PSF
The Lounge => Television & Film Discussion => Topic started by: Silverwing on 2019-07-20 14:41:30
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Illumination Discussion
A topic for past, present, and future Illumination (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illumination_(company)) films. They are owned by NBC Universal and their animation arm.
They are known for films such as the the Despicable Me franchise, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets franchise and other films.
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They have two upcoming films listed.
Minions: The Rise of Gru - July 3, 2020
Sing 2 - July 2, 2021
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Not interested in their two future films... never had an interest to know Gru's backstory either.
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Might be of interest to people.
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Yeah.... they are single handily making films with zero story quality... and it's a shame.
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There are so many issues with this studio. At least their mentality and parts of their writing staff.
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So.... yeah... they are going to give us "Minions 2" this year. Okay... lets move on.
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No....
MINIONS 2: The Rise of Gru Trailer (2021)
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Makes you want to cry inside a little. But kudos for them making so much money from this franchise and characters! They are building off them. I am wondering when their first signs of losing audience will be? Which movie will be the one.
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Sing 2 expected for a Dec 22, 2021 release.
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Lol!
Lightyear Director Angus MacLane Attacks Critics After Film Gets Embarrassed By Minions: The Rise Of Gru (https://www.themix.net/2022/07/lightyear-director-angus-maclane-attacks-critics-after-film-gets-embarrassed-by-minions-the-rise-of-gru/).
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Oh that’s hilarious
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Ok, that's funny. He's butthurt.
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I've heard this new movie is ok and entertaining, but that's about it.
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Minions are winning heats and winning fans.... oh no.
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Illumination revealed their next project: The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
It is being written by Matthew Fogel, the same guy who did "Minions: The Rise of Gru."
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Second trailer. This is Illumination's biggest project by far. You can see the amount of details in this one.
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It has been quite some damn time since I have been stoked for an Illumination movie. But this one actually seems to know what it’s doing. My guess is Nintendo wouldn’t settle for something like Illumination is used to. The only thing I have some concerns about is the same thing everyone seems to have concerns about. And that’s Chris’s Pratt as Mario.
I got nothing against the guy. None at all. He’s an actor and he’s just doing his job. But oddly enough, all the other actors seem to be doing pretty damn good impressions of their characters. Jack Black as Bowser sounds PHENOMENAL. Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, well we still haven’t heard that voice yet but I’m holding out hope. Everyone else seems fine but for some reason, The voice of Mario is the only one that seems so offputting. I’m still seeing it either way because I grew up with and still play Mario to this day. But I’m just wondering what the direction was here.
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He doesn't have the liveliness or excitement I expect from a Mario voice, and this is coming from someone who really doesn't care or know much about Mario. But I honestly don't think it will matter much when you watch it. I am sure it's going to be fun.
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Yeah, he isn't the best sounding Mario, but I am pretty sure I will drown it out when the time comes and just enjoy the movie.
What will be crazy, is that for a new generation... THIS will be the voice they expect and will remember for Mario.
Sort of like how I still remember Mario giving the peace sign back in the N64 days, but he never did it again after Mario 64.
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The reviews for The Super Mario Bros film are coming out now. It is getting very average to mediocre reviews. It's serviceable and safe. It has a below average score on Metacritic with a score of 47. Rotten Tomatoes has a score of 56% from 199 critics.
Nonetheless, it is going to be a moneymaker. So far, as of April 7, 2023, The Super Mario Bros Movie has grossed $113.3 million in the United States and Canada.
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It's driving me mad that people are already posting spoilers of the Mario movie on YouTube. I mean, someone literally put up a spoiler not even a day after it was released! People have no sense of decency nowadays...
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Don't click on anything remotely tied to it. Don't search it. lol! It's horrible how hard it is to avoid spoilers for so many things nowadays.
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Nonetheless, it is going to be a moneymaker. So far, as of April 7, 2023, The Super Mario Bros Movie has grossed $113.3 million in the United States and Canada.
As of this past weekend, it is at $710 million despite having the most average of reviews. ;D You know what all this new money means for Illumination? More Minions. Also probably more Nintendo movies.
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^ That is nuts.
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Will it hit a billion in it's initial run? It's at $921.9 million as of April 29, 2023.
With this kind of money, this ensures Illumination will continue to have Minions forever. Low budget products with weak stories and lower quality visuals. People apparently are okay with that.
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The next Illumination project is called, "Migration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_(2023_film))."
PREMISE:
The film follows a family of modern day ducks who convince their over-protective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime as they attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, and ultimately down to the Bahamas.
Migration is scheduled to be released on December 22, 2023.
A teaser has come out with the Super Mario Bro's Movie.
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They are making a new original film that hopefully will be good.
Migration.
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Can't fault them for trying to be original here.... at least in character choice.
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I hope it's good because too many original ideas have been failing this year. It makes companies just do reboots instead of original ideas.
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And another... Despicable Me 4.
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I thought I would follow up on their film Migration, about the ducks. So how did an original idea (the very thing people are clamoring for) film do? Did people put the money where there mouth was and see it?
Yeah. It had a budget of $79million and made $269million. It did well. It got mostly positive reviews.
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Who else forgot about Illumination? I know I did!
They announced their next move.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
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Mario fans win once again with this sequel! Looks like more references galore, though I'm surprised they didn't show Yoshi in the trailer since the dino was teased at the end of the first movie.
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Looks like they will have another mega-hit on their hands in terms of money. Doesn't matter how good, mid, or poor the film may be.
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Supposedly they are going to make a The Secret Life of Pets 3 and Sing 3. Just more and more sequels.
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The final Direct for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie just came out today, and with it comes the proper reveal of another new character and some voice reveals, including one for a character that has yet to be seen in any clips so far.
Sure, the movie is probably just going to be loads of nostalgia bait like the original, but at least there's also a sneeze/snort from the T-Rex, as seen in a clip someone got footage of on Twitter. :)
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So, uh... I guess Fox McCloud is confirmed for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Don't believe me? Look it up.
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The new Super Mario Galaxy movies is getting BLASTED by critics as terrible. Wow. Did not see that coming. Nonetheless, it will easily meet its budget as people will go regardless, but it is being drug through the mud. ;D
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 42% of 138 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Packed with colorful world-building that's as frenetic as it is weightless, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's visuals are often out of this world but the threadbare story ultimately loses its Milky Way."
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 35 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.
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The new Super Mario Galaxy movies is getting BLASTED by critics as terrible. Wow. Did not see that coming. Nonetheless, it will easily meet its budget as people will go regardless, but it is being drug through the mud. ;D
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 42% of 138 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Packed with colorful world-building that's as frenetic as it is weightless, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's visuals are often out of this world but the threadbare story ultimately loses its Milky Way."
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 35 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.
They could have shoveled hot poop for the audience and it still would have been a monetary success . . . at least for this second movie. They won't be so lucky with a third movie now that the masses know.
Kids will still like it and certainly Nintendo die hards will too. So it still has its audience, no matter the quality of the story. Visually, Illumination seems to have done a good job, spending more than they ever have before at about $110 million. That is $10 million more than any movie they've ever made.
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Actually, this film has already outdone its $110 million budget. Already at $370 worldwide this Easter weekend. But here is a collage of the reviews. They are not kind.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave The Super Mario Galaxy Movie one out of five, calling it a "bland screensaver of a movie that's actually worse than AI" and "an inert and uninteresting follow-up".
Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film two out of five, calling it "a joke-free sequel that doubles down on its own blandness."
Owen Gleiberman of Variety, who praised the previous film, called it a "frenetic and disappointing sequel", while also stating: "...it almost seems like these talented artists have been body-snatched."
Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com gave it one and a half out of four, writing: "This is not a movie to be scrutinised, but to allow beleaguered elder millennial dads to sit their tots down for a precious two hours (if you count the trailers) and get some much-needed rest."
Wilson Chapman of IndieWire gave The Super Mario Galaxy Movie a grade of C–, saying that while the video game "is filled with moments of euphoric joy", the film "registers as flat, imagination packed into the most cleanly corporate and focus-group approved form possible."
In Screen Daily, Tim Grierson wrote that it had "strained humor and cluttered action sequences ... too often this Illumination production mistakes visual and narrative busyness for genuine excitement."
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Even the biggest Nintendo fan in the world didn't like the film. Overall, the group gave a rating of 4/10 for the new Super Mario Galaxy movie.
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Update! As of April 7, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has grossed $222 million in the United States and Canada, and $207 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $429 million. The film made $34 million on its first day, outperforming its predecessor's $31.7 million.
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It could hit a billion. It is at a box office of $833 million.
Nintendo and Universal filed copyright information for an "Untitled Donkey Kong Project" in May 2025.
In March 2026, Jack Black inadvertently revealed plans for a third Mario movie to be released in 2029.
In April 2026, following the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Miyamoto implied that there were no plans for a crossover film based on the Super Smash Bros. video game series, "I'll say that unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don't think you'll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining."
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It could hit a billion. It is at a box office of $833 million.
As of June 7, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has grossed $429 million in the United States and Canada, and $572 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1 billion. Produced on a budget of $110 million, the film is currently the highest-grossing film of 2026 and the highest-grossing animated film of the year.
The film also set the record for the biggest global opening at the box office in 2026, the only animated film franchise with two films opening to over $350 million globally, the fifth-biggest global opening for an animated film of all time, the second-biggest global opening for an Illumination film, the second-biggest opening for a film based on a video game, and the fourth-biggest Easter three-day opening of all time.
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And another... Despicable Me 4.
I realized we never talked about this film. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 166 critics' reviews are positive to mixed, with an average rating of 5.50/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Despite this it was a box office hit. Illumination has had a great 2026 in terms of money making. Despicable Me 4 grossed $361 million in the United States and Canada, and $625.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $986.7 million.
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Upcoming projects by Illumination are....
Minions & Monsters July 1, 2026
The Secret Life of Pets 3
Sing 3
Barbie Film