Alec Baldwin is back at work as the boss next March with The Boss Baby: Family Business! Via Deadline, DreamWorks Animation revealed brand new details on the upcoming comedy sequel, including the plot and new cast members.
Baldwin will reprise his voice role as Ted “Boss Baby” Templeton, along with Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow voicing Ted’s parents. Ted’s older brother Tim, now grown up, has been notably been recast for the sequel, taken over by James Marsden (Sonic the Hedgehog). In the original film, Tim was voiced by child actor Miles Bakshi with Tobey Maguire providing narration as the character in adulthood.
Following the events of the first Boss Baby movie, brothers Ted and Tim Templeton are grown up and have pursued their separate paths. Ted reigns as a hedge fund CEO, while Tim is now a caring father. Tim and his loving wife (voiced by Eva Longoria of Foodfight!) raise their intelligent 7-year-old daughter Tabitha (Ariana Greenblatt of Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle), an excel at the Acorn Center for Advanced Childhood who aspires to follow Uncle Ted’s success.
However, déjà vu strikes when a new boss baby named Tina (Amy Sedaris of BoJack Horseman) enters the family. A secret agent of BabyCorp, Tina is on an assignment to expose some dark secret’s surrounding Tabitha’s school and it’s founder Dr. Armstrong (Jeff Goldblum of Isle of Dogs). These events will lead to the Templeton brothers reuniting unexpectedly where they both re-evaluate the true meaning of family.
Tom McGrath, the director of the first film, returns to helm the sequel. He and new producer Jeff Hermann (Bilby) provided the following statements in the press release:
“We are so fortunate to work with such a talented ensemble of actors, all of whom possess tremendous imaginations. The everyday joy for me is not only watching our actors make a line hilarious or heartfelt through subtle adjustments but the process they all share of improvisation and character creation. They are the heart and soul of the characters they bring to life.”
Tom McGrath, Director, ‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’
“We are so thrilled to welcome these new additions to our Boss Baby family. James, Amy, Ariana, Eva, and Jeff each bring so much depth, wit, and charm to combine with Alec, Lisa, and Jimmy to form an incredibly rich ensemble, one which expands upon the world of the first movie in unexpected and exciting ways.”
Jeff Hermann, Producer, ‘The Boss Baby: Family Business’
Released in March 2017 by 20th Century Fox, The Boss Baby became a surprise hit for DreamWorks despite mixed reviews, grossing $528 million worldwide. Its success not only resulted in the sequel’s greenlighting, but also Best Animated Feature nominations at the Golden Globe, Annie, and Academy Awards (though losing all three to Pixar’s Coco). A Netflix series titled The Boss Baby: Back in Business debuted the following year minus the involvement of McGrath or the film’s cast.
The Boss Baby: Family Business is currently scheduled for theatrical release via Universal Pictures on March 26, 2021. It will be one of three DreamWorks animated features to be released that year, with the other two being a Spirit Riding Free movie in May and The Bad Guys in September.
In similar news via Deadline, Universal curiously pushed forward DreamWorks’ next movie The Croods: A New Age by a month to November 25, 2020. The new Thanksgiving release currently puts the film in direct competition with Pixar’s Soul, a film that may or may not get released directly to Disney+. A trailer for the Croods sequel will be released on Monday.