'Connected' Sold To Netflix and Gets A New (Old) Title
We're all well used to release dates constantly shifting or changing formats by now. The last year has seen almost every planned major animation release had its release pushed back at least once. While most had their new release dates announced straight away, an interesting case was Sony Pictures Animation's Connected. The film stayed firmly rooted to its September 2020 release date until the very last minute, even as other films shifted around it. But rather than give the film a new date, Sony removed the film from its calendar completely, giving us no idea when we could see the film.
The distributors had promised that we'd still get to see it in cinemas, but now as Sony has pushed all its major releases once again (including their Crown Jewels new Bond flick No Time To Die) it seems they have had a change of heart. Sony has decided to send the film straight to streaming and has now sold the film to Netflix.
Written and directed by Gravity Falls alumni Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, the film stars the Mitchell family and sees Dad Rick try to reconnect with his teenage daughter Katie by taking a road trip to take her to College. Their family bonding trip takes a strange twist when they get caught up in a robotic apocalypse. In an interesting move, it has now also reverted to its original title- The Mitchells Versus The Machines.
Netflix reportedly paid north of $100 million for the deal, which gives them worldwide rights (excluding China, where Netflix doesn't operate). No release date has been announced at this time, but Netflix says "later this year". This news comes hot on the tail of the revelation that their upcoming film Wish Dragon, co-produced with Chinese studios will also be exclusive to Netflix.
Netflix has released a new still from the film (featured above) and a synopsis:
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES is an original animated comedy about an everyday family's struggle to relate while technology rises up around the world! When Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet “her people” at college are upended when her nature-loving dad Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) determines the whole family should drive Katie to school together and bond as a family one last time.
While it's a shame we won't get to see The Mitchells on the big screen it's great news that we'll be seeing it this year and hopefully sooner rather than later.
The Mitchells Versus The Machines is produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and stars Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Olivia Colman and most importantly Doug the Pug as the 'voice' of the family's pet pooch Monchi.
Rianda says: "This is a very personal movie about my very weird family. I’m so grateful to all the incredible artists that poured their love and passion into this project to make it a reality, and to everyone at Sony who believed in us and were on board to make a different kind of animated movie."
"We are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm Netflix has expressed for this movie with this acquisition and grateful to everyone at Sony for making a great picture with us and finding a big way to bring it to audiences” added Lord and Miller. "We’re really proud of the film we all made together, plus we understand our subscription fees are waived in perpetuity as part of the deal? We’re not lawyers but it does sound right to us."
