Farm animals lead secret lives when the humans aren’t around in Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ Barnyard, the latest CG-animated feature to take a stab at summer box office success. Following closely on the heels of Sony’s Monster House and Warner Bros.’ The Ant Bully, the corn-fed comedy will compete with those animated releases, as well as a new Will Ferrell farce and a brutal British horror flick that has been garnering a lot of buzz.
Barnyard is written, produced and directed by Steve Oedekerk, writer of Bruce Almighty, co-creator of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, director of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and star of Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Animation was completed at Oedekerk’s San Clemente-based Omation Studio. In the film, a carefree party cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James) has to rise to the occasion and learn to be a leader like his father, Ben (Sam Elliott). Also lending their voices to the production are Courtney Cox, Danny Glover and Wanda Sykes.
In the comedy field, Barnyard faces tough competition from Sony’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. A silly send-up of the world of NASCAR racing, the Will Ferrell vehicle should appeal to a wide audience, including families. Meanwhile, horror fans will be flocking to Lionsgate’s The Descent, the second fright flick from Neil Marshall, director of the cult-favorite werewolf movie Dog Soldiers. For those who prefer their thrillers sans tons of blood and gore, Miramax offers The Night Listener, a mystery yarn starring Robin Williams.
The Night Listener is getting a fairly limited release, rolling out in 1,367 theaters. With the highest theater count of the weekend (3,803), Talladega Nights is in a good position to swipe top spot from Universal’s Miami Vice. Still, Barnyard may have what it takes to mine the kind of box office gold the eluded Disney’s 2004 cow-centric toon feature, Home on the Range. Fans spoiled by the steady succession of animated theatrical releases will have to wait a whole month for the next one. Everybody’s Hero will be released by 20th Century Fox on Sept. 15, followed by Miramax’s Sept. 22 North American release of the French animated thriller, Renaissance, and the Sept. 29 release of Sony Animation’s debut CG feature, Open Season.
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