Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night

Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night (also known as Dusk and Dawn 3) is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The third installment in the Dusk and Dawn series and the sequel to Dusk and Dawn 2: The Belt of Venus (2009), the film was directed by Simon J. Smith and co-directed by Alessandro Carloni and written by Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart. Josh Peck, Zooey Deschanel, Anthony Hopkins, Christine Baranski, Dan Aykroyd, Isla Fisher, Nicole Kidman, Jeff Garlin, and Bill Nighy reprise their roles from the previous films, with newcomers Jake Johnson, Bobby Cannavale, Kate McKinnon, Matt Frewer, and James Corden joining the ensemble cast. In the film, Dusk and Dawn accidentally switch colors of their appearances when several optical phenomena including the zodiacal light occur in their homes; the pair must work together to stop the zodiacal light so they can return to their normal forms before it is too late.

The film premiered at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 2018, and was released in the United States on March 2, 2018. It marked the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, whose parent company NBCUniversal acquired DWA in 2016, rather than 20th Century Fox, with which the studio previously had a distribution deal. It grossed over $602 million worldwide and received positive reviews, with many critics considering it an improvement over its predecessor and praising the animation, humor, characters, screenplay, and the vocal performances of Peck and Deschanel, although some criticism was on the film being derivative to the first two films as well as the plot. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards, but lost to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which also stars Jake Johnson).

Plot
To be added

Cast

 * See also: List of Dusk and Dawn characters


 * Josh Peck as Dusk
 * Zooey Deschanel as Dawn
 * Anthony Hopkins as Twilight
 * Christine Baranski as Sun
 * Dan Aykroyd as Light
 * Isla Fisher as Blue
 * Nicole Kidman as Golden
 * Jeff Garlin as Morning
 * Bill Nighy as Evening
 * Jake Johnson as Zodiac
 * Bobby Cannavale as Airglow
 * Kate McKinnon as Halo
 * Matt Frewer as Glory
 * James Corden as Dust
 * Eric Darnell as Keeper
 * Christopher Knights as Elder Jo
 * Erika Thomas as Elder Ji
 * Gary Anthony Williams as Elder Ja
 * Conrad Vernon as Mark
 * Chris Miller as Sparkle

ADR Group

 * Newell Alexander
 * Rosemary Alexander
 * Steve Alterman
 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Kirk Baily
 * Ryan Bartley
 * Mitch Carter
 * Brook Chalmers
 * Vic Chao
 * June Christopher
 * David Cowgill
 * Robin Atkin Downes
 * Peter Falls
 * Carter Hastings
 * Jackie Gonneau
 * Logan Kishi
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Sherry Hursey
 * Rif Hutton
 * Joyce Kurtz
 * Richard McGregor
 * Edie Mirman
 * Juan Pope
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Michael Sorich
 * Warren Sroka
 * Kelly Stables
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Matthew Wolf
 * Lynnanne Zager

Production
In December 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that he has kept the possibility for a third film open, stating "Of course, we have a lot of stories to tell, so we're [starting to] prepare for it." In July 2012, Eric Darnell, who co-directed the first film, said he would do a third film if he could create a good story for it. DreamWorks Animation CCO Bill Damaschke officially confirmed in November 2013 that a third film in the series is in the works. On June 12, 2014, the third film, tentatively titled Dusk and Dawn 3, was scheduled for a June 16, 2017 release before being pushed back to a 2018 release.

On July 7, 2015, DreamWorks Animation announced that Simon J. Smith would direct the third film, with Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart writing the screenplay and Josh Peck and Zooey Deschanel reprising their respective roles as Dusk and Dawn. In April 2016, it was announced that Alessandro Carloni was named co-director with Smith, having previously been co-directing Kung Fu Panda 3 with Jennifer Yuh Nelson. In October 2016, it was announced that Anthony Hopkins, Christine Baranski, Dan Aykroyd, Isla Fisher, Nicole Kidman, Jeff Garlin, and Bill Nighy would reprise their roles in the third film; in addition, newcomers Jake Johnson, Bobby Cannavale and James Corden have also joined the cast. In April 2017, the film's title was officially announced as Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night. Kate McKinnon and Matt Frewer later joined the cast by July 2017.

Soundtrack
In July 2017, it was announced that Hans Zimmer and John Powell, who previously collaborated on the score for the first film, would return to score the third film's music.

Release
On June 12, 2014, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation initially announced that the third film, tentatively titled Dusk and Dawn 3, would be released on June 16, 2017, but in September 2014, How to Train Your Dragon 3 took over its date and by July 2015, the film was pushed back to September 28, 2018. In June 2016, the release date had been moved up two weeks earlier on September 14, 2018. On December 5, 2016, the release date was pushed back again to May 18, 2018, taking over the slot of How to Train Your Dragon 3 which in turn was pushed back to March 1, 2019. On March 5, 2017, the release date was pushed back once again to March 2, 2018, replacing the now-cancelled Larrikins. By April 2017, the third film was retitled as Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night.

The film had its world premiere in the out of competition section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival on February 16, 2018. It was released on March 2 in the United States.

Marketing
A new poster for the film was released on September 17, 2017. Two days later, the first official trailer for the film was released on September 19, 2017. A second trailer was released on November 28, 2017. Its final trailer was released on January 25, 2018.

Home media
Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on Digital HD on May 22, 2018, and was released on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 5, 2018.

Box office
Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night grossed $201.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $401.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $602.9 million, against a production budget of $125 million.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 162 reviews and an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite its troubling storyline, Dusk and Dawn: A Zodiacal Night is delightfully an improvement over its predecessor with its zany laughs and colorful animation." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Future
To be added

Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

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