Wisdom has always told us to look to the future and not revel in the past, but in the case of the Hollywood movie machine, it often seems nearly prehistoric in its approach to planning. As fate would have it, not only has this trend been bucked recently with the likes of James Cameron planning a fourth Avatar for 2015 and Marvel having set their post-Avengers slate for just as far in the future, DreamWorks Animation is planning a whopping 12 films between 2014 and 2016. Overkill? You can decide.
Some of these titles are not much of a surprise as they are strictly sequels to popular properties and additions to franchises. These films include How to Train Your Dragon 2 (June 20, 2014), The Penguins of Madagascar (March 27, 2015), Kung Fu Panda 3 (March 18, 2016) and How to Train Your Dragon 3 (June 18, 2016).
This announcement also reveals some new projects including B.O.O: Bureau of Otherwordly Operations set to star Seth Rogen, Mumbai Musical and Trolls, as well as confirmed release dates for previously announced projects The Croods (March 22, 2013), Turbo (July 19, 2013), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (Nov. 1, 2013), Me and My Shadow (March 14, 2014) and Happy Smekday! (Nov. 26, 2014).
Much of this ambitious reveal likely comes with DreamWorks' new partnership with Fox after negotiations fell out with Paramount, its distributor for the last six years. This new duo is clearly excited about their deal, and with Fox still distributing Blue Sky Studios’ products (which include the lucrative Ice Age films) they are poised to be the new animation superpower.
So there you have it. If you can find a calendar for 2016 you can go ahead and mark it, assuming any of these films tickle your fancy.
