Universal Pictures: Every Upcoming Animated Film In 2020 (& Beyond)

Universal Pictures has big plans for its animated features.

In fact, the entertainment company has announced that it is releasing a total of 13 theatrical animations produced primarily through DreamWorks and Illumination through June 30, 2023.

While we only have release dates for some projects, we know major details about eight of them. These are the films we’ll be looking at now.

Before we get started, we’re shouting out to Spooky Jack. While this movie about three siblings who discover mythical creatures in a haunted house was given a distant 2021 release date back in 2017, it was replaced by the soon-to-be-mentioned The Bad Guys. Because the project’s ultimate fate is unknown, we figured we’d mention it here instead of giving it an entry of its own.

With that said, it’s time to take a look at all the Universal Pictures animations that will definitely be heading to theaters in the near future.

8 Trolls World Tour

The only film on this list to already have a trailer is the sequel to the 2016 musical-comedy, Trolls. This time around, boyfriend-girlfriend Poppy and Branch find out that there are six different Troll tribes, each with their own style of music. After the queen of the rock kingdom decides she wants to dominate the lands with her genre, it’s up to Poppy and friends to unite the pop, funk, classical, techno, and country Trolls together.

Names including Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Corden, and Gwen Stefani will reprise their roles. Newcomers include Ozzy Osbourne, Rachel Bloom, Anderson Paak, Kelly Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, Icona Pop, Chance the Rapper, Kenan Thompson, J Balvin, K-Pop group Red Velvet, and more.

Troll World Tour will rock ‘n’ roll into theaters on April 17, 2020.

7 Minions: The Rise of Gru

This summer, the Minions will be headed back to theaters for another Despicable Me sequel. Coming after the events of the 2015 Minions movie and before those of the 2010 original, this comedy will have animation’s most lovable yellow creatures teaming up with a young Gru (Steve Carell) as he begins his career as a supervillain.

Though no trailer has been revealed at this time, many speculate that it will be dropped during the Super Bowl.

Minions: The Rise of Gru premieres on July 3 of this year.

6 The Croods 2

DreamWorks’ The Croods told of a cavepeople family that lived during the prehistoric Pliocene era. While the first film drew attention to the father, Grug (Nicolas Cage), the next installment in the series will shift its focus toward mother Ugga (Catherine Keener). It’s also been revealed that the movie will watch the family establish the beginnings of society.

Though the sequel has had a complicated journey to the big screen, even getting canceled once in 2016, it now has a set release date of Dec. 23, 2020. The original cast (including Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds) is set to reprise their roles, while Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, and Phil Betterman will also be joining.

5 The Boss Baby 2

If you haven’t already caught on already, yes, Universal has lots of plans to capitalize on sequels. This trend will continue into 2021 with the release of Boss Baby 2.

The original Boss Baby, based on the picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee, tells of an infant (Alec Baldwin) who arrives at the Templeton home. Though 7-year-old Tim is at first jealous of his new adopted brother, he soon discovers that Boss Baby is part of an undercover cuteness battle between baby-kind and puppy-kind.

Though Boss Baby received a Netflix television series in 2018, its theatrical sequel will be entering theaters on March 26, 2021.

4 Untitled Spirit Riding Free Film

DreamWorks released a computer-animated Netflix series in 2017 called Spirit Riding Free, based on the traditionally-animated 2002 adventure movie, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. Though new episodes are set to be released through fall 2020, the show will also be receiving a theatrical movie next year.

The film will continue the story of Lucky, a city girl who moves to a little frontier town and quickly bonds with a mustang named Spirit. After the horse’s herd gets stolen, however, it’s up to the pair to get Spirit’s friends back.

The film will be directed by Elaine Bogan and Ennio Torresan. It will debut on May 14, 2021.

3 Sing 2

The final sequel that is currently being made by Universal follows up on the events of the 2016 jukebox musical Sing.

The original told the story of a group of anthropomorphic animals who compete in a talent competition. Though few details on the plot of the new film have been released, Sing 2 will likely feature many of its original voice cast members, including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, and Nick Kroll.

While Sing 2 was at first slated for a December 2020 release date, this was altered to make room for the aforementioned Croods 2. Sing 2 is instead set to enter theaters on July 2, 2021.

2 The Bad Guys

Deeper into 2o21, Universal will release a DreamWorks adaption of Aaron Blabey’s bestselling book series, The Bad Guys.

The books follow a group of famous villains including Mr. Wolf. Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Shark, and Ms. Tarantula, who complete heists together.

The Bad Guys will mark the feature-length directorial debut of animator Piette Perifel.  You can catch in theaters on Sept. 17, 2021.

1 Untitled Mario Film

Topping off the list is the upcoming Illumination based on the star of the Super Mario Bros. video game series. Being that Universal theme parks across the globe are putting in attractions, shops, and restaurants based on the franchise, it makes sense that Universal would want to also bring Mario to the big screen.

Though the story of the film remains unknown, we do know that Nintendo will be involved in the creative process.

Currently, the film has no official release date. That being said, the studio is aiming to have it ready by 2022.

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