This year, the Annecy Animation Film Festival hosts a variety of first-looks and works-in-progress, including the anticipated “Migration,” from Illumination, to be released by Universal on Dec. 22.
On the heels of a presentation at CinemaCon in April, Illumination chief Chris Meledandri will present never-before-seen footage of the feature at Annecy June 13. Meledandri and “Migration” director Benjamin Renner (“Ernest and Celestine,” “The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales”) will also be in conversation about the film.
“Migration”
Illumination Entertainment & Universal Pictures
The film stars the voice talents of Kumail Nanjiani and Elizabeth Banks as duck parents who lead their family on an adventure. Rest of the cast is rounded out by Casper Jennings, Tresi Gazal, Awkwafina, Carol Kane, Keegan-Michael Key, David Mitchell and Danny DeVito.
Film is written by Mike White (“The White Lotus”) and Renner; “Migration” is co-directed by Guylo Homsy.
Illumination is riding high on the global success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which recently crossed $1.3 billion in global box office. With that total, “Mario Bros.” became the second-biggest animated feature of all time, pushing Disney’s “Frozen,” with $1.28 billion at the global box office, into the third-place slot.
But Disney still owns the top spot on the animated film B.O. chart with sequel “Frozen II,” with $1.45 billion at the global wickets.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a collaboration between Universal, Illumination and Nintendo, features the hugely popular characters from the blockbuster Nintendo games.
Last summer, Illumination continued its “Minions” franchise with “Minions: The Rise of Gru.” That film took in $939 million worldwide.