The Bad Guys 2 | |
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Directed by | Pierre Perifel |
Based on | Characters by Aaron Blabey |
Produced by | Damon Ross |
Starring | |
Music by | Daniel Pemberton |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Bad Guys 2 is an upcoming American animated heist action comedy film loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to The Bad Guys (2022) and the second film in the Bad Guys franchise, it is directed by Pierre Perifel and co-directed by JP Sans. The film stars the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, and Alex Borstein reprising their roles from the first film, with Danielle Brooks, Maria Bakalova, and Natasha Lyonne joining the cast.
Perifel stated that he would love to do a sequel to The Bad Guys in March 2022, before the release of the first film. Two years later, DreamWorks Animation announced a sequel, with Perifel and the voice cast returning, while Sans would serve as co-director. Lyonne joined the cast in July 2024, with the involvement of Brooks and Bakalova being announced in November. Daniel Pemberton will compose the score, returning from the previous film.
The Bad Guys 2 is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 1, 2025. [1]
After the events of the first film, the Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys when they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do "one last job" by an all-female squad of criminals called the Bad Girls who are fans of their earlier exploits. [1]
Jorge R. Gutierrez makes a cameo appearance in the film. [3] [ better source needed ]
In March 2022, a month before The Bad Guys was released, director Pierre Perifel said that he would love to do a sequel. [4] On March 26, 2024, a sequel was confirmed by DreamWorks Animation, with Perifel returning to direct and JP Sans, who served as head of character animation on the previous film, co-directing. Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh all reprise their roles from the previous film. [1] Daniel Pemberton also returns to compose the score. [5] On July 13, 2024, it was announced that Natasha Lyonne has been cast in the sequel. [6] Danielle Brooks and Maria Bakalova were announced to be cast in the sequel in November. [7]
On October 6, 2023, the then-unannounced film was revealed to be animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Imageworks would operate as a partner studio with DreamWorks utilizing a "mixed production model". Pre-production would be done in-house at DreamWorks along with approximately 50% of the asset build and one hour of production, while Imageworks will handle the other 50% of asset builds and 20 minutes of shot production. [8]
The first trailer of the film was released on November 21, 2024. [9]
The Bad Guys 2 is scheduled to be released on August 1, 2025. [1]
As part of Universal's long-term deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next 10, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four. [10] [11] [12]
Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein is an American actress, writer, director, and producer. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and tough persona, and the accolades she has received include nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 49 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film, The Wild Robot, was released on September 27, 2024. They have an upcoming theatrical slate of films, which includes Dog Man on January 31, 2025, How to Train Your Dragon on June 13, 2025, The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025, Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie on September 26, 2025, and Shrek 5 on July 1, 2026.
Marc David Maron is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician.
Richard Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance.
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Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and Montreal, Quebec, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.
Aaron Blabey is an Australian author of children's books.
Zazie Olivia Beetz is a German and American actress. She is known for her role in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She starred in the Netflix anthology series Easy (2016–2019) and has voiced Amber Bennett in the adult animated superhero series Invincible since 2021.
Pierre Perifel is a French filmmaker and animator. He is best known for his work at DreamWorks Animation, including directing the short film Bilby (2018) and the feature films The Bad Guys (2022) and its upcoming sequel The Bad Guys 2 (2025).
Extinct is a 2021 animated science fiction comedy film directed by David Silverman, and co-directed by Raymond S. Persi, from a screenplay by Joel Cohen, John Frink, and Rob LaZebnik. The film features the voices of Rachel Bloom, Adam Devine, Zazie Beetz, Ken Jeong, Catherine O'Hara, Benedict Wong, Reggie Watts, and Jim Jefferies. Its story follows Op and Ed, two adorable cat-like creatures with giant holes in the center, called the "flummels", that find themselves transported from their island home in the year 1835 to modern day Shanghai.
The Bad Guys is a 2022 American animated heist comedy film based on the children's book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey, produced by DreamWorks Animation Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Pierre Perifel from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, and stars the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh. It tells the story of a criminal group of anthropomorphic animals who, upon being caught, pretend to attempt to reform themselves as model citizens, only for their leader to find himself genuinely drawn to changing his ways for good as a new villain has his own plans.
Dog Man is an upcoming American animated superhero comedy film based on Dav Pilkey's children's graphic novel series Dog Man, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. A spin-off and story within a story of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) and the second film in the Captain Underpants franchise, it is being directed by Peter Hastings. The film stars the voices of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd and Ricky Gervais with Hastings providing vocal effects for the titular character.
DreamWorks Animation Television is an American animation studio that serves as the television production arm of DreamWorks Animation, itself a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. Founded in 1996, the entity was formerly named DreamWorks Television Animation. Its first programs from the 1990s and early 2000s used the live-action television logo, and were produced by DreamWorks Television, before DWATV and its parent company were spun off into an independent company in 2004 and later purchased by NBCUniversal in 2016. In total, the division has released 59 programs, with 7 in development.
Sam Rockwell is an American actor. He became well known for his leading roles in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Lawn Dogs (1997), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Matchstick Men (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Moon (2009), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), G-Force (2009), Seven Psychopaths (2012), Mr. Right (2015), Richard Jewell (2019), and The Bad Guys (2022). He has also played supporting roles in The Green Mile (1999), Galaxy Quest (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Frost/Nixon (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Conviction (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), The Way, Way Back (2013), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Vice (2018), and Jojo Rabbit (2019).
Trolls is an American animated media franchise created by DreamWorks Animation, inspired by the successful line of Troll doll toys created by Thomas Dam. It follows the adventures of a pair of trolls named Poppy and Branch as they live among their village of pop-singing trolls. The franchise consists of three feature films, Trolls, released in 2016, Trolls World Tour, released in 2020, and Trolls Band Together, released in 2023. The franchise has been supplemented by two holiday television specials titled Trolls Holiday and Trolls: Holiday in Harmony, and two animated series: Trolls: The Beat Goes On! on Netflix, and Trolls: TrollsTopia on Hulu and Peacock. The Trolls franchise made $5 billion in retail sales by 2005.
The Bad Guys is an illustrated children's graphic novel series written by Australian author Aaron Blabey. It revolves around a gang of anthropomorphic animals known as the "Bad Guys", who attempt to perform good deeds to change society's perception of them as criminals.
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Kung Fu Panda 4 is a 2024 American animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise and the sequel to Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). The film was directed by Mike Mitchell, co-directed by Stephanie Ma Stine, written by Darren Lemke and the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and produced by Rebecca Huntley. It features Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, and Bryan Cranston reprising their roles from the previous films, with Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, and Viola Davis joining the cast as new characters. In the film, Po (Black), who must find and train his successor as the new Dragon Warrior, teams up with fox bandit Zhen (Awkwafina) to defeat evil sorceress The Chameleon (Davis), before she steals the kung-fu abilities of all deceaceds masters in China.
The Bad Guys is a media franchise made by DreamWorks Animation, loosely based on the children's book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey. The franchise began with the 2022 film The Bad Guys, and has since grown to include two holiday specials, which were released on Netflix in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and a sequel, The Bad Guys 2, set for release on August 1, 2025.
The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist is a 2024 CG animated Halloween heist comedy television special based on the 2022 film The Bad Guys, which in turn is based on the graphic novel series of the same name. This is the second special based on the film after A Very Bad Holiday, with the cast of said special reprising their roles for Haunted Heist.