Timeline-GA/The Pixelators: Supercharged

***The Pixelators: Supercharged*** is an 2023 American computer-animated action-adventure fantasy comedy film produced by 20th Century Animation and distributed by 20th Century Studios. It is the sequel to 2016's *The Pixelators* and 2020's *The Pixelators: Level Two*, and is the third and final installment in the *The Pixelators* trilogy. Directed by Steve Martino and written by Matthew Fogel, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rodney Rothman, and Jared Stern, the film features the voices of Tom Holland, Anna Kendrick, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart, and Zoe Saldana, reprising their roles from the previous films, and joined by Natasha Rothwell, Idris Elba, Zendaya, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Brand, Anthony Anderson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Gina Rodriguez, and Lucy Liu. In the film, Bryce Jones and the Pixelators embark in their most ambitious adventure to stop the vicious virus Jeff Bick from erasing Pixel City entirely while exploring beyond their game transportation center.

*The Pixelators: Supercharged* premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on September 13, 2023, and was released in the United States on September 20 by 20th Century Studios. It received critical acclaim upon release, with critics praising the vocal performances, screenplay, emotional depth, animation, and Jackman's musical score. The film has grossed $945 million worldwide against it's budget of $265–300 million. The film is the most expensive 20th Century Animation film, animated film, and the tenth most expensive film of all time.

## Voice cast

* Tom Holland as Bryce Jones, a video game designer.
* Anna Kendrick as Alice Summers, an optimistic police officer and the princess of Flower Heaven.
* Ryan Reynolds as Peppy Penguin, a sarcastic, wise-cracking penguin.
* Kevin Hart as Carl Stevenson, a fellow video game designer who is Bryce's best friend.
* Zoe Saldana as Nya, a nature warrior princess.
* Jason Sudeikis as Jay, a speedy bird-like creature who is Nya's companion.
* Natasha Rothwell as Queen Maddie, the queen of Flower Heaven.
* Daisy Ridley as Mia Mayhem, an naval commander and law enforcer.
* James McAvoy as Jack Stone, an explorer and Peppy's former rival and later friend.
* Idris Elba as Jeff Bick, a genocidal humanoid computer virus who plans to invade Pixel City and needs Jones to complete his destiny of being an emperor.
* Lucy Liu as Miss Fasty, a video game heroine.
* Russell Brand as Marky Monkey, a small monkey who is Fasty's sidekick and companion.
* Zendaya as Sara Torres, a young woman Bryce develops a crush on.
* Michelle Yeoh as Landra Oaks
* Samuel L. Jackson as Yoel
* Anthony Anderson as M.A.D.D.O.T., a cybernetically engineered Robot whose name is short for Mischevious and Destructive Device of Torture.
* Jeremy Renner as Tim
* Gina Rodriguez as Deryn, a puffin whom Peppy develops a friendship with.
* Kristen Wiig as Harper Jones, Bryce's mother who suddenly joins the Pixelators.
* Ellie Kemper as Amelia, the gatekeeper of Pixel City.
* Trey Parker as Rupert, an anthropomorphic rabbit.
* Ike Barinholtz as Mr. Duckett, an anthropomorphic duck.
* Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as Ed and Elliot, two multicolored shape-shifting creatures.

Most of the 20th Century Studios characters also return from their cameo appearances from the first film, with Kristen Bell as Alaina Gleen, Mandy Moore as Kate Anderson from *Kate & Chris*, Avril Lavigne as Crystal, Anne Hathaway as Princess Joanna and Josh Peck as Toby from *Puppet Pals*, Zooey Deschanel as Audrey Martinez from *History Island*, Pharrell Williams as Cool Spot, John Leguizamo as Sid and Chris Wedge as Scrat from *Ice Age*, Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson from *The Simpsons*, and Tom Kenny as Felix Fox and Phil LaMarr as Benjamin Bird from *Twentieth Toons*, reprising their voice roles from the first film.

Several Disney characters from other films and media also cameo with their current voice actors, such as Mickey Mouse and Goofy, Ariel from *The Little Mermaid*, Anna, Elsa, and Olaf from *Frozen*, Rapunzel from *Tangled*, Mirabel Madrigal from *Encanto*, Baymax from *Big Hero 6*, Iron Man and Groot from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Yoda and the Stormtroopers from *Star Wars*, Woody and Buzz Lightyear from *Toy Story*, and Ralph from *Wreck-It Ralph*.

### Cameos and references

*Main article: List of cameos in The Pixelators*
As with the first two films, *The Pixelators: Supercharged* will include cameo appearances from various 20th Century Studios properties within Disney such as *Twentieth Toons*, *Planet of the Apes*, *Alien*, *The Simpsons*, *Family Guy*, *Jeremy Monroe*, *The Teenagers*, *My Life*, *The Bad Life of Daniel*, *Puppet Pals*, *Ice Age*, *Crystal*, *Avatar*, *Alaina Gleen*, *Bob's Burgers*, *Rio*, and many others. In addition to 20th Century, the film will also include cameo appearances from various other Disney properties, including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, *Star Wars*, and Marvel Comics.

## Release

*The Pixelators: Supercharged* was theatrically released in the United States on September 20, 2023 in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX, by 20th Century Studios. It was originally scheduled for release on September 29, 2023, but by February 2023, the film was moved up a week to September 22, in the wake of Nickelodeon Movies' *PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie* moving to the September 29 slot. On June 30, 2023, it was announced that the film would be now released two days earlier to its current date of September 20th, while stating that additional markets are to follow during early October. The film's theatrical release was preceded by the short film *The Mushies: Cosmic Calamity*, which had previously been screened at the 2023 Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 12.

### Marketing

On April 27, 2022, Disney revealed the film's logo at the studio's CinemaCon 2022 panel. The film's teaser trailer debuted at the 2022 Comic Con Experience on December 1, 2022 and was attached exclusively to the theatrical release of *Avatar: The Way of Water* on December 16, with it releasing online a few days later on Monday. The official trailer was released on April 4, 2023. Later that month, 15-minute exclusive footage of the film was shown in 3D at CinemaCon 2023.

## Reception

### Box office

As of November 17, 2023, *The Pixelators: Supercharged* has grossed $491.7 million in the United States and Canada and $453.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $945.6 million.

In the United States and Canada*, The Pixelators: Supercharged* was projected to gross around $90–125 million in its five-day opening weekend. The film made $9 million on it's opening Wednesday and $8.5 million on Thursday. After making $30.1 million on Friday, weekend estimates were increased to as much as $100 million. The film went on to debut to $106.9 million in its opening weekend and a total of $124.5 million over its first five days. In it's second weekend, the film retained it's top position beating newcomers while making $69.2 million, a drop of only -35.3%, the smallest drop for a 20th Century Animation film, post-pandemic. The film later dropped to second in its third weekend, behind newcomer *James Bond: Licence Renewed* while making $60.2 million, dropping -13% and remained in second in its fourth weekend, grossing $37.8 million, a drop of -37% and behind newcomer *Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour*.

Overseas, it was initially projected to make around $120–150 million, for a worldwide debut of around $210–275 million. The film ended up making $101.4 million, below expectations, for a worldwide opening of $226 million.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 386 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The critical consensus reads, "Leveled up and ultra upgraded, *The Pixelators: Supercharged* is a poignant and emotional finale that does what ever it take to be a bitter-sweet and satisfying peroration." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100, based on 67 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, the first *Pixelators* film to receive this grade and the third for 20th Century Animation after *Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood* and *Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms*. PostTrak reported 97% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 94% saying they would definitely recommend it.