Connected (2020 film)
Connected is an upcoming American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film is directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Rianda and Jeff Rowe (who also serves as the film's co-director), with Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Kurt Albrecht serving as producers.[1][2][3][4] It stars the voices of Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Rianda, Eric Andre, and Olivia Colman.[5]
Connected | |
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Official logo | |
Directed by | Mike Rianda |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Starring |
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Music by | Mark Mothersbaugh |
Edited by | Greg Levitan |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Connected is currently scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on October 23, 2020 by Sony Pictures Releasing via its Columbia Pictures label.
Premise
When Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson), a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet "her people" at college are completely upended when her nature-loving dad Rick (Danny McBride) plans for an ultimate family road trip. This means instead of flying there as she planned, Rick, her wildly positive mom Linda (Maya Rudolph), her quirky little brother Aaron (Mike Rianda), and the family's pet pug Monchi, will drive Katie to her school together. However, Rick's plan of getting all of them to truly bond as a family for one last time is suddenly interrupted by a tech uprising: all around the world, the electronic devices that Katie, Linda, Aaron and most all other people love – from mobile phones to home appliances to an innovative new line of personal robots – decide it is time to take over. With the help of two friendly malfunctioning robots, the Mitchells will have to get past their problems and work together to save each other and the world.
Cast
- Abbi Jacobson as Katie Mitchell: an aspiring filmmaker who is the daughter of Rick and Linda, and Aaron's older sister
- Danny McBride as Rick Mitchell: the father of Katie and Aaron, and Linda's husband
- Maya Rudolph as Linda Mitchell: the mother of Katie and Aaron, and Rick's wife
- Mike Rianda as Aaron Mitchell: the son of Rick and Linda, and Katie's younger brother
- Eric Andre as Mark Bowman: a scientist who is the creator behind PAL
- Olivia Colman as PAL: a virtual assistant[5]
- Blake Griffin as a sleek robot from PAL Labs[6]
Production
Development
On May 22, 2018, Sony Pictures Animation announced the title of a Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-produced animated film that was in development, entitled The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The film is the duo's fourth collaboration with SPA following the two Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as the studio's first original feature film since The Star. Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, former writers of the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls, served as the film's screenwriters, with Rianda serving as director and Rowe as co-director.[7]
Further details were revealed a year later at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival that June, when Sony Animation president Kristine Belson revealed that the film would be using an animation style similar to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and that the worlds the Mitchell family and the robots live in are initially separate universes before colliding.[8] Animation work at Sony Pictures Imageworks had already begun the previous month, as confirmed by animator Nick Kondo on Twitter.[9]
On February 20, 2020, first images were revealed through Entertainment Weekly, and it was announced the title was changed to Connected.[5]
Casting
On February 19, 2020, Abbi Jacobson was cast as Katie Mitchell.[10] This was followed by the casting announcements of Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, director Rianda, Eric Andre, and Olivia Colman the next day.[5] During a watch party for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that was held on Twitter on May 6, 2020, Lord confirmed that basketball player Blake Griffin had joined the voice cast as one of the robots.[11]
Music
Following the release of the first trailer, Phil Lord confirmed on Twitter that his frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh will compose the score for the film.[12]
Release
Connected was originally scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on September 18, 2020, but it was delayed by one month to October 23 when Sony made changes to its theatrical release schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
References
- "Phil Lord and Chris Miller Produced Sony Pictures Animation Movie (2020) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- "The Mitchells Vs. The Machines': Chris Miller & Phil Lord To Produce AI-Gone-Wild Toon For Sony". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- "Sony Pictures Animation". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- "Michael Rianda". tumblr.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- Coggan, Devan (February 20, 2020). "First look: A family battles a robot uprising in Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 'Connected'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- Phil Lord [@philiplord] (May 6, 2020). "So @blakegriffin23 plays baseball in Miles' universe. Fun Fact: he plays an indestructible robot in our next animated production @ConnectedMovie #BreakingNews #SpiderVerse #QuarantineWatchParty" (Tweet). Retrieved May 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
- Galuppo, Mia (May 22, 2018). "Phil Lord, Chris Miller to Produce Animated Feature 'The Mitchells vs. the Machines'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- Hopewell, John (June 12, 2019). "Sony Pictures Animation Links to Tencent, Sets New 'Boondocks,' Tartakovsky Duo". Variety. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- @NickTyson (May 27, 2019). "Super excited to start working on a new movie at Sony this week called The Mitchells Vs. The Machines!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 8, 2020 – via Twitter.
- N'Duka, Amanda (February 19, 2020). "Abbi Jacobson To Star In Sony Animated Film 'The Mitchells Vs The Machines' From Producers Chris Miller & Phil Lord". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
- Phil Lord [@philiplord] (May 6, 2020). "So @blakegriffin23 plays baseball in Miles' universe. Fun Fact: he plays an indestructible robot in our next animated production @ConnectedMovie #BreakingNews #SpiderVerse #QuarantineWatchParty" (Tweet). Retrieved May 7, 2020 – via Twitter.
- Phil Lord [@philiplord] (March 3, 2020). "AND a gorgeous score by the great Mark Mothersbaugh and his team at @MutMuz" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 3, 2020 – via Twitter.
- Bean, Travis (April 24, 2020). "'Spider-Man 3' And 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2' Get New Release Dates". Forbes. Retrieved April 24, 2020.