Sunnie

Sunnie is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Frenzy Animation and by 20th Century Fox, and is based on Mike Copeland's daily comic strip of the same name. It was written and directed by Ryan Marshall from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller, Brad Garland, Daniel Lane, Eve Steele from a story by Marshall. The film stars Amanda Leighton as the titular character, with Ben Schwartz, Katie Crown, Josh Gad, Chris Pratt, David Cross, Elizabeth Banks, Rob Riggle, Zac Efron, Nick Offerman, Amy Poehler, and Peter Dinklage. Animation services were provided by Reel FX Animation Studios and Mikros Image Montreal.

The film follows a teenage girl named Sunnie, where she meets Justin, R.O.B.E.R.T. and Bella for the very first time and they are enlisted by The Zenn Crew to set off on a journey in order to prevent a villain from opening Darkworld and conquering the world with its sentient creatures.

Sunnie premiered on September 30, 2017, at the Regency Village Theatre and was released in theatres and RealD 3D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema on October 13, 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its animation, voice cast, and score, but criticized the plot and lack of originality. Sunnie was a box office success, grossing over $347.7 million worldwide against its $70 million budget. A sequel, is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2021.

Plot
Coming soon!

Voice cast

 * Amanda Leighton as Sunnie Stewart, an adventurous and cute teenage girl.
 * Ben Schwartz as Justin Barker, an clumsy teenage boy, who has a crush on Sunnie.
 * Katie Crown as Bella Robbins, an beauty-obsessed teenage girl who is Sunnie's rival.
 * Josh Gad as R.O.B.E.R.T., an talking smart robot who met Sunnie when she was a kid and Hunter's creation.
 * Chris Pratt as Captain Zenn
 * Rob Riggle as Hunter
 * Nick Offerman as Rick Stewart
 * Amy Poehler as Emily Stewart
 * Elizabeth Banks as Alyia Starling
 * Zac Efron as Louis Gibbs
 * David Cross as Doctor Dog
 * Peter Dinklage as Travis
 * Jenny Slate as Ms. Fitzgerald
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Jeff
 * Anthony Anderson as Carl
 * Tony Hale as Todd
 * Rhys Darby as Hugh Larson

ADR Loop Group

 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Daniel Booko
 * Cathy Cavadini
 * Cam Clarke
 * David Cowgill
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Terri Douglas
 * Johnny Gidcomb
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Grey Griffin
 * Yuri Lowenthal
 * Mona Marshall
 * Scott Menville
 * Max Mittelman
 * Heidi Brook Myers
 * Raymond Ochoa
 * Arthur Ortiz
 * Devika Parikh
 * Courtney Peldon
 * Ben Pronsky
 * Warren Sroka
 * Kelly Stables
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Audrey Wasilewski

Production
In 2011, While directing Puppet Pals 3 at Fox Animation, Ryan Marshall pitched and wrote a treatment of a film adaptation of the Sunnie daily comic strip as an computer-animated film.

In 2013, Frenzy Animation announced that the film was in development with its scheduled release in 2016 with Ryan Marshall writing and directing.

In May 2015, it was announced that 20th Century Fox would distribute the film after winning a bidding competition against Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures for the distribution rights with the film rescheduled for summer 2017.

In October 2015, it was reported that Amanda Leighton and Ben Schwartz were in talks to voice their lead characters which were confirmed next month. In July 2016, Katie Crown, Josh Gad, Chris Pratt, David Cross, Elizabeth Banks, Rob Riggle, Zac Efron, Nick Offerman, and Amy Poehler joined the voice cast. In November 2016, Henry Jackman was announced to score the film. Reel FX and Mikros Image Montreal animated the film.

Release
Sunnie was initially scheduled to be released on July 21, 2017. However, in September 2016, 20th Century Fox moved the release date to October 13, 2017.

It was accompanied in theaters by Homer and Lisa's Virtual Odyssey, a short film directed by David Silverman and Steve Markowski based on the The Simpsons franchise.

Marketing
Coming soon!

Video game
A video game based on the film was released on October 10, 2017 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and PC. It was developed by Outright Games and published by Activision.

Home media
Sunnie was released on digital HD on January 2, 2018 and on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD on January 23, 2018.

Box office
The film grossed $159.1 million in the United States and Canada and $188.6 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $347.7 million.

Sunnie opened alongside Happy Death Day and The Foreigner and is expected to gross $40-45 million in its opening weekend from its 4,019 theaters. The film made $21 million in its opening day and later grossed $53.5 million from its opening weekend. The film fell 41% in its second weekend while still remaining in first place, grossing $31 million. In its third weekend, the film still remained in first and grossed $20.6 million. By its fourth weekend, it was dethroned by Thor: Ragnarok, falling to second place and grossing $18.2 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 53%, based on 196 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Sunnie may satisfy young viewers and hardcore fans of the comics, but its exhausting and predictable plot continues Frenzy Animation's mediocre streak." On Metacritic, the film has a weighed average score of 46 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Television series
An CGI animated television show based on the film, titled Sunnie's World, premiered on April 5, 2019 on Fox Family. Amanda Leighton, Ben Schwartz, Katie Crown, Josh Gad, and Jenny Slate reprises their roles while Chris Pratt was replaced by A.J. Locascio for Captain Zenn.

Ryan Marshall and Marcus Crawford served as executive producers of the show.