Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco

*Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco* is an upcoming 2021 Marcanese-American computer animated comedy film produced by Actors 3D Entertainment and Anaya Animation for Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures. The sequel to *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Movie* (and prequel to *Marco*), the film is directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, produced by Chris DeFaria, and written by Kevin Costello. Set during the events of the first film, young Marco and his friends must thwart down an criminal organization who wants to take over the world. The film was originally set for a 2022 release, but due to COVID-19 and production issues with *Marco 5,* the film got slated for a summer 2021 release. The retuning cast is joined by newcomers Leslie Jones, Conrad Vernon, TJ Miller, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren. Jackie Chan, Constance Wu, Brad Pitt, Danny Trejo, and Ken Jeong, among others. *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco* was theatrically released and released on Anaya+ June 4, 2021.

## Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco

### Starring

Hugh JackmanJoseph Gonzales Jr.

Tina Fey

Pierre Coffin

Thomas Middleditch

Debi Deryberry

Rob Paulsen

Leslie Jones

TJ Miller

Conrad Vernon

Lucy Lawless

Dolph Lundgren

Jackie Chan

Michelle Yeow

Constance Wu

Brad Pitt

Danny Trejo

## Premise

The film begins with Joaquin & Emiliano being born and raised by their parents, and then switches to the present day where Marco, along with Joaquin & Emiliano and the kids, go motor racing at Lake Conroe. After that, they head back home and have dinner together with Marco's family, The next day, Marco goes out to Houston while his cousins & the kids play. However, Joshua decides not to play with them and accidentially stumbles upon a strange time machine from 2093 and shows it to Joaquin & Emiliano and their friends; and seconds later, Emiliano presses the time machine's start button to which they all get sent back to different time periods. After facing off several caveman warriors with giant T-Rexes, getting King Tut eaten by alligators, launching Marco Polo out of the Great Wall Of China, exposing Count Dracula to sunlight, getting a lion to eat Nero & Alexander The Great, surviving the French Revolution, accidentally firing off a cannon at Napoleon Bonaparte while at Russia, and exposing Bigfoot to the police, the kids are driven into isolation until they arrive to Uptown Houston in 1995, where they see a young Marco running to the LSA for his first job interview. Marco, however, soon realizes that the LSA members had been murdered & replaced by the Felonious 5, the most crooked criminal organization in the world. Having no hope, Marco runs away from The Felonious 5 while they chase Marco down the streets of Uptown Houston. Joaquin & Emiliano decide to help Marco, and he rewards them with ice cream at Pohlino's after successfully escaping from the Felonious 5. The three go to Marco's apartment, where they meet Pepe & Isabella and later Marco hires the kids as his new sidekicks. Frustrated, Lady Criminelle orders her henchmen to find Marco & his friends, much to Marco's dismay. Marco & his friends find refuge at a local bed and breakfast, where Barbara takes special care of them. When the Felonious 5 arrogantly enter Barbara's bed and breakfast, they find Marco but he ties them up so that they won't escape, and together Marco & his friends go to Chinatown, where they meet the Yang family. After a ramen dinner night, the Yang family train Marco & his friends martial arts and breakdancing the next day. The Felonious 5 raid the news press and issue a worldwide pandemic to terrorize the people as part of their world domination strategy; and once Marco & the kids hear the news, they set off to find more new members. They search everywhere but end up in the woods, where they stumble upon a lair owned by The Black Terror. After a tough showdown, Marco & the kids defeat him, build up their new base, and recruit their newest member, Mateo (who gives his backstory, to which Marco & the kids congratulate him). The Felonious 5 want to invade the planet with robots, so they make a deal with Greed Inc. to fund the robot invasion & make several of them. Unaware of the robot invasion, Marco & his friends go shopping at the Galleria, but a couple of minutes later, they get chasen by Joe Greed & the hippies, along with a robot army. Marco & the gang encounter a Tackle-Me-Elmo who also chases them through the Galleria, Luckily, Marco & his friends defeat the Tackle-Me-Elmo & find refuge in the Water Wall and play around there for a few minutes. Afterwards, they head their way home, but encounter small ninjas along the way. Shortly after defeating the ninjas, Marco & his friends run away from some gangsters and then defeat them (thanks to Jared, who guides them to Elvis's grand mansion). Over there, Elvis explains them his backstory and plays them his own song, and Marco & the gang decide to recruit him on their team. The following day, Marco (with Pepe, Joaquin, & Emiliano) go to Greed Inc. and deal with Joe & the hippies, then they attempt to take down the Felonious 5 at their main headquarters. The rest of Marco's team comes to help them once the Felonious 5 send an UFO invasion to Uptown Houston and try to stop them from causing havoc there. Lady Criminelle, having no other choice, kidnaps Joaquin & Emiliano and takes them to her secret lair, and Marco & Pepe go after her. They tell her to stop, but she refuses to, so they defeat her by sending her up to the sky with one of her missles and free Joaquin & Emiliano from the blades machine. Later, Marco & his friends stay at Barbara's bed and breakfast until Marco's parents come to pick him up along with his siblings, the three say goodbye and head out to Tomball for a new life. Joaquin & Emiliano and the kids travel via the time machine one more time back to the present day, where Marco tells them where they've been and Joshua tells him the truth. Marco pardons them, the kids wreck the time machine to pieces, and together (with Marco's family) they celebrate Emely's third birthday.

## Cast

* Hugh Jackman as Marco (Marcus Newrith as Young Marco)
* Joseph Gonzales Jr. as Pepe
* Tina Fey as Isabella
* Pierre Coffin as Joaquin & Emiliano, the kids, Esau, and Mateo
* Thomas Middleditch as Joshua
* Debi Deryberry as the Twinkies
* Rob Paulsen as Noah
* Leslie Jones as Lady Crimenelle, leader of the Felonious 5.
* TJ Miller as Squidman, the squid-like human member of the Felonious 5.
* Conrad Vernon as The Babysitter, the clumsy and dim-witted member of the Felonious 5.
* Lucy Lawless as the Invisible Nun, the nun member of the Felonious 5.
* Dolph Lundgren as Sedgwick, the strongest member of the Felonious 5.
* Jackie Chan as Yang, an experienced martial arts master who trains Marco & his friends.
* Constance Wu as Yin, Yang's wife.
* Jimmy Wong as Yan, Yang's son.
* Brad Pitt as Elvis, a former member of the Felonious 5 who became a reowned musician. He becomes friends with Marco & his gang.
* Danny Trejo as the butcher
* Ken Jeong as Joe Greed (aka Greedy Joe), the selfish money-obsessed hippie owner of Greed Inc. who wants to kidnap Marco & his friends for money. He's also Laura's husband
* Eva Longoria as Laura Greed, Joe's fashion-obsessed wife who also wants money.
* Keanu Reeves as Jared, a jazz musician who's Elvis's best friend. He's also got an obsession with noir films & books.
* Jon Hamm as Herbert Heyst, the sworn CEO of Greed Inc. and Joe's arrogant assistant.
* Meryl Streep as Barbara, a caring elderly lady who shelters Marco & his friends.
* Jack Nicholson as Ben, Barbara's husband.
* Ed Helms as Pohlino
* Geoffrey Rush as the narrator

## Production

### Development

After the commercial and critical success of *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Movie,* Sony and Universal greenlit Actors 3D a sequel, titled *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco,* which was slated for a summer 2022 release; production began in September 2019. *Marco 5* (which was also under development) was slated for a 2021 release, but troubled production and the COVID-19 pandemic forced Actors 3D to release it for February 2022, switching dates with *The Rise of Marco.* On an intreview with NBC, Chris Melendari affirmed that "both movies are having serious problems during the ongoing pandemic" and that "both films might not be released in the same year"

### Casting

Hugh Jackman confirmed that he would return to voice Marco (Marcus Newrith would voice young Marco). The returning cast (except for Will Smith and Emma Stone, whom got replaced by Joseph Gonzales Jr. and Tina Fey) is joined by Lesile Jones, TJ Miller, Conrad Vernon, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Jackie Chan, Constance Wu, Jimmy Wong, Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Meryl Streep, Eva Longoria, Jack Nicholson, Jon Hamm, and Danny Trejo as the new characters.

### Animation

Production of the film was shifted to remote work following the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2020, Actors 3D Entertainment and Anaya Animation remain temporarily closed.

### Marketing

Burger King will promote the film with 7 kids' meal toys featuring Marco, Pepe & Isabella, Joaquin & Emiliano, Joshua, Mateo, Squidman, and Yang. Actors 3D Entertainment will host a *Marco* gaming virtual event the day before the film's release. In May 2020, Google will launch a *Marco*-themed "Google Doodle" on its website.

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack for *Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise Of Marco* was released on May 13, 2020 by Virgin Records.

## Release

*Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco* was slated for a summer 2022 release, but was pushed back to summer 2021 due to production issues with *Marco 5* and COVID-19. The film will be theatrically released and on AnayaTV June 4, 2021.

*Joaquin & Emiliano: The Rise of Marco* is rated PG by the MPAA for "action, mild rude humor, peril, and brief mild language"

## Reception

### Critical reception

As of May 14, 2021 the film was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*The Rise Of Marco* outright surpasses its gut-bustingly wacky predecessor and it's yet another hit from the House Of Marco- with money-sucking hippies & small but cunning ninjas included." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 79 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".