Box Office Robot Wars See 'Transformers One' Kick 'The Wild Robot' A Week Later
Now opening September 27, the DreamWorks Animation film will get to preview footage at Annecy International Film Festival in June
If you’re looking for Battlebots, it’s starting a week later. It had only been days after Paramount released the trailer for the animated Transformers film Transformers One while revealing that it would be moving a week from September 13 to 20. That date was already occupied by DreamWorks Animation’s own robot film, The Wild Robot. It only took until Tuesday for the latter to stand down, delaying its release by just a week to September 27.
Of course, they’re still going to battle it out, they’re just not opening on the same weekend anymore. Also this move apparently gets the latter some IMAX residency. The reason the head-to-head opening battle was set up at all was because Transformers wanted to move away from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which opens September 6 and is expected to do very well. The films opening against The Wild Robot (and therefore Transformers One week 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice week 4) are Lionsgate’s Alexandre Aja-directed Halle Berry horror-thriller Never Let Go and the tenth anniversary IMAX re-release of Interstellar.
Wednesday however saw DreamWorks announce that they’re bringing their film to Annecy International Film Festival on June 11. There will be a filmmaker presentation from writer and director Chris Sanders. An Artists’ Panel discussion with the film’s creative leadership team will be later that day, while on June 12, they will hold a special book signing at the Bonlieu library, presumably of the Peter Brown book of the same name the film is based on. Maybe it’ll have a new cover using the film’s poster art or a new “NOW A HIT FEATURE FILM!”-type sticker. Or both! The festival runs the entire week of June 9 to 15.
The film follows ROZZUM unit 7134 or “Roz”, a futuristic robot voiced by Lupita Nyong’o that comes ashore to a deserted island, kickstarting “a tale of survival and discovery begins befriending a close-knit group of misfit animals, who slowly become family. Soon enough, she also becomes the unexpected protector of an orphaned gosling, whom she names Brightbill. Together they struggle to survive the harsh environment, succeeding with the help of the animals, including Pedro Pascal as the fox Fink, Catherine O’Hara as the opossum Pinktail, and Bill Nighy as the goose Longneck. They find themselves defending the island from a robotic invasion by Roz’s manufacturer, looking to bring her back to civilization by any means necessary.
“As we approach our 30th anniversary this fall, DreamWorks Animation continues to reach for new levels of artistic excellence, with stories that ignite the hearts and minds of audiences around the world, and no film embodies that mission more than Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot,” stated DreamWorks Animation’s president Margie Cohn. “Chris and producer Jeff Hermann have lovingly translated Peter Brown’s renowned literary sensation into a genuine work of art. We have no doubt that the film they’ve created is a classic in the making, and we’re proud and honored to share this exclusive look at their achievement at Annecy this year.”
