Universal's Sing 2 Release Pushed Back

Universal Pictures has delayed the release of Illumination entertainment's animated feature Sing 2. he film had been slated for release on July 2, 2021, but has been removed from that date to make way or the also-delayed Minions: The Rise of Gru. Sing 2 is now scheduled for release on December 22, 2021. That returns it to the Christmas holiday release season, where it had originally been slated this year before being delayed into summer 2021 to make room for The Croods 2. This move from Universal is the latest in a string of film delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Universal already halted production on all of its ongoing live-action projects. Illumination's Mac Guff studio in Paris is currently shut down as a result of the lockdown order in place in France.

The first Sing featured a voice cast that included Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, John C. Reilly, and other playing singing animals competing in a competition meant to promote the Moon Theater, a struggling venue owned by Buster. A mistake on the event's flyer inflates the prize pot amount, leading to a huge turnout for auditions as well as other hijinks lead up to the performances literally bring down the house. The film was a hit, bringing in $634.1 million globally.

Sing 2 will see the characters from the first film preparing for a larger stage, leaving the Moon Theater for the big city. Writer and director Garth Jennings are returning for the film along with McConaughey, Witherspoon, Johansson, and Egerton return, with Nick Kroll and Tori Kelly joining the voice cast in yet-to-be-revealed roles.

In the original Sing, "Dapper Koala Buster Moon presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. An eternal optimist, and a bit of a scoundrel, he loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Facing the crumbling of his life's ambition, he takes one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition. Five contestants emerge: a mouse, a timid elephant, a pig, a gorilla and a punk-rock porcupine."

In addition to moving Sing 2 and Minions: The Rise of Gru, Universal has delayed its film adaptation of Wicked indefinitely. Other films affected by he COVID-19 pandemic include Fast & Furious 9, No Time to Die, A Quiet Place Part II, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Lovebirds, Mulan, The New Mutants, Antlers, My Spy, Morbius, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Uncharted, Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, and others.

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