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WIRE Buzz: Boss Baby sequel births Jeff Goldblum; Heroes of the Golden Masks; Fright Club
DreamWorks Animation's Boss Baby sequel, The Boss Baby: Family Business, just added some grown-up voice talent, the studio confirmed this afternoon. Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic World: Dominion), Eva Longoria (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), James Marsden (The Stand), and Amy Sedaris (BoJack Horseman) have all been cast in the follow-up to the 2017 animated hit. Ariana Greenblatt (The One and Only Ivan) is also among the newcomers.
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) is coming back to play the titular toddler businessman (named Ted Templeton), while Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!) and Lisa Kudrow (Friends) reprise their roles as the baby's parents. The first movie's original writer, Mike McCullers, and original director, Tom McGrath, are returning as well.
"The everyday joy for me is not only watching our actors make a line hilarious or heartfelt through subtle adjustments, but the process they all share of improvisation and character creation," McGrath said in a statement. “They are the heart and soul of the characters they bring to life."
"We are so thrilled to welcome these new additions to our Boss Baby family," added producer Jeff Hermann (Kung Fu Panda 3). "James, Amy, Ariana, Eva and Jeff each bring so much depth, wit and charm to combine with Alec, Lisa, and Jimmy to form an incredibly rich ensemble, one which expands upon the world of the first movie in unexpected and exciting ways."
Set years after the first installment, Family Business picks up when Ted and his older brother, Tim (Marsden, replacing Tobey Maguire), are now adults, who have drifted apart. Ted has grown into a successful hedge fund CEO, while his brother has become a married father in the suburbs. Things heat up when "a new boss baby with a cutting-edge approach and a can-do attitude" brings them together again, inspiring "a new family business," according to the official synopsis.
Longoria is voicing Carol, Tim's "super-mom wife," while Greenblatt takes up the role of their gifted 7-year-old daughter, Tabitha. She's an incredibly hard worker who idolizes her uncle Ted, but Tim worries that his daughter is going to miss out on a normal childhood. Sedaris will take up the "super-cute" post of Tina, the family's newborn daughter, who is actually "a top secret agent for BabyCorp on a mission to uncover the dark secrets behind Tabitha’s school" — the Acorn Center for Advanced Childhood — and its mysterious founder, Dr. Armstrong (voiced by Goldblum). All of this "will reunite the Templeton brothers in unexpected ways, lead them to re-evaluate the meaning of family and discover what truly matters."
The first movie, which made over $520 million at the global box office and was nominated for an animation Oscar, also received a spinoff TV series on Netflix. The Boss Baby: Back in Business saw the release of its third season in March of this year. In the small-screen iteration, Baldwin's character is voiced by JP Karliak.
The Boss Baby: Family Business is slated for release March 26, 2021.
(DreamWorks Animation and SYFY WIRE are both owned by NBCUniversal.)
In other animation news, Patton Oswalt (The Boys) and Byron Mann (Arrow) have boarded Arcana Studios' Heroes of the Golden Masks, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is said to revolve around an American teenager, who is magically transported to a mythical lost city known as Sanxingdui. Christopher Plummer (Knives Out), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and Osric Chau (The Flash) were previously cast.
Oswalt is playing "Aesopm, a sweet Atlantean hero," and Mann is inhabiting the part of "Jiahao, a noble warrior." Sean Patrick O’Reilly (Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom) is directing the project, which is eyeing a global rollout in early 2021.
"We’re fortunate to once again be working with an incredible cast on what will surely be a milestone for Arcana. Heroes of the Golden Masks is our most ambitious project to date, and we look forward to taking audiences on an action-packed thrill ride next year," O'Reilly said in a statement to THR.
Gordon Mcghie and Troy Taylor of CG Bros are producing the feature.
And finally, the Travel Channel continues its pivot to genre fare with a new paranormal series featuring Jack Osbourne. Only this time, instead of his parents — Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne and The Talk co-host Sharon Osbourne — as co-stars, he'll be joined by Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass, and Marcus Harvey, the trio of friends at the heart of another Travel Channel original, Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguests.
According to Deadline, the new show will be titled Fright Club and will see the four hosts join together to watch paranormal videos before consulting experts on how to handle paranormal experiences, with the foursome providing context for the clips they watch and debunking any myths they encounter.
The series will consist of 10 episodes thus far, all of which have been shot in a studio following COVID-19 safety regulations and protocols.
The series will be produced by Painless Productions (The Dead Files).
