Paramount Animation took a successful first step with the critical and commercial success of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. Now, its next challenge will be to keep this momentum going and further solidify its status as a promising new face in the feature animation field. In this day and age, this often means giving projects the time and space they need to make the most impact. Such is the case with Paramount Animation’s next film.
According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures has postponed the release of the CG/live-action hybrid film Monster Trucks, pushing it out of 2015 entirely. The film will now open March 18, 2016, where it will square off against The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Part 1 at the box office.
While Paramount stated no direct reason for the delay, it can be inferred that the delay will give the studio enough time to build an effective marketing campaign for the film (which is intended as the start of an original franchise for Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies).
It’s also possible that the previous launch date for the film (which would have put it a week after Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and the executive shake-up and subsequent restructuring of Viacom might have complicated previous plans. The latter makes even more sense when you learn that Monster Trucks was reportedly a priority project for Adam Goodman, who recently resigned as the president of the company’s film group.
When we last heard of the project, it was reportedly in the midst of post-production. We also caught hold of what was essentially a ‘beta version’ of the plot synopsis that read as follows:
“After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend.”
Directed by Chris Wedge from a screenplay by Kung Fu Panda writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Burger and Jurassic World scribe Derek Connolly (based on an original draft by Matthew Robinson), the cast is comprised of Lucas Till, Jane Levy, Amy Ryan, Holt McCallany, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Frank Whaley, Barry Pepper, Thomas Lennon, Tucker Albrizzi, with Adrian Formosa and Chad Willett.
Monster Trucks will ride into theaters March 18, 2016.
Do you have any thoughts on this news? Are you looking forward to Monster Trucks?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
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