moves that film to an October date for breathing room. Perhaps it could switch dates with the untitled Sony/Marvel film(likely a Venom sequel) on 10/2/2020. Its only competition will be Oscar contenders like Universal's Bios and Fox's Death on the Nile

For other predictions, I think we're getting Chinese co-production Wish Dragon in April 2020. A third Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs film will then follow in July(or June, like I said above). Goosebumps 3 can follow on 9/25/2020, albeit moved to 10/2/2020 as stated above. The other 2 originals, alongside a fourth Hotel Transylvania movie, could open in 2021 opposite three more co-productions. They can repeat that pattern for the coming years if they so please.

12/14/2018-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

01/10/2020-The Mitchells vs. The Machines
02/07/2020-Peter Rabbit 2
04/03/2020-Wish Dragon

06/05/2020-Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3

10/02/2020-Goosebumps 3

11/06/2020-Vivo
01/22/2021-Untitled Gorgon Film
02/05/2021-Untitled Co-Production
05/21/2021-Untitled Co-Production

07/16/2021-Hotel Transylvania 4

08/06/2021-Untitled Co-Production

10/15/2021-Untitled Jon Saunders Film
01/14/2022-Untitled Co-Production
05/20/2022-Untitled
08/05/2022-Untitled Co-Production
09/23/2022-Untitled 
10/14/2022-Untitled Co-Production
11/11/2022-Untitled
01/13/2023-Untitled
02/10/2023-Untitled Co-Production
04/21/2023-Untitled Co-Production
07/21/2023-Untitled
10/13/2023-Untitled Co-Production
11/10/2023-Untitled

ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT

06/07/2019-The Secret Life of Pets 2

07/03/2020-Minions 2

12/25/2020-Sing 2

07/02/2021-Untitled

07/01/2022-Untitled

12/21/2022-Untitled

06/30/2023-Untitled

Honestly, I think that Illumination needs to cut back on sequels after Sing 2 opens. However, that is their call and not mine. Therefore, I can see Despicable Me 4 taking the 7/2/2021 slot. I don't see it coming out any later than that, despite how popular the franchise may be. I know that Minions 2 is coming five years after its predecessor, but still.

Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri recently stated that the Super Mario Bros. film is aiming to be released in 2022. If so, I can see it getting the 7/1/2022 date.

Next up, I think the untitled Pharell Williams-centered movie would be prime material for a 12/21/2022 release date. They might just even make it a musical like the Sing movies, and those have Christmas release dates!

Finally, I believe that the 6/30/2023 slot will go to a third Secret Life of Pets movie. I mean, Illumination has a pattern with their Despicable Me sequels. First in 2010, second in 2013, third in 2017. When you do the numbering, a Pets 3 arriving in 2023 makes sense.

I have nothing to say about Illumination's future, because they seem to have things mapped out for the next five years. You see, this is why my predictions for the other studios go up to 2023.

(Side note: If you think that is crazy, Fox has Avatar sequels planned until 2025!)

So with that said, here is my final prediction regarding Illumination's slate:

06/07/2019-The Secret Life of Pets 2

07/03/2020-Minions 2

12/25/2020-Sing 2

07/02/2021-Despicable Me 4

07/01/2022-Super Mario Bros.

12/21/2022-Pharell Williams Film

06/30/2023-The Secret Life of Pets 3

20TH CENTURY FOX ANIMATION

09/13/2019-Spies in Disguise(Blue Sky)

12/25/2019-The Call of the Wild(Fox Animation)*

02/14/2020-Nimona(Blue Sky)

07/17/2020-Bob's Burgers(Fox Animation)

11/06/2020-Ron's Gone Wrong(Locksmith)
03/05/2021-Foster(Blue Sky)

*Box Office Mojo lists The Call of the Wild, a live-action/CGI hybrid film, as "Animation". Plus, the director of the film is Chris Sanders, who also directed The Croods, Lilo & Stitch, and How To Train Your Dragon. Until further notice, this will be labeled as a Fox Animation title.

Nimona, a Blue Sky film, is in a battlefield that contains a sequel to Peter Rabbit. At this point, I would probably move it to a more breathable date. The date I have in mind is 6/19/2020, which is a date that Pixar currently has. Although, since Disney now owns Fox, they could have a release strategy where Pixar movies open in the Spring, Blue Sky films bow in the Summer, and Disney Animation aims their stories for the Fall.

Bob's Burgers is currently opening on the exact same day as the third SpongeBob SquarePants movie, so I think they should push it back by two weeks. I mean, that whole weekend is now empty because Disney removed an untitled Marvel movie from there

Currently, Ron's Gone Wrong is set to open the same day as both Sony Animation's Vivo and an untitled Marvel Cinematic Universe installment. The latter is a Disney release, as is Ron thanks to the Disney/Fox buyout. Because of that, I have a feeling that it moves to 10/16/2020, where its only competition is Paramount's Micronauts and one of Universal's untitled Blumhouse horror flicks. Plus, October is vacant in terms of animated films, so how bad could it be? Heck, even if we didn't have Vivo or the untitled MCU movie, I would still push Ron to another date since Disney Animation has a mystery movie of theirs opening around Thanksgiving.

I would also have Blue Sky move Foster to a different release date as well. I reckon it will trade places with the untitled Pixar movie slated for June 18, 2021.

Heads-up: When I talk about what may happen in the future, I will only discuss Blue Sky. Here is why...

Fox Animation has a tendency to announce release dates for things very randomly, so that makes it hard to predict when certain films will be released. Locksmith plans to release a movie every 12-18 months, and since I predicted that Ron's Gone Wrong would move up to October 2020, I expect their next project to come out as early as October 2021, but no later than April 2022. With that said, here is what I think Blue Sky has brewing...

You see, not only does Blue Sky tend to release one film per year, but they also have this pattern of releasing a sequel right after an original. This pattern is set to end with 2019's Spies in Disguise, but I predict that their next four films after 2021's Foster will all be sequels. For instance, I can see a sixth Ice Age being penciled in for 2022 since the franchise will turn 20 that year. I say release it on June 17, 2022. Pixar currently has that slot, and I think that the Disney/Fox buyout will warrant a Blue Sky film on that date instead. I can also see Spies in Disguise becoming a franchise with a 2023 sequel, four years after the first film. In short, this is what I see happening as of now...

09/13/2019-Spies in Disguise

06/19/2020-Nimona

06/18/2021-Foster

06/17/2022-Ice Age 6

06/16/2023-Spies in Disguise 2

PARAMOUNT ANIMATION

03/15/2019-Wonder Park

07/17/2020-The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge
08/07/2020-Untitled

03/19/2021-Luck

What will the untitled August 2020 film be? Well, my best guess right now would be the recently-highlighted Monster on the Hill. That is a co-production with Reel FX, and Paramount said that it would be an "August 2020" release at VIEW(still not sure if it was exactly the 7th)

As for what Paramount Animation will release after Luck in Spring 2021? I say that The Beastlies is next, because J.J. Abrams is likely to get to that once Episode IX is complete. An announcement is set to be made sometime this Fall, so yeah. After that, I think Paramount will try to make a Wonder Park sequel. I mean, the film is going to start a Nickelodeon series, so they might as well try to milk the coasters out of it(pun shamelessly intended). Speaking of Nickelodeon, I can see The Loud House Movie also happening in 2022. Paramount may have never officially removed it from that 2/7/2020 date, but a Loud House writer said that they "decided not to make it as of now", meaning it could still happen, but we would have to wait a little longer for it. The Skydance/Ilion co-production Split will likely hit theaters after that in 2023. J.J. Abrams' The Flamingo Affair will probably be ready for that year as well. This is how I think it will turn out:

03/15/2019-Wonder Park
07/17/2020-The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge

08/07/2020-Monster on the Hill

03/19/2021-Luck

06/04/2021-The Beastlies
03/04/2022-Wonder Park 2
07/22/2022-The Loud House Movie

01/27/2023-Split
08/11/2023-The Flamingo Affair

WARNER ANIMATION GROUP

02/08/2019-The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

05/15/2020-Scooby
12/22/2021-Untitled*

*=For now, let's assume that this untitled project is going to be done by Warner Animation Group, as opposed to Warner Bros. Animation.

Their sole untitled feature is currently set to face off an untitled DreamWorks feature from marketing monster Universal. I say move it up to early November.

Other than that, WAG's slate is a bit tricky to predict, since they are a very secretive studio. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that the 12/22/2021 slot is more likely than not being reserved for Space Jam 2. After that, I think 2022 will host a duel between the sequel to The Lego Batman Movie and the HBCU Jetsons film. They both have directors, so one could theoretically open in 2022, and then the other could be penciled in for 2023. With that said...

02/08/2019-The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

05/15/2020-Scooby

11/12/2021-Space Jam 2

06/03/2022-The Lego Batman Movie 2

05/19/2023-The Jetsons

OTHER STUDIOS

TBD 2018-Charming(3QU)
04/12/2019-Missing Link(LAIKA)

05/03/2019-Uglydolls(STX)

08/16/2019-The Angry Birds Movie 2(Rovio)
10/11/2019-The Addams Family(MGM)
11/01/2019-Arctic Dogs(AMBI)
TBD 2019-Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie(Aardman)

TBD 2019-The Extincts(Cirrina)
12/22/2021-Untitled(Warner Bros. Animation)*

*=Like I said, we don't know if this project is from Warner Animation Group or Warner Bros. Animation. I'll stick with the latter until further notice.

I don't see Charming getting a 2018 release date at this point, so I would suggest that Smith Global Media releases it in January where it has no animated competition. However, I see them releasing it on January 18th where it will die next to Universal's Glass

Faramageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie is interesting to talk about. Lionsgate currently has it for US distribution and there was a teaser trailer running before Early Man in theaters (not on the Internet as of this writing), but there is currently no US release date yet. The film is set for an October 18, 2019 release in the UK, so I assume we'll get it later than that. How about early December? Maybe the first weekend so that it won't get pummeled by things like Jumanji 3 and Star Wars: Episode IX.

My buddy Seanliu convinced me that Cirrina Animation's first movie, The Extincts, could probably not be out in 2019. Going by that, a studio like Lionsgate might have it ready by 2020. The Labor Day slot is open, so I'm gonna say September 4th.

Assuming that the 12/22/2021 slot goes to a Warner Bros. Animation project, my best bet would be a sequel to Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. The film did make a profit, and the show still gets good ratings on Cartoon Network, so it could happen. Like I said, they're likely moving it because DreamWorks also has that date.

Final predictions incoming:

01/18/2019-Charming(3QU)

04/12/2019-Missing Link(LAIKA)

05/03/2019-Uglydolls(STX)

08/16/2019-The Angry Birds Movie 2(Rovio)

10/11/2019-The Addams Family(MGM)
11/01/2019-Arctic Dogs(AMBI)
12/06/2019-Farmagedddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie(Aardman)

09/04/2020-The Extincts(Cirrina)

11/12/2021-Teen Titans Go! To the Movies 2(Warner Bros. Animation)

That is it for now. For a more organized slate that includes all the movies mentioned here, but not the details on why I think some of them will move or be added, look here

What say you? If you have predictions to share, feel free to leave them down in the comments.