From Angry Birds to an evil Pac-Man in Pixels, movie studios have been placing (barely) animated figures at the centre of the latest flicks. And now, a new movie from Sony Pictures Animation will be centered around those love ‘em or hate ‘em Emojis that litter our daily digital correspondence. Following a heated bidding war between Warner Bros., Paramount, and Sony, the latter emerged victorious in acquiring the rights for nearly seven figures, reports Deadline.
The movie will be written by Eric Siegel and Anthony Loendis, and directed by the latter, who also directed Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters and the upcoming DreamWorks Animation feature B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations.
Related: Box office hits and misses: Minions bumps Jurassic World
In reaction to the news, Jimmy Kimmel, along with Brie Larson, pretended they got hold of the script, and proceeded to act it out. It’s basically just the pair describing a number of emojis, yet it oddly actually does tell quite a compelling and emotional story, with twists and turns from eggplants, to drinking beer, to a broken heart.
In his intro, Kimmel points out that, while the concept might sound a little silly, so did the concept for a movie based on Lego toys. And, well, we all know how that turned out.
Emojis have become so ingrained in our digital culture, it isn’t surprising that an animated feature should make its way to theaters. After all, if those non-sensical Twinkie-creatures, Minions can get their own film, walking, talking emojis with actual voices screams animation gold. Not to mention the opportunity to build out a massive cash cow with emoji toys, dolls, and other licensed paraphernalia following the movie’s release.
The emoji movie will be produced by Michelle Raimo Kouate. While the emoji flick is Leondis’ first successful movie pitch to a major studio, he has sold several television shows to Fox and NBC, and recently served as producer for Men at Work on TBS.
No word on when the Emoji movie is expected to premiered, but we’ll keep you posted.
