Illumination Announce Pets Movie for 2016, Starring Louis C.K.

Deadline has the details on a brand new - original - Illumination Entertainment project, that will fill one of the studio's previously bagsied release dates. The film is currently going by the oh-so-catchy title of Untitled Pets Movie, and is set for release on 12th February, 2016. The film stars comedian Louis C.K. (Louie, American Hustle) as the lead dog.

Sandra Bullock Turning Evil for Despicable Me Spin-Off, Minions

Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me spin-off based around the series' yellow henchmen, now seemingly titled Minions, just got its first voice cast member, America's Sweetheart, Sandra Bullock. The irony being that Bullock is following in Steve Carell's footsteps and playing an evil-doer in the film.

Illumination to Continue CG Dr. Seuss Spree with The Grinch Remake

We found out almost a year ago that Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind 2010's Despicable Me and last year's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, were going to continue their adaptations of Seuss's works - something that came about as a result of Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri's friendly relationship with the author's widow, which led to Horton Hears a Who! when he was still at Blue Sky Studios - with a film adaptation of The Cat in the Hat, as well as a live-action Dr. Seuss biopic. Today, news emerged that they've secured another Seussian property, and will be remaking How the Grinch Stole Christmas in CG.

Variety reports that Pete Candeland is set to direct, having previously worked on Disney's Aladdin TV series and Gorillaz music videos. The Variety article points out that, despite his lack of big film experience, Candelend may well be a good fit for Illumination, given their previous good track record with relative novice directors. No writers, nor a release date, have been named yet, but Meledandri is producing and Seuss's widow, Audrey Geisel, is executive producing.

I wasn't all too taken with The Lorax - it felt padded and unoriginal, though its heart was in the right place, and you can't argue with its animation - and Illumination's The Grinch is going to have a hard time living up to Chuck Jones' 1966 animated TV special (see top), but The Grinch is definitely one of Seuss's most fertile properties, and, if all things come together well, it could be a really fun film.

Illumination are also working on Curious George, Woody Woodpecker and Addams Family films, as well as a Despicable Me spin-off - Despicable Me 2 is released on 28th June in the UK and 3rd July in the US.

Via Cartoon Brew.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Review - It's Funny, It's Lyrical and the Animation's First-Rate; But the Lack of Originality Means it May Start to Grate

If you're reading this in America, this review will seem very belated, given that The Lorax is released on DVD and Blu-Ray over there on the 7th, but the third feature film from Illumination Entertainment - who arrived on the animation scene with Despicable Me back in 2010 - only arrived here in the UK on the 27th July; over 4 months after it was first released in America! So, I went to see the adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss book on Wednesday, and left with a mixed impression.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is by no means a bad film; it's a very faithful adaptation of the Seuss book, with a strong moral message, cute characters and gorgeous animation. However, the characters that aren't cute are underdeveloped and annoying, the pacing is a bit off and the comedy is a trifle inconsistent. The biggest problem with The Lorax though, is that it's unoriginal. You will enjoy it, but you'll also leave with the inescapable feeling that it could've been so much more.

Illumination Entertainment Developing The Cat in the Hat Adaptation

Almost a decade after the critical and box office failure of the live-action adaptation of arguably Dr. Seuss's most famous work, The Cat in the Hat, Universal Pictures are set to have another go at adapting the beloved book, this time as an animated film, Deadline reports.

Universal's resident animation department, Illumination Entertainment, are tasked with adapting the book for a CG animated release, following the enormous success of their adaptation of another of Dr. Seuss's books, The Lorax. The Lorax has topped the US box office for the past two weeks, and that success seems sufficient enough to somewhat expunge the painful memory of the 2003 live-action disaster from the mind of Audrey Geisel, as the widow of Dr. Seuss has agreed to the production of the film. Geisel will also be executive producing the product, with Chris Meledandri set to produce and Rob Lieber penning the script.

Meledandri has been working with the famed author's widow on adapting his works since he ran Blue Sky Studios, with 2008's Horton Hears a Who. Illumination Enertainment are also reportedly working on a live-action biopic about Seuss's life, starring and being produced by Johnny Depp.

Via Big Screen Animation.

The Lorax and John Carter Debut - Who's Winning?

The latest animated effort from Illumination Entertainment - the studio behind Despicable Me - The Lorax, was released last Friday. While the critical response to the film hasn't been overwhelmingly positive, it has been raking it in at the US box office, opening in the number 1 position and maintaining that place this week. It's currently grossed over $120 million, making it the highest grossing film of the year thus far.

It's placed ahead of a film that made its debut this weekend, a film that Disney was hoping would place significantly higher, Andrew Stanton's John Carter. The Finding Nemo director's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's first Barsoom based sci-fi novel was hoped to be Disney's next franchise, to replace Pirates of the Carribbean; yet it took only £30.6 million in its opening weekend. While it's far too early to write it off yet, the combination of bad marketing, poor critical response so far and a reportedly large budget mean that a sequel is looking less likely; which is a real shame given Andrew Stanton's blatant love for the source material and his immense talent.

It's a shame to see John Carter under-perform, and I'll be able to judge it for myself (and contribute to its worldwide gross) when I see it this weekend.

New The Lorax Trailer

Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies, we get the next full trailer for the next animated film from Illumination Entertainment, the guys behind Despicable Me, the adaptation of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax.

The Lorax, due to hit cinemas on March 2, 2012, is looking pretty great so far. It looks insanely charming and quirky and the animation is just fantastic, retaining Illumination's very European, stylised character models and capturing the heart of the Dr. Seuss book.

I'm genuinely excited to see how The Lorax turns out, as it looks pretty great thus far.

The Lorax Trailer

Courtesy of Cartoon Brew, today we get the first theatrical trailer for Illumination Entertainment's animation adaptation of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax.

The film looks brilliant; wonderfully innocent, fantastically animated and with a very funny, well polished story; The Lorax looks set to be a great return to form for Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicable Me, after the rather disappointing Live Action/CGI mash-up, Hop. It also looks like it will do very nicely as, at least spiritually, a follow up to Blue Sky Studios' Horton Hears a Who film a few years ago.

While this may not be the perfect image of Dr. Seuss's book, it looks like a whole lot of fun and a good film besides; Dr. Seuss was a genius, and this film looks like it's going to capture that.

The Lorax Poster

A week or so ago, Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind Despicable Me - and more recently, Hop - revealed the teaser poster for their upcoming film adaptation of Dr Seuss' The Lorax.

The film follows Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination Entertainment, over from Blue Sky Studios, after Meledandri oversaw production of the previous Dr. Seuss film, Horton Hears a Who over at Blue Sky and hits theatres March 2, 2012, directed by Despicable Me director, Chris Renaud and featuring the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Ed Helms.

Poster courtesy of The Reel Bits and Yahoo! Movies.