Sony Pictures Animation wants emoji fans to know that it is bringing their favorite emoji characters to the big screen with the upcoming "The Emoji Movie" coming summer 2017.
The new movie, which shall be under the direction of Anthony Leondis, is said to feature a number of smiley faces and icons that have won the hearts of smartphone and social media users worldwide. While the full movie cast is yet to be announced, fans are hoping to see popular characters included in the movie's featured lineup.
A post in the emoji blog has identified at least eight top emoji characters that are expected to appear in the movie. These include the Information Desk Person (Sassy Protagonist), Japanese Ogre (The Evil Villain), Person Bowing Deeply (Buff Push-ups Guy), Ghost (The Dopey Villain), Dancer (The Love Interest), Pouting Cat Face (Grumpy Cat), Construction Worker (Sleepy Man) and Woman With Bunny Ears (The Best Friends).
"I'm really interested to see which emojis get included in the movie," said Emojipedia creator Jeremy Burge in an interview with Business Insider. "I could see some great feuds playing out between the Sassy Hair Flick Girl [Information Desk Person] and The Best Friends dancing [Woman With Bunny Ears]."
In July, Sony won the rights to create the movie, toppling other bidding contenders such as Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. The script will be based on the collaborative effort between Leondis and Eric Siegel who produced the TBS series "Men At Work." Siegel was also a Consulting Producer on the ABC sitcom "Family Tools" and a Co-Producer on "Traffic Light" (FOX/2011).
Anthony Leondis is the director behind the brief "Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters" (2011) which had a runtime of only 24 minutes. He also directed "B.O.O.: Bureau Of Otherworldly Operations" from DreamWorks Animation.
Creating a movie based on emojis may have been inspired by the success of "The Lego Movie" which has been recognized as the highest-grossing movie of 2014 at the U.K. box office charts.
The trend is being carried on by Paul Feig, the director behind "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat," who was tapped to direct "Play-Doh," a film inspired by the colorful toy modeling clay which children love to play.
The movie, which is speculated to have a seven-figure value in rights ownership, may not be the last of its kind to hit the theaters since another emoji movie is reportedly being pitched to other movie outfits. Having said that, Sony ought to produce and distribute the movie quickly in order to take the lead in conquering the colorful world of emojis.
