Open Season 2 Direct to DVD
Sony Negotiating with Stars Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher
Sony Pictures Animation has decided to make Open Season 2 a direct-to-DVD release. Animated film hits shelves in 2009.
Sony Pictures Animation is testing the direct-to-DVD waters that Disney recently vacated by making Open Season 2 a home-video release.
Open Season, the first "official" release from SPA, was a disappointing contender in 2006's Animation Glut. It made slightly less than its $85 million studio costs at the domestic box office, and $105 million internationally. Nevertheless, Sony Pictures Animation claims the flick pulled enough in home video sales to justify a direct-to-DVD sequel.
More Open Season
"We don't have a deep bench yet , so we're certainly looking to have more product available," said Sony Pictures Digital president Yair Landau. "We felt we had a really fun story and the marketplace wants more Open Season."
Landau claimed that more than 10 million people bought Open Season DVD's from Wal-Mart alone, making it the third best-selling DVD title to date. Since Wal-Mart doesn't publish its DVD sales figures, this claim cannot be confirmed.
"Based on purchases at Wal-Mart alone," Landau says, "there's over 10 million people who were exposed to Open Season that way."
According to the studio (and Variety), Open Season 2 will focus on the adventures of Mr. Weenie, a dachshund who briefly appeared in the original movie. Sony animator Cody Cameron voiced the role of the put-upon pooch, who joined the forest animals in their fight against a group of psychotic hunters led by Gary Sinise.
Negotiating With Ashton Kutcher
Sony is currently negotiating with Open Season stars Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher to see if they will make appearances in the new flick.
In order to cut costs, Open Season 2 will be animated by Sony's Imageworks f/x offices in India and New Mexico. This new movie will also retail across a number of digital formats.
Sony's animated movies have had a rough ride in theatres. Last year's Monster House made a half-decent showing (and earned an Oscar nomination) while Open Season was saved from oblivion by good overseas grosses. Unfortunately, this year's Surf's Up bombed in theatres, making only $83 million worldwide.
However, Sony is going with a multi-pronged approach with future animated releases. Sony Pictures Animation will continue to release such films as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (an adaptation of the Judi and Ron Barrett illustrated book) coming in 2009, and Hotel Transylvania in 2010.
The studio also signed a first-look deal with Bristol's Aardman Animation, creators of the beloved Wallace and Gromit series, and is developing Maximum Ride with former Marvel Comics über-producer Avi Arad.
With these many projects from so many different sources, Sony should be able to unleash one or more animated flicks every year.
Unfortunately, the studio's general attitude towards animated humour can be characterized by this exchange between Landau and Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chair Amy Pascal. The SPD president recalled an early pencil-sketch screening of Surf's Up in which one character burst into song with "There's No Business Like Show Business."
"Amy came out and said to me, 'More poop, less Ethel Merman,'" said Landau.
