Get ready for an “app-venture” like no other with the first image for Sony’s animated flick, Emojimovie: Express Yourself.
Headlined by T.J. Miller of Deadpool fame – he can be seen here front and center as Gene, an anomaly of Textopolis because he, unlike his pixelated peers, can render more than a single emotion – there’s also word that James Corden (Into the Woods) and Ilana Glazer (Broad City) have climbed aboard to fill the supporting roles of Hi-5 and Jailbreak. As if things aren’t ridiculous enough, a bow-tied poo emoji sneaks into the frame, though there’s currently no mention of who will be lending their vocal chords to that particular emote.
One thing we do know for sure is that Tony Leondis is at the helm of Emojimovie: Express Yourself, directing from a script he penned alongside Eric Siegel. Drawing comparisons to Pixels and, in particular, The LEGO Movie, Sony will be gunning to strike gold with its 2017 romp, though exactly what emotions Leondis’ picture will evoke come release will be told in time. Emojis are a cornerstone of the mobile landscape, of course – instantly recognizable nuggets that come together to form a digital language – but whether they can be transformed into fodder for a feature film is another question entirely.
For more information, you can consult the official plot synopsis below:
Emojimovie: Express Yourself 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.
Sony Pictures will invite you deep into the bowels of the secret world residing in your smartphone when Emojimovie: Express Yourself opens on August 11, 2017.
