Marco 5: Epilogue

***Marco 5: Epilogue*** (also commonly known as ***Marco 5***) is a 2022 Marcanese computer-animated dystopian comedy film produced by Anaya Animation and released by Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, and Amazon Studios. The seventh and final installment of the *Marco* franchise and the sequel to *Marco 4* (2017), the film is directed by Kevin Armand in his feature-length directorial debut, from a screenplay by Gennedy Tartakovsky (who served as director of the *Hotel Cloudylandia* movies and the 2021 Marco Toon *Family Staycation*), and produced by Cody Cameron, Mike Rianda, & Joe Murray. Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez took over the roles as Marco and Melissa respectively, while the recurring cast is joined by Nick Kroll, Chloe-Garcia Moretz, Jamie Demetriou, Snoop Dogg, Craig Robinson, Asher Blinkoff, Michael Cera, and Rianda as the voices of Richard and Jett. In this film, Marco and his friends enjoy their retired lives from espionage until one day, their world gets changed to some dystopia, which forces Marco and his remaining crew to stop an evil algorithm clone he made from launching some tech uprising to save the world.

Originally planned to be released theatrically in the United States on June 4, 2021, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film's release plans in favor of *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco,* and sold the film's distribution rights to Amazon Studios for $100 million, due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the United States and troubled production delays. The film premiered on October 1, 2021 in Turkey and other select countries, followed by a streaming release worldwide on January 14, 2022, and later got a limited theatrical release on September 23, 2022 in the United States. The film received mostly negative reviews from both critics and audiences, and was deemed a box office flop, grossing $329 million over a budget of $100 million.

## Voice cast

*Main article: List of Marco characters*

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

## Production

Plans for a fifth *Marco* film in the series were in the talks after the release of *Marco 4* (2017). Steve Burke, the CEO of NBCUniversal, confirmed that the film would be titled *Marco 5: Family Staycation* and released on August 2020.

However, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the working team decided to postpone the film's release date for July 2021, dropping the first teaser trailer in which Marco and his friends face a similar global pandemic on October 2020. The teaser was met with unfavorable reviews from fans, who sought it as a "misstep" towards those who were saving lives during the 2020 pandemic. This, along with a poor marketing campaign and troubled production issues, prompted Universal to leave as co-distributor of the film.

## Release

*Marco 5: Epilogue* was released by Amazon Studios through Prime Video on January 14, 2022, as well as streaming services Anaya+ and Paramount+ by Paramount Pictures, who won a bid against Lionsgate and Warner Bros. Pictures for the film's distribution rights in May 2021. In February 2019, Sony Pictures Releasing scheduled the film for release in August 2020. In April 2020, the film was moved up to June 4, 2021 due to rising cases of COVID-19. However, due to production problems and the completion of *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco,* the film got pushed back to October 1, 2021 in order to avoid two *Marco* movies on the same day.

In August 2021, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film's theatrical plans and went into negotiations with Amazon Studios to release the film by streaming on March 11, 2022. In October 2021, the film moved up to a February 16, 2022 release to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the original film. Later, the film got released on January 14, 2022 according to Amazon Studios.

* *Marco 5: Epilogue* is rated PG by the MPAA for "action, rude humor, some language, thematic elements, and cartoon nudity."

## Reception

### Critical response

The film received strongly negative reviews from critics. The film's plot, pacing, screenplay, humor, and James Corden's performance were widely panned. Beyond this, many critics also argued that the film's PG rating is "unsuitable and unappealing" towards young children.

Owen Gleiberman from *Variety* called the film "a soul-crushing demeanor for the franchise with some [quite interesting] redeeming qualities and big ideas in mind." Peter Bradshaw's two-star review for *The Guardian* stated, "It's satisfying enough for those who grew up with Marco and friends, but mainly a hopscotch of returning characters, half-baked slapstick gags, and an overly saccharine plot inspired by dystopian science fiction movies of its kind."

## Controversy

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned the film due to a couple of scenes featuring an LGBTQ+ character. The People's Republic of China (PRC) also requested that the scenes in question be removed; however, Sony declined to make the cuts. Indonesia stated that they did not ban the film, but suggested "being content aware about particular scenes involving an LGBT kissing scene."