Sony Pictures Animation’s new comedy The Emoji Movie unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user.
The world inside the phone of the story's lead character, Alex, is loaded with cameos. TV's Modern Family star Sofia Vergara plays one of the most popular emojis – Flamenca. The Flamenca Emoji is the saucy Latina dancer in a fire-engine red dress. She’s spicy and exuberant and always finishes her sentences with a rapid-fire flamenco flourish.
“Sofia Vergara as Flamenca felt like a really fun thing to do,” says producer Michelle Raimo Kouyate. “She told us that everybody always tells her she looks like the Flamenca emoji, and she even came in to her recording session in a fabulous red dress. She really embraced it and had fun with the role.”
A veteran of giving voice to animated characters – most recently in the box office hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel, Anna Faris now speaks for Jailbreak, a tough, blue-haired, code-breaking Emoji, in Sony Pictures Animation’s new comedy The Emoji Movie.
Cynical and super smart, there’s nothing Jailbreak can’t reprogram. She dreams of someday leaving the Phone and living in the Cloud, a legendary world where she can live her life by her own rules. When she meets Gene, the only Emoji that possesses every expression, Jailbreak recognizes she can use him to gain access to the Cloud, but her plans get derailed when she unexpectedly develops feelings for him….
“Jailbreak is tough and in-your-face, and she’s not going to be put in a box – or cube,” says diretor-writer Tony Leondis. “At first, we don’t know why exactly Jailbreak wants to get to the Cloud – and on the journey, we learn that she has a secret.”
British comedian James Corden (Into the Woods) lends his voice to Hi-5, an open-face palm Emoji ready to give you a Hi-5 at any time, in Sony Pictures Animation’s new comedy The Emoji Movie.
His favorite catchphrase? “Hi-Five!”
In the film, Hi-5’s a big ham, brimming over with exuberant confidence. He used to be a Favorite, a highly respected celebrity. But recently Hi-5 has been usurped by a new Favorite… Fist Bump Emoji. Hi-5 can’t stand the rejection and just wants to be popular again. But his adventure with Gene – an Emoji which has EVERY expression instead of just one -- makes Hi-5 realize that it’s more important to have one true friend than it is to be popular.
In Textopolis, every face emoji has one expression and one expression only. But Gene doesn’t have just one expression, he has EVERY expression! He has no filter for his emotions – if he feels it, he shows it, in Sony Pictures Animation’s new comedy The Emoji Movie.
Funny, charming, awkward, and optimistic, Gene wishes he wasn’t so different. Determined to fit in and make his parents proud, he sets off on a dangerous trek through the world of the phone to change himself into a single-expression emoji. But what Gene discovers on the journey is that embracing his self-expression is the more powerful option…
The role is played by T.J. Miller (Big Hero 6, Deadpool). “This character was created with T.J. Miller in mind,” says director Tony Leondis. “He’s so ebullient, so expressive, so full of life – he can’t be held back. He’s a time bomb of energy, excitement, laughter and emotions. He wears his heart on his sleeve – he’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. He enjoys life and people – and that’s how I see Gene, a kind and expressive person.”
Human beings have never been more connected. With the smartphone, we are never out of touch from each other – and constantly in touch with people around the world. And with a simple invention, we are now able to communicate with people who are separated from us by language, borders, oceans…
…after all, everyone knows what Inline☺ means.
Now, Sony Pictures Animation takes you into the secret world inside your phone for a rollicking adventure in The Emoji Movie (in Philippine cinemas August 23, 2017).
London, July 15, 2017 – In anticipation of World Emoji Day, and the upcoming worldwide release of The Emoji Movie, emoji fans around the world celebrated by setting the world’s first Guinness World Records™ title for the Largest gathering of people dressed as emoji faces simultaneously across multiple venues.
Spanning three continents, the record saw emoji faces inspired by the film’s characters turn up in Dubai, Moscow, London, Dublin, and Sao Paulo, as hundreds of fans dressed as the winningly expressive characters. Additional countries showed enthusiastic support by echoing the effort, with their own emojis participating in similarly themed celebrations; it is estimated that more than 1,000 emojis not associated with the record were in the mix throughout Europe, Asia and South America.
The film, about an emoji that simply can’t stick to just one expression, is due for release in Philippine cinemas on August 23, 2017. It comes at a time when the familiar messaging characters that populate our smartphones are more in demand than ever: in fact, this marks the fourth annual celebration of World Emoji Day, which is getting bigger with each edition and will be formally observed on Monday, July 17.
The new trailer for Columbia Pictures' highly anticipated family comedy The Emoji Movie has just been launched and may be viewed at https://youtu.be/16eYqqhizEU.
In Philippine cinemas starting August 23, 2017, The Emoji Movie is the new animated adventure that unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone.
Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone's user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become "normal" like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Ilana Glazer). Together, they embark on an epic "app-venture" through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it's deleted forever.
Directed by Tony Leondis. Written by Tony Leondis & Eric Siegel and Mike White. Produced by Michelle Raimo Kouyate.
Apps featured in the film include Candy Crush Saga, Dropbox, Instagram, Just Dance®, Spotify, Twitter, and YouTube. Popular apps Crackle, Facebook, Shazam, Snapchat, and Twitch also appear in the movie.
Some apps are presented as standalone worlds of their own that come to life in thrilling ways. In the music streaming app Spotify, characters ride rushing streams made of music. In Candy Crush Saga, our heroes are trapped inside the game board and must play through the levels in order to survive.
The Emoji Movie is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
Columbia Pictures' new animated adventure The Emoji Movie saluted the 70th Cannes Film Festival, May 17, 2017 as it took over the Carlton pier and star T.J. Miller arrived via parasail in a timely publicity event to hype the film.
Miller then hosted the event – joined in by the Emoji characters on the barge – then led in the launching of the animated comedy's international trailer which may be viewed at https://youtu.be/Z6YFAzlqn5M.
In Philippine cinemas starting August 23, 2017, The Emoji Movie is the new animated adventure that unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone.
Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone's user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become "normal" like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Ilana Glazer). Together, they embark on an epic "app-venture" through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it's deleted forever.
Directed by Tony Leondis. Written by Tony Leondis & Eric Siegel and Mike White. Produced by Michelle Raimo Kouyate.
The Emoji Movie is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.
