But then came Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in Fall 2009. It got high praise from critics all across the board, and it made so much money to the point where it really launched Sony Animation to the forefront of the animation industry. So much so that they started to make two movies per year like their competitors. From 2011 to 2015, they were churning out movies that would range from "kinda meh"(Hotel Transylvania) to "oh God, please turn it off!"(The Smurfs 2).
But then the Sony Pictures hack happened (a year before the end of their hit streak), and exciting projects like Lauren Faust's Medusa and Genndy Tartakovsky's take on Popeye(a Popeye movie is still in the works, despite what some Emoji Movie haters will lead you to believe). In 2017, they had released a rather bad batch of movies. First came mediocre reboot Smurfs: The Lost Village, followed by the critically-panned Emoji Movie, and then Nativity story The Star which was just decent at best. 2018 looks to be a bit of a rebound for them. Peter Rabbit may have been mediocre, but their other three movies do bring promise. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, judging by the trailers, looks to redeem the franchise now that Adam Sandler and his crew aren't as involved as they were the previous installments. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween looks to be more of the same, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will likely be deemed the studio's best film.
But hold up a second! That's four movies in a single year? A bit much, eh? Especially since DreamWorks tried to release four films on two certain occasions. It seems like they'll stick with it too, since we're halfway through the year.
Although, if you think that is strange, look at their 2020 slate(they're sitting out 2019; though Wish Dragon is supposed to come out that year in China, it does not have a US release date):
01/10/2020-The Mitchells vs the Machines
02/07/2020-Peter Rabbit 2
04/03/2020-Untitled
07/24/2020-Untitled Shannon Tindle Film
09/25/2020-Untitled
11/06/2020-Vivo
If you've noticed, the studio has six movies scheduled for 2020! In case any of them don't move out of the year (don't be shocked if by mid-2019, Mitchells gets pushed to that April 2020 slot. Studios tend to move their films less than a year before their initial release date), it leaves me wondering. Will Sony Animation ever release more than that in a year? What if they made 12 movies in a year leaving one per month?
With how big their 2020 schedule, I certainly would not rule it out! I made a little schedule combining them with the other 5 big studios (Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, and Illumination) in terms where their movies could go. I'm using 2024 as an example since studios have yet to claim a date in that year (animation studios, that is. Fox have Avatar 4 scheduled for 12/20/2024).
With that said, here goes:
01/12/2024-Sony Animation Film
01/26/2024-Blue Sky Film
02/09/2024-Sony Animation Film
03/08/2024-Sony Animation Film
03/29/2024-DreamWorks Film
04/19/2024-Sony Animation Film
05/17/2024-Sony Animation Film
06/07/2024-Sony Animation Film
06/21/2024-Pixar Film
07/03/2024-Illumination Film
07/26/2024-Sony Animation Film
08/16/2024-Sony Animation Film
09/27/2024-Sony Animation Film
10/18/2024-Sony Animation Film
11/08/2024-Sony Animation Film
11/27/2024-Disney Animation Film
12/25/2024-Sony Animation Film
See the problem? Too much saturation! Audiences will likely get sick of their movies if they did something like this! Besides, I would expect a studio like Illumination to nab that Christmas slot(for what? Sing 3?)! I think Blue Sky would open a movie in early March(or Pixar, depending on if Disney or Comcast wins all of Fox's assets).
What say you? Do you think Sony Animation will eventually oversaturate the animation field? Or not?
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