At the beginning of the year we learned that Matthew McConaughey would be lending his voice talents to an animated film from Garth Jennings, director of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Son of Rambow. The project has been on Universal and Illumination's schedule since last year but details remained scarce. That changes now with updated info to go along with some big names joining what is shaping up to be a major musical effort.
Titled Sing, the film will star McConaughey, Reilly, and new additions Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly. The animated musical will include a whopping 85 songs which could explain why Jennings has been working on this project for so long. McConaughey will voice a koala who runs a singing competition to save a once-grand theater. Here's a longer version of the synopsis:
Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, “Sing” stars Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.
Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Academy Award® winner Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.
Sing has been set to open on December 21st 2016.
