FILM ::: The Croods

Twentieth Century Fox have recently agreed a five-year distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation that will see an unprecedented 12 films released over the next four years.

The first of these will be The Croods, due out in March next year, followed by a mixture of sequels and original concepts.

Following the studio’s break with Paramout Pictures (this year’s Rise Of The Guardians will be the final film on that agreement) it was unsure the direction DreamWorks would take. Now it seems their ambitious plan is to stamp their authority on the animation market by flooding it with a continuous deluge of releases.

Only time will tell whether this is a quantity over quality move; they’ve not scrimped on heavyweight names or beautiful animation though. The Croods has been developed with the help of John Cleese and directed by How To Train Your Dragon collaborators Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco. Plus it is voiced by Nicholas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke, while B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations due in 2015, already has Seth Rogan lined up to play the lead.

Being the first out the traps, The Croods is bound to set the tone. Originally planned as an Aardman film called Crood Awakening, it is a tale of the world’s first ever family as they embark on a prehistoric journey to safety after their cave is destroyed by continental drift (sound familiar?).

On the way they come across all kinds of bizarre creatures and sights, including Ryan Reynolds as an advanced form of what will later become humanity. No it’s really not April Fools yet, this is really happening.

With Cage as a Neanderthal and Reynolds as a Homo erectus (no jokes) perhaps a live action version would have been a better way to go.

Here’s a full DreamWorks Animation release slate up to 2016:

The Croods -22 March, 2013

Turbo – 19 July, 2013

Mr. Peabody & Sherman– 1 November, 2013

Me And My Shadow – 14 March, 2014

How To Train Your Dragon 2 – 20 June, 2014

Happy Smekday! – 26 November, 2014

The Penguins Of Madagascar – 27 March, 2015

Trolls – 5 June, 2015

B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations – 6 November, 2015

Mumbai Musical (working title) – 19 December, 2015

Kung Fu Panda 3 – 18 March, 2016

How To Train Your Dragon 3 – 18 June, 2016

Written by ::: Chris Dyer
Twitter ::: @JChrisDyer