Tag: Josh Gad

  • Voice cast announced for ‘Angry Birds’ movie

    Voice cast announced for ‘Angry Birds’ movie

    MUMBAI: Columbia pictures announced the cast for its upcoming animated film adaptation of popular game Angry Birds.

     

    The cast was revealed after fans of the game worked together to sling one billion birds over the past 48 hours.

     

    The film will center on a furious flock of three: Red, Chuck and Bomb.

     

    Horrible Bosses fame actor Jason Sudeikis will lead the cast as Red, a bird with a temper problem, accompanied with Jobs’ Josh Gad as speedy Chuck, and Danny McBride of Eastbound & Down as the volatile Bomb.

     

    Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage will bring the character of legendary Mighty Eagle alive on screen while Matilda, the white bird who lays egg bombs, will be voiced by Maya Rudolph of Bridesmaids fame.

     

    The movie will also will feature Bill Hader, Keegan-Michael Key, Kate McKinnon, Tony Hale, Ike Barinholtz and Hannibal Buress.

     

    “I’m extremely proud of this cast. Not only do we have Jason, Josh, Danny, Bill, Maya and Peter bringing these characters to life, but they’re surrounded by an all-star ensemble of emerging comic talent — these are some of the funniest people out there today, and we’re thrilled to have them all on board,” said John Cohen, producer of the film, in a press release.

     

    The film is set for a 1 July 2016 release and will be directed by Fergal Reilly of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Frozen famed Clay Kaytis while the screenplay will be written by Jon Vitti of The Simpsons. The movie is a partnership between Finnish Angry Birds creator Rovio and Hollywood studio Sony.

     

    The Angry Birds movie will mark game maker Rovio’s first leap into feature films, though they have been producing ‘Angry Birds Toons’ through their Toons TV online channel.

  • Iconic video game comes together as classic characters in ‘Pixels’

    Iconic video game comes together as classic characters in ‘Pixels’

    NEW DELHI: An extraordinary number of iconic video game companies, whose classic characters – including PAC-MAN, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Galaga, Frogger, Q*bert, and Space Invaders – will be featured in the highly-anticipated action comedy Pixels by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

     

    Pixels stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, and Brian Cox, and directed by Chris Columbus. The film will be released in the United States on 15 May next year.

     

    In Pixels, when intergalactic aliens misinterpret video-feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war against them, they attack the Earth, using the games as models for their various assaults. 

     

    President Will Cooper (James) has to call on his childhood best friend, 1980s video game champion Sam Brenner (Sandler), now a home theatre installer, to lead a team of old-school arcaders (Dinklage and Gad) to defeat the aliens and save the planet. Monaghan plays the team’s unique weapons specialist. 

     

    The action-comedy is directed by Chris Columbus from a story by Tim Herlihy and a screenplay by Tim and Timothy Dowling, based on the original short film of the same name by Patrick Jean. The film is produced by Adam Sandler, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, and Allen Covert.  Executive producers are Barry Bernardi, Michael Barnathan, Jack Giarraputo, Heather Parry, Tim Herlihy, Steve Koren, Patrick Jean, Benjamin Darras, Johnny Alves, Matias Boucard, Seth Gordon, and Ben Waisbren. The film, a Columbia Pictures presentation in association with LStar Capital, is a Happy Madison / 1492 Films production in association with One More Production. 

     

    Companies with classic arcade games that are teaming with Sony Pictures on the film include Atari Interactive: (Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede and Missile Command); Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. (Frogger); BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc. (PAC-MAN, Galaga, and Dig Dug); Nintendo (Donkey Kong)’ Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (Q*bert); Taito Corporation (Space Invaders); and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Joust, Defender, Robotron and Wizard of Wor).

     

    Commenting on the announcement, the film’s director Chris Columbus said, “There would be no way to make the movie without these legendary characters – they are as important to the film as the roles that Adam, Kevin, Michelle, Peter, Josh, and Brian are playing.  It was a real thrill to see everything come together exactly as we envisioned it, and we’re grateful to have all of these fantastic companies on board.”

     

    Producer Allen Covert added, “These classic characters are part of the DNA of the project, so it was critical that we work together to bring them on board.  Fortunately, they were all extremely receptive.  We approached them with a deep love for their characters and a respect for the elements that make them unique and iconic, and we’ve worked with the companies to incorporate those elements into the film.” 

     

     “There’s no better way for the core Comic-Con audience to interact with the movie than to get a hands-on refresher on the games that will be a part of it,” concluded Sony Pictures president, theatrical marketing Dwight Caines. 

  • Steve Jobs’ biopic to release this April

    Steve Jobs’ biopic to release this April

    MUMBAI: jOBS, the biopic of Steve Jobs, will premiere on the closing night of the Sundance Film Festival later this month before it releases internationally in April this year.

    Said Tom Ortenberg, CEO, Open Road “jOBS is certain to resonate with audiences, and we are thrilled to partner with Five Star Feature Films to bring this film to theatres.”

    The biopic stars Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, JK Simmons and Matthew Modine.

    Open Road Films will release the film on behalf of Mark Hulme‘s Five Star Feature Films that is marketing the film.