Computeropolis: The Deep Web

Computeropolis: The Deep Web is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Universal Animation. It is the fourth installment in the Computeropolis franchise and the sequel to 2010's Computeropolis 3. The film was directed by Audel LaRoque with co-direction by Jim Anderson (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by LaRoque, Erica Rivinoja, and Mike Reiss, and a story by LaRoque, Anderson, Rivinoja, Reiss, Michael Wildshill, Ash Brannon, Gary Hall, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Jesse McCartney, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, Jon Lovitz, Jennifer Tilly, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, Dan Fogler, William Shatner, and Eddie Izzard reprise their roles from the previous installments, with Harland Williams reprising his role from the first two films. New cast members include Dan Middleton, Isabela Moner, Zach King, Felicia Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Elizabeth Banks, Danny Glover, and Steve Coogan.

The film follows Peri Dazz and his friends as they take a journey to the bootleg world known as the Deep Web led by Rulio, a bootleg knockoff mixture of Elmo and Mario, before Peri prepares to leave for college. During their adventure, Peri and the gang encounter many strange commodities of the Deep Web, such as toy and nursery rhyme channels for children. However, after rescuing a teenage girl named Zola from a mean-spirited group called the Darkers, they soon discover Rulio is responsible for making these bootlegs and plans to put a bootleg virus that could destroy Peri's computer, so they must stop him before it's too late.

Computeropolis: The Deep Web premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on May 20, 2018, and was released in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX 3D on June 1, 2018 by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with some considering it an improvement over its predecessor and praising its action sequences, humor, performances, animation, and John Debney and Heitor Pereira's musical score. The film grossed $1.3 billion worldwide on a budget of $200 million, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2018, the third highest-grossing animated film of all time (behind The Lion King and Paradoria 2), and the second highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of all time. A fifth film, titled Computeropolis: Webcation, is scheduled to be released on March 4, 2022.

Plot
A mysterious ship steals an extremely rare golden gem from a secret laboratory via a gemstone-selling website called GemTube and takes it to the Deep Web, a mysterious city located far away from Computeropolis. The Desktop Component League (DCL) tries to send twenty-year-old Peri Dazz and his partner/best friend Nicky Kickzoo to track down those responsible and retrieve the gem, but Peri is about to leave for college, and intends to take his computer with him so he can spend time with his friends. However, Peri reluctantly agrees to go to the Deep Web and take the gem back to GemTube.

Peri and Nicky invite Peri's girlfriend/mate Vinna Binz, Peri's friend Travis, and the rest of the DCL members to help and grudgingly accept the help of the DCL's leader and founder Manager Marc and his assistant Commander Cindy, who take them to the Deep Web by their boat. The gang is welcomed by the inhabitants in the Deep Web, and is given a tour by Rulio, a bootleg knockoff mixture of Elmo and Mario. While Marc and Cindy guard the boat, Peri and his friends encounter strange commodities of the Deep Web such as toy and nursery rhyme channels for children and multicolored flowerlike creatures known as "flowies" while searching for the golden gem. However, they are found by a mean-spirited group called the Darkers, who forced them to leave the Deep Web and never return. The DCL members choose to stay, but the Darkers end up capturing them and take them to their prison.

The gang meets Zola, a teenage girl who is willing to escape the prison and has a hatred for the Darkers who torture her. Peri and the gang manage to rescue Zola and escape the prison. Not wanting to be alone and unprotected, Zola follows the DCL team. During their mission to find the golden gem, the gang encounters a group of blue monkeys that work as construction workers, led by Rutt, who Zola tries to befriend but the construction workers need to concentrate on their construction site. Zola instead ends up spending time with Peri while helping him. Nicky and Vinna become suspicious of Zola's motives, but Peri refuses to accept their statement and the rest of the DCL gang leave on their own, leaving Peri and Zola behind. Peri and Zola eventually find the golden gem in a storage place, but are caught by Rulio, duel gun-wielding boy Scully, swordswoman Ella, and the rest of the Darkers. Rulio tells them that once he puts the gem on his new machine, he will create a new army of minions, but only if Peri and Zola agree to play in the "Ruliolympics" games against Scully, Ella and the Darkers, and make a wager with Rulio: he will give the gem back to them if they win, but Rulio will keep the gem and Peri and Zola will go back to prison if they lose.

At the games, flying pigs Benny, Lizzy and Brutus help Peri and Zola win the "Ruliolympics" in order to get the gem back. When they won the game and got the gem back, Zola encourages Peri to visit her other friends in the Deep Web so they can spend time with the two, but Peri feels drawn to help his DCL friends take the gem back to GemTube and go to college while Zola tells him that she cannot go with him, and that she only wanted to stay in the Deep Web. Peri refuses to believe her and continues on alone to retrieve the gem, but unwittingly finds himself in Rulio's castle, where he discovers a crown which actually belonged to Zola, revealing that she was the queen and leader of the Deep Web.

Rulio and his gang return to the castle, and Rulio talks to them, saying that he wants the gem back so he can create a new army of minions to track down the Deep Web, despite losing the game the other day. He also orders the rest of the Darkers to capture Zola and bring her to the castle so the machine Rulio is using for the gem will destroy her and the city. Shocked, Peri takes the crown and returns to the rest of the DCL team to show both the gem and the crown to them. He tells them that Zola was the queen of the Deep Web and warns them that the gem will kill Zola and destroy the Deep Web when the gem is slotted on Rulio's machine. As Peri goes alone to give Zola's lost crown back to her while the rest of the group stays with the gem, the DCL are suddenly captured by Rulio and his minions, who also captured Zola as well, and Rulio takes the gem, while Benny, Lizzy and Brutus watch this. They later warn Peri about Rulio capturing all his friends.

Peri teams up with the pigs, Zola's other friends, and they arrive at the castle's tower to confront Rulio and his minions and rescue Zola and the DCL. A fight issues, as Peri frees his friends and fights with Rulio over the gem. However, as they fight, Peri accidentally lets the gem fall off the tower, landing on the ground which caused the gem to break into pieces. Enraged, Rulio tries to kill Peri for destroying the gem, but Zola knocks Rulio unconscious with a surprise egg and saves Peri. Rulio then gets corrupted and is revealed to be a fish controlling the body. He explains to everyone that it was his minions' idea to trigger Rulio by being mad, which results in taking over the Deep Web and reluctantly stealing the gem from the Darkers' request. Rulio and his minions then sent flying (except Scully and Ella which they quit).

With Rulio now gone, Zola returns to her place as the queen of the Deep Web and recovers the gem for Peri and the DCL, and Scully proposes Ella. After saving the Deep Web, Peri and the gang head back home while Zola and the others say goodbye to them. After Peri says goodbye to the citizens, he goes back to the real world and finally takes his computer to college, where he reunites with his DCL friends via the portal to Computeropolis, and they all begin to celebrate.

Voice cast

 * Jesse McCartney as Peri Dazz, a computer-obsessed teenage boy, Nicky's best friend and a member of the DCL
 * David Spade as Nicky Kickzoo, Peri's video game character and partner and a member of the DCL
 * Sarah Silverman as Vinna Binz, a teenage girl, Peri's mate and a member of the DCL
 * Jon Lovitz as:
 * Notepad Ned, a member of the DCL and Paula's fiancé
 * Paul, an internet officer in Computeropolis
 * Jennifer Tilly as Painting Paula, a member of the DCL and Ned's love interest
 * Dan Fogler as Travis, a clumsy and overweight boy – one of Peri's friends
 * David Hyde Pierce as Manager Marc, the leader and founder of the DCL
 * Jodi Benson as Commander Cindy, a member of the DCL and Marc's administrative assistant and mate
 * Dan "DanTDM" Middleton as Rulio, a bootleg knockoff mixture of Elmo and Mario and the leader of the Bootleg Army and the Deep Web
 * Isabela Moner as Zola, a beautiful mysterious girl who is revealed to be the real leader and queen of the Deep Web
 * Zach King as Scully, a duel gun-wielding boy who is part of Rulio's army
 * Felicia Day as Ella, a member of Rulio's army and Scully's wife
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Brutus, a flying pig
 * Elizabeth Banks as Lizzy, a flying pig
 * Danny Glover as Benny, a flying pig
 * Harland Williams as:
 * Flicky, a flowy, a species of multi-colored flower-like creatures from a fictional educational YouTube channel targeted towards young children, with broken English
 * A waiter
 * Steve Coogan as the other flowies
 * William Shatner as Frank, an internet officer in Computeropolis
 * Eddie Izzard as Fredrick Moss, the mayor of Computeropolis
 * Kari Wahlgren as Carol, the computer voice in Computeropolis
 * Tress MacNeille as Heather Dazz, Peri's mother
 * Jeff Bennett as Earl Dazz, Peri's father
 * Audel LaRoque as:
 * Scammer, the leader of the Darkers, part of Rulio's army
 * Peep, one of Zola's friends
 * Various surprise eggs
 * Jess Harnell as Media Player Mike, returning to the Computeropolis series. He is a blind man who can only communicate through music and sound effects.
 * Michael Wildshill as:
 * Clippit, an intelligent user interface
 * Various surprise eggs
 * Chris Edgerly as Bill, a lab worker who increased Peri the PC Chip
 * Corey Burton as Sam, a lab worker who is Bill's assistant
 * John DiMaggio as Rutt, a blue monkey who is the leader and boss of the Deep Web Construction Workers. DiMaggio previously voiced Junior Hacker in Computeropolis 2.
 * Maurice LaMarche as Carl, a member of the Deep Web Construction Workers
 * Andy Nyman as Bot, a dim-witted member of the Darkers
 * Gary Hall as Carl's brother
 * William Jennings as Announcer
 * Amy McNeill as Miss Monkey
 * Jim Anderson as Surprise Egg
 * Ash Brannon as Baboon

Additional voices

 * Chris Abazzi
 * Steve Alterman
 * Ryan Bartley
 * Michael Bell
 * Dave Boat
 * Phillip Calvi
 * Cam Clarke
 * David Cowgill
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Holly Dorff
 * Terri Douglas
 * Jake Eberle
 * Newton Fanning
 * Jennifer Crystal Foley
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Todd Haberkorn
 * Daniel Kaz
 * Josh Keaton
 * Lex Lang
 * Cynthia Marion
 * Mona Marshall
 * Caitlin McKenna
 * Scott Menville
 * Adam Stephenson Miller
 * Edie Mirman
 * Cody Moore
 * Laraine Newman
 * Arthur Ortiz
 * Paul Pape
 * Bryce Papenbrook
 * Courtney Peldon
 * Megan Richie
 * Karen Stimson
 * Tara Strong
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * Kirk Thornton
 * Audrey Wasilewski
 * Diamond White
 * Dave Wittenberg
 * Matthew Wood
 * ViviAnn Yee
 * Shelby Young
 * Ruth Zalduondo

Development
In 2008, Universal Animation Studios CEO Michael Wildshill stated there was likely to be a fourth installment in the franchise. However, in December 2010, Computeropolis 3 director Mike Moon said, "It's too early to tell. There hasn't been a lot of discussion about that." In March 2011, Audel LaRoque, the director of the first two films, spoke of the possibility of the fourth film, noting, "Everyone's waiting for more, but we don't have any ideas yet. If we do, then we can make a Computeropolis 4. There isn't anything to say." Jesse McCartney and David Spade were signed on tentatively to provide the voices of Peri and Nicky; McCartney stated the following year that he believed Universal was working on a sequel. Rumors arose that Computeropolis 4 was in production and slated for release in 2015, but Universal denied these rumors in June 2012, stating "nothing is official."

Computeropolis 4 was officially announced by NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke on July 2, 2013. LaRoque was scheduled to direct and write after writing a film treatment with Wildshill, with extra input from Ash Brannon and Gary Hall. American Dad! writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers joined as screenwriters, with Roy Kobayashi returning as a producer from Me & Mobo. LaRoque explained that Universal decided to produce the sequel because of their "pure passion" for the series, and that the film would pay homage to the deep web.

In November 2013, Universal Animation president David Stainton described the film as a "nostalgic taste" and said it would be released sometime in 2016. The same month, it was announced that Jim Anderson was named co-director with LaRoque, having previously been story production coordinator on the original 2004 film. According to LaRoque and Wildshill, the film was kept so secret that even Stainton had no knowledge of it until the treatment was finished. They stressed that "we do not do any sequel because we want to print money" but rather to tell a new story. LaRoque later revealed that development of a fourth movie had actually begun shortly before the release of the third movie. In August 2014, LaRoque revealed via Twitter that he had begun writing the screenplay for the fourth film.

In April 2016 at the CinemaCon, LaRoque said that the film would focus on Peri and his friends going to the deep web, also known as the "bootleg world." In July 2016, it was confirmed that Mary Parent was brought in to produce the film. McKenna and Sommers withdrew in December 2016, citing "philosophical differences." By February 2017, Universal had confirmed that the screenplay had been written by Erica Rivinoja and Mike Reiss, who rewrote three quarters of McKenna and Sommers' original script, according to Sarah Silverman. Rivinoja and Reiss had collaborated on the screenplay with LaRoque, with Reiss having previously written the screenplay of the second film.

In June 2017, the film's official title was announced as Computeropolis: The Deep Web. It was also announced that Adam Stephenson Miller, producer of Computeropolis: Adventures of Peri and Nicky, was added as co-producer.

Casting
According to a report by Deadline published in August 2013, David Spade was in negotiations to reprise his role of Nicky Kickzoo. In September 2013, it was confirmed by the press that Jesse McCartney would reprise the role of Peri in the fourth film. Universal announced in May 2015 that McCartney and Spade would reprise their roles as Peri and Nicky, respectively. In April 2016, it was announced that Dan Middleton, an English YouTube personality and professional gamer known as DanTDM, had joined the cast to voice a new character in the fourth film, while Sarah Silverman and Dan Fogler would return to voice Vinna Binz and Travis, respectively.

In February 2017, Universal announced that Isabela Moner, Elizabeth Banks, Danny Glover and Keegan-Michael Key were cast as new characters in the film. In June 2017, new details were announced; it was confirmed that Middleton's character's name was revealed to be Rulio, a bootleg knockoff mixture of Elmo and Mario. In November 2017, Steve Coogan joined the voice cast as flowies.

Animation
Universal Animation decided to use a new and more animation system for its films starting with this one, raising the budget to $200 million, bigger than any previous Universal Animation film.

Music
In August 2016, it was confirmed that John Debney and Heitor Pereira would return to compose the score. On June 2, 2017, Debney and Pereira confirmed that they had started working with the film's score.

Release
Computeropolis: The Deep Web premiered on May 20, 2018 at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 1, 2018 by Universal Pictures in 3D, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. It was originally scheduled for release on April 27, 2018, but in February 2017, Universal advanced the release date to July 27, 2018. In September 2017, the release was then shifted two months earlier to May 18, 2018 to avoid competition with Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. By February 2018, it was moved up two weeks later to June 1.

The film's theatrical release was preceded by Neon, an original Universal animated short written and directed by John France.

Marketing
The first teaser trailer of The Deep Web was released online on December 6, 2017, and was shown during screenings of films such as Lix, Ferdinand, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. A second trailer aired during Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018. A 30-second teaser trailer was released on April 11, 2018, announcing the release of a third full trailer on April 13.

Universal spent a total of $125 million promoting the film. Licensing partners include Jazwares, Funko, McFarlane Toys and McDonald's, who have produced toys based on the film. In addition, Universal launched a website for the Deep Web that ultimately included miscellaneous information about the location, as well as a video featuring the Deep Web. The film also has its own VR game, being Universal Animation's first VR development.

A video game based on the film, titled Computeropolis: Cyber Nexus, was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 22, 2018. Developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision, the game takes place before the events of the film.

Home media
Computeropolis: The Deep Web was released on digital and Movies Anywhere on October 9, 2018 and on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 23, 2018 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. In addition to the short Neon, the releases also include two new animated short films: Zola's Makeover and Monkey Business. The 3D Blu-ray of this film was released in select international markets (including the UK).

Box office
Computeropolis: The Deep Web grossed $472.3 million in the United States and Canada and $901 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.373 billion.

On July 8, 2018, the film surpassed Computeropolis 2 ' s international lifeline gross of $529.1 million to become the highest grossing Computeropolis in international box office and later surpassed Paradoria to be the highest grossing Universal Animation film overseas. On July 30, 2018, it surpassed Frozen ' s international lifetime overseas gross of $873.4 million to become the highest-grossing animated film overseas and passed the $1 billion mark after a strong box office boost in China. This became the third Universal Animation film (after Paradoria and Imagimals), fifth non-Disney-animated film and Universal animated film (after Minions, Paradoria, Imagimals, and Despicable Me 3), fifth film of 2018 (after Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Incredibles 2) and the eleventh animated film (after Toy Story 3, Frozen, Minions, Paradoria, Zootopia, Finding Dory, Imagimals, Despicable Me 3, and Incredibles 2) to pass the mark. It is the highest-grossing animated film of 2018. On September 28, 2018, it surpassed Frozen to become the highest grossing animated film of all time until The Lion King beat it in 2019.

Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $492.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film. On August 10, 2018, the film surpassed Paradoria ($1.126 billion) to become the highest-grossing Universal Animation film worldwide at the time of the release.

United States and Canada
In North America, Computeropolis: The Deep Web opened alongside Adrift, Action Point, and Upgrade, and was projected to gross $130–145 million in its opening weekend. It made $69.8 million on the first day (including $13.5 million in its Thursday previews), both the biggest of all time at the time until Incredibles 2 surpassed it 2 weeks later. It played in 4,462 theaters, setting the record for second widest release of all-time, only behind Despicable Me 3 in 2017 at the time. The film went on to debut to $168.2 million over the weekend, finishing first at the box office. Additionally, it was the best opening of the series, the biggest non-Disney animated opening, and the biggest of all-time for an animated film at the time. In its second weekend, Computeropolis: The Deep Web dropped 58.3% and made $70.2 million while remaining at the top of box office. It grossed $45.9 million in its third weekend but was dethroned by newcomer Incredibles 2.

Coming soon!

Internationally
Coming soon!

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 350 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With its biting satire on the bizarre entities of the world wide web, The Deep Web offers a fresh -- albeit scattershot -- sequel that recaptures the inventiveness of the earlier Computeropolis saga." Another review aggregator Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest score of the franchise, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 85% overall positive score (average 4 out of 5 stars) and a 69% "definite recommend".

Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "It's very impressive for Universal to resurrect the franchise from the ultimate virus."

Sequel
On the possibility of a potential sequel, in May 2018, Audel LaRoque, director of the film, stated that a fifth installment is already being considered. The following month, LaRoque stated that he planned to include references to several of Universal Pictures' properties, including their own films, Illumination films, and DreamWorks Animation properties in the fifth film, when he and the crew saw the second trailer for Ralph Breaks the Internet.

In August 2018, LaRoque stated that he is unsure if he can direct another Computeropolis sequel due to his focus on directing Mechagirl. Jesse McCartney, the voice of Peri Dazz, has also stated about a possible fifth installment: "We'll see if plans for the fifth film go well." Three days later, Universal confirmed that the fifth installment is already moving forward from Universal Animation. McCartney and Spade have expressed interest in reprising their roles in the fifth film. While the fifth installment is in early development, LaRoque announced that he will not be directing the fifth film to work on his original movie Mechagirl instead, but will remain as an executive producer like he did in the third film and will still write the screenplay to the fifth film. On August 11, 2018, it was reported that Gary Hall (story supervisor of the first four Computeropolis films and co-director of Paradoria) is in talks to direct the fifth installment. Later that day, Hall confirmed in his interview that he will indeed direct the fifth installment. He explained that he found LaRoque's screenplay interesting and he has good discussions with LaRoque on whether Hall can direct this sequel and LaRoque later accepted Hall's decision.

On October 21, 2018, Universal announced that Computeropolis 5 will be released on May 21, 2021, with McCartney, Spade and Silverman reprising their previous roles, as Peri, Nicky and Vinna, respectively. By February 15, 2019, the release date was moved up a week earlier to May 14, 2021. At the time of the release date being changed, it was announced that Brandon Minez and Amy McNeill will be producing the fifth installment of Computeropolis. Minez previously produced the first two films and McNeill previously served as associate producer of the first two films.

At the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June, further more details including the plot were announced with Universal Animation CEO Michael Wildshill and president David Stainton revealed that Maya Rudolph would join the cast and that the film that many of the Universal characters (including Universal Pictures and Animation, Illumination, DreamWorks, and Gingo) would cameo with their respective actors and actresses. Further, Universal affirmed that Dan Fogler, Jon Lovitz, Jennifer Tilly, David Hyde Pierce, Jodi Benson, and Isabela Moner are set to reprise their roles, while Hall and Karey Kirkpatrick would rewrite LaRoque's screenplay. According to LaRoque, he returned after he received inspiration from Ralph Breaks the Internet in which he watched earlier while preparing for the script of Computeropolis 5. LaRoque also expressed hope that it would be a better film than the previous installment. In October 2019, Universal announced that the release date of Computeropolis 5 had been pushed back to November 5, 2021 as a result of Universal's updated schedule for its animated films. By March 8, 2020, the release date was pushed back two weeks later on November 19, 2021. On April 1, it was moved back to May 13, 2022 as a result of Universal's updated animation slate due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic's impact on the film industry.

Universal announced in June 2020 that the film officially began production. It was also revealed the film's new title Computeropolis: Webcation. On November 9, 2020, it was announced that the release date was pushed back once again, this time two months earlier to March 4, 2022. By February 2021, it was announced that Antoine Guilbaud, a story artist on The Deep Web, has been added as co-director of Webcation.

Main
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Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.