By LILY TINOCO | Reporter
Following the success of “Luca,” former student of the Pacific Palisades iteration of The Adderley School and Paul Revere Charter Middle School Jack Dylan Grazer is set to star in another animated adventure, “Ron’s Gone Wrong.”
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” features the voice of Grazer as 12-year-old Barney, an awkward kid struggling to make friends, and Zach Galifianakis as his faulty robot friend, Ron—together they set out to learn what friendship means.
“The B-bot, there’s something wrong with him,” Barney said in a trailer for the film, sharing that some of Ron’s code is missing. “You’re supposed to know everything about me.”
The trailer foreshadows a manhunt for the rogue B-bot, while Barney learns to appreciate him, despite his flaws.
“‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ is about the cause of the most heated debates in their homes on a daily basis: screen time,” Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Locksmith Animation Sarah Smith said in an interview with Animation UK. “The film was inspired by watching our kids disappearing into the online world—a playground to which we can’t accompany them—and observing its effects on their relationships and self-esteem.
“Then I saw a screener of Spike Jonze’ ‘Her’, and thought, ‘We have to make that film for kids, to help them evaluate those experiences.’”
Other starring voices include Olivia Colman, Ed Helms, Justice Smith, Rob Delaney, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, Marcus Scribner, Thomas Barbusca and Liam Payne. Payne’s new single, “Sunshine,” is featured in the trailer of the film.
The film was produced by 20th Century Studios and London-based Locksmith Animation, marking the U.K. CG animation studio’s first theatrical release. “Ron’s Gone Wrong” is directed by Pixar story veteran Jean-Philippe Vine (“Cars 3,” “The Good Dinosaur”) and Smith, with Octavio Rodriguez (story artist on “Coco” and “The Incredibles 2”) co-directing.
Smith shared in an interview with Animation Magazine that work for the film was done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At the most intense phase of production of our first animated movie, ‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ … we found ourselves having to have 260 Locksmith and DNeg artists work from home,” Smith said. “But when the going got tough, our team got going. Not only are they continuing to make our movie to a fantastic standard producing beautiful work in a pipeline that now connects their attics, living rooms and kitchens, they have risen to the frustrations and challenges of Zoom calls and dial-ins with brilliant humor and creativity.
“They have proven themselves to be the absolute best, smart, kind, witty and resilient. We can’t imagine a better group of people with whom to hunker down in a crisis.”
The release of “Ron’s Gone Wrong” was originally slated for November 2020, but was delayed due to the pandemic. In January 2021, the film was delayed to an October release—“Ron’s Gone Wrong” will now be released in theaters worldwide Friday, October 22.
The film is rated PG for some rude material, thematic elements and language, according to IMDb. It has a run time of one hour and 46 minutes.
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