In April 2011,
Twentieth Century Fox released Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studio’s CG animated
feature “Rio.” The film was born from
the imagination of Carlos Saldanha, who co-directed or directed the global
blockbusters “Ice Age,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the
Dinosaurs.”
To fully realize
the scope and breadth of this magical world and its vivid characters, Saldanha
brought together an all-star voice cast, led by Oscar® nominees Anne Hathaway
and Jesse Eisenberg, Oscar and Grammy®-winner Jamie Foxx, acclaimed musical
artist will.i.am, actor-musician Jemaine Clement, comedic actress Leslie Mann,
actor Rodrigo Santoro (a Brazilian native), actor-comedian George Lopez, and
funnyman Tracy Morgan.
The filmmakers
enveloped the action – and audiences – with a combination of Brazilian sounds
and contemporary pop music. The
soundtrack featured a stellar musical cast performing under the guidance of
composer John Powell and Brazilian music legend and “Rio’s” executive music
producer, Sergio Mendes. “Rio” became a worldwide smash with a global box
office tally of $486 million. It also
was a huge hit on DVD and Blu-ray disc.
Now, Saldanha
returns to Brazil and reunites his beloved characters in RIO 2. In the new film, it’s a jungle out there for
Blu, Jewel and their three kids, after they’re hurtled from Rio to the wilds of
the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful and
villainous Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all…his
father-in-law.
Our favorite
“Rio” characters are joined by Oscar nominee Andy Garcia, Grammy winner Bruno
Mars, Tony® winner Kristin Chenoweth and Oscar/Emmy®/Tony winner Rita
Moreno. RIO 2 also features new
Brazilian artists and original music by Janelle Monáe and Wondaland.
In RIO 2 we find
Blu, Jewel and their family living the perfect domesticated life in the
city. The offspring are: Bia(voiced by
“The Hunger Games’” Amandla Stenberg), who lives with her beak in a book and
likes spouting facts and figures, just like her dad; Tiago (Pierce Gagnon, “Looper”)
the youngest, who is always up for adventure, especially if it involves
destroying something; and Carla (singer/actress/comedian Rachel Crow), the
eldest, a spunky teen who longs to get a little space from her protective
family so she can express her musical side.
So, in RIO 2, it’s
on…in the Amazon, not only visually, but musically. “We wanted to look at different musical
‘flavors,’ sounds and exciting new beats that make the soundtrack for RIO 2
even bigger than the first film’s,” says the director.
After Saldanha
wrote the story, screenwriter Don Rhymer, who had worked on “Rio,” began
fleshing out Saldanha’s ideas. It was a
fruitful collaboration, which sadly ended when Rhymer passed away in late
2012. “Don was our guy,” says Saldanha.
“He embraced the vision of the first film and had really exciting ideas for RIO
2. His death left a big gap for us. We were lucky to have the amazing writers
Carlos Kotkin, Jenny Bicks and Yoni Brenner help finish the screenplay, but Don
was a very special person who played a big role in the project’s
development.”
“Rio 2” in 2D and
3D opens April 9 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be
distributed by Warner Bros.
