Sometimes you ever know what the best-reviewed films of the year will be. And right now, one of them is The Wild Robot, the rare original film that DreamWorks was able to shimmy in between their Trolls, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek movies. But, taking a cue from these franchises, the studio has greenlit a sequel even though The Wild Robot has only been out for two weeks.
Now, The Wild Robot has already crossed $110 million worldwide, with the bulk coming domestically (it’s currently tracking to take the #2 spot at the box office this week, behind Terrifier 3). With that, we shouldn’t be surprised that a sequel for The Wild Robot is moving forward. This was all confirmed by director Chris Sanders, who said, “100% yes there are absolutely plans for a second one.” Details are obviously vague or nonexistent at this point but that’s still encouraging.
Sanders – who was also responsible for Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon, the latter with DreamWorks – previously praised the studio and expressed his interest in a sequel, telling NBC, “I would very much like to [do a sequel to The Wild Robot]. I think the entire crew really, really involved themselves in this film in a way that I’ve never seen before, myself included. This was a labor of love on the part of everybody at the studio, and yes, I think I’d love to go and stay here for a while.”
Lupita Nyong’o, who voices Roz, has also been open about being down for a sequel to The Wild Robot. And considering how terrific she is here and the depth she brings to the character, no doubt fans would welcome the return. The rest of the voice cast includes Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Catherine O’Hara, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, Bill Nighy, and Ving Rhames.
The Wild Robot will likely see a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination, potentially even stopping Inside Out 2 from nabbing another for the series. To date, DreamWorks only has two wins in the category out of 14 nominations. One of these was for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and the studio could also find themselves facing off against that series’ follow-up, Vengeance Most Fowl, after they were dumped by Nick Park and company.
Despite the excellent box office, Dreamworks is giving the movie a rather quick debut on VOD, with it set for release on Tuesday. Is this too soon, and are you ready for a sequel? Let us know in the comments!