Marco 5: Epilogue

***Marco 5: Epilogue*** (also known as ***Marco 5*** and originally titled *Marco 5: Family Staycation*) is a 2022 Marcanese-American dystopian comedy film produced by Anaya Animation for Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures, with financing from Paramount and Annapurna Pictures. The fifth and final installment in the main series of the *Marco* franchise and the sequel to *Marco 4* (2017), the film is directed by Kevin Armand (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Cody Cameron, Joe Murray, and Megan Ellison, from a screenplay by Gennedy Tartakovsky (who previously directed the *Hotel Cloudylandia* films and the 2021 Marco Toon *Family Staycation* for Anaya Animation). It stars the voices of Adam Sandler, Joseph Gonzales Jr, Tina Fey, Chloe Garcia-Moretz, Pierre Coffin, Nick Kroll, Anna Faris, Tyler Perry, Selena Gomez, Renee Zellweger, Jason Sudekis, Snoop Dogg, Bill Hader, Craig Robinson, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Andy Samberg, Kristen Bell, Jamie Demetriou, Michael Cera, James Corden, Rianda, and Asher Blinkoff.

In the film, Marco and his remaining crew witness a tech uprising led by an evil algorithm clone of his after a nice spring break vacation at Galveston goes awry, so he joins forces with a former female spy (Chloe Garcia-Moretz) while his friends embark on a journey to stop Marco's AI algorithm and save their missing friends.

Originally planned for a summer 2020 release, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film's release plans due to troubled production issues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and sold the film's co-distribution rights to Paramount in a bid against three other major film studios. The film was released exclusively on Anaya+ on January 14, 2022 and later streamed on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video after 45 days. It was soon theatrically released for a limited time on September 23, 2022.

However, despite the limited theatrical release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike and was deemed a commercial failure, grossing $229 million worldwide against a $270 million production budget before marketing and distribution costs.

## Plot

Six months after the events of the fourth film, Marco and his friends spend time at Zube Park playing freeze tag. Four days later, he gets a call from Aileene and winds up in a depressed mood after reading her breakup letter sent to him, thus prompting him to design an algorithmic AI clone as his new friend.

The following days, Marco's friends invite him to an Astros game, a Schlitterbahn waterpark at New Braunfels, Hermann Park, and the local museum of natural science, all for his relief. One night, they throw a party in honor of Pepe's graduation ceremony while Marco upgrades AI at his lair without telling anyone at the party, yet Marco later reveals AI to his impressed friends. However, when AI soon learns that Marco has rejected him as sole successor, and making matters worse, Marco's voyage to Galveston having been planned without him, he swears revenge on Marco and his friends there during spring break, and orders all his robots to capture humans worldwide into space cubes. This creates a brief war scene (reminiscent of *Saving Private Ryan*) where Marco gets plunged to a deep landfill pit after seeing Aileene kidnapped, while his remaining friends get recruited by the Silver Springs church assembly.

Above the pit, Marco encounters Jett the next morning, who takes him to a hideout within a local wing restaurant and assures him the owner, William, could help him solve the case. Taking Jett's advice, Marco learns from William and his colleagues, the Dropout Boys, that his other friends have been taken to a faraway planet AI poses as "the Great Beyond." One of them, Marco's former assistant Andy, tells him about a crystal gem found exclusively in the Ugandan jungle that could revert things back to normal and stop AI. Marco vows to save his friends and heads back to Galveston, where he meets Talia, a spy who poses as a pirate and tells him that Pepe and his crew have arrived at Uganda, and in response, Marco creates another exact clone of his to guide them. There, Pepe and his crew get abducted to compete in the "AI-5000 Games" after entering the Cave of Mirrors. Luckily, Marco proceeds to give the crystal gem for a church offering, accidentially turning himself to a vampire in the process. When this provokes the whole church assembly to be kidnapped, Marco returns to his already split house, bemoaning his losses.

Talia recruits Marco the next day after a tour around Silver Springs for a superspy convention in Dubai, taking along the crystal gem. Meanwhile, Pepe and his crew had lost the games and in turn get plunged to the Sahara Desert, where they meet up Marco and Talia in Dubai. Marco convinces them to "use their powers" and makes a superhero team out of them with Talia's help. Reinvogorated, Marco (now in disguise as Marcoman) discovers a map hidden within AI's vault, while Pepe and the others continue to fight down Madcap and his robots.

Marco's missing friends grow their skepticism towards him after exposing AI's plan for world takeover, but Marco gets tossed away to the dungeon, where he sees Aileene and decides to save her. As the epic battle intensifies, Marco and Talia witness AI confronting them about becoming a god now that he has overgrown due to the effects of the crystal gem. Later, they tase AI during a hopscotch match with his water supply as he diminishes in size along with his planet in a black hole.

Back at Hotel Iandonia, Marco proposes to Talia, who gets tongue-tied at the question before accepting. Marco's friends share an emotional goodbye to them as they leave with Talia's pirate ship, now owned by the two as Marco becomes the new captain. Two years later, Pepe and Kevin show them the rebuilt Galveston Hotel where they come to enjoy, as a replacement for their homes.

On the post-credits scene, Marco and Talia arrive at a seafood bar and spare time at the beach. They visit William, who had a pyschedelic experience and discovered that their world is not what they think; they are merely animated characters voiced by famous actors in another dimension. Andy has constructed a portal to this dimension, and both decide to travel there.

## Voice cast

*See also: List of Marco characters*

* Adam Sandler as Marco
* Joseph Gonzales Jr. as Pepe
* Tina Fey as Isabella
* Chloe Garcia-Moretz as Talia
* Nick Kroll as AI
* Jamie Demetriou as Madcap
* Pierre Coffin as Joaquin & Emiliano, the kids, Brian, Mateo, and Axel
* Anna Faris as Aileene
* Tyler Perry as Kevin
* Selena Gomez as Melissa
* Snoop Dogg as William
* Craig Robinson as Alexis
* Bill Hader as Andy
* Renee Zellweger as Marlene
* Jason Sudekis as Josue
* Danny DeVito as Derek
* Ed Helms as Pohlino and Bombin
* Andy Samberg as Nathan and Dawson
* Kristen Bell as Fabiola
* Michael Cera as Justin
* Mike Rianda as Jett and Richard
* Asher Blinkoff as Juan Angel