Funny how the best video game movie of all time is not even based on an existing video game franchise. Wreck-It Ralph was a surprise hit for Walt Disney Animation Studios (and Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature), and, along with Frozen and Zootopia, showed that current Disney animation did not need to be overly reliant on Pixar to produce quality CGI films with serious undertones. It was clever, colorful, heartwarming and felt more in touch with classic video games than the majority of Hollywood adaptations. And just like any film or video game out there: if it sell, a sequel must be around the corner.
Wreck-It Ralph director Rich Moore and screenwriter Phil Johnston made an announcement this Thursday over the Breaking News Facebook Live broadcast that they will be co-directing a Wreck-It Ralph 2 movie, which has been scheduled for release on March 9, 2018. Originally, the two were set for working on a sequel immediately after the release of the first movie, but were pulled away by Disney to help get Zootopia back on track. Whatever they did must have worked, as Zootopia has been without a doubt one of the year’s best films, masquerading a film that addressed mature topics like prejudice and stereotyping under the guise of a buddy-cop film starring anthropomorphic animals. This is a good sign that the writing for Wreck-It Ralph 2 should not be a sign of concern.
While extensive plot details for this movie have not been announced yet, it has been confirmed that John C. Riley and Sarah Silverman will be returning to reprise their roles as Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz. The story, based on an interview with Collider, will involve Ralph and Vanellope leaving the arcade and breaking the internet, most likely to disrupt the flow of online games that we download onto our iPhones. This plot should give an extended number of possibilities for the writers to dream up for our protagonists, both of whom I feel are characters deserving of a sequel. Not to mention the fact that Walt Disney Animation is pretty damn selective about greenlighting their sequel, the majority of which being direct-to DVD, with two theatrical exceptions being The Rescuers Down Under and Fantasia 2000. Hopefully this is a sign of the studio’s faith and confidence in this upcoming movie.
Wreck-It Ralph 2 (or Super Wreck-It Ralph if they go with that title) will be Disney’s next animated movie following Moana, which will be released on November 23 this year. Their next film, the Jack and the Beanstalk retelling Gigantic, was originally set for that release date but has now been pushed back to a theatrical date of November 21, 2018.
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