The Pixelators: Level Two

The Pixelators: Level Two is a 2020 American 3D computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by 20th Century Fox Animation. The sequel to the 2016 film The Pixelators, The film was directed by Mike Bell and Emma Maxwell, with Nicholas Stoller, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Michael McCullers, and Rodney Rothman as writers. It stars the voices of Tom Holland, Anna Kendrick, Kevin Hart, Jason Statham, Ryan Reynolds, Zoe Saldana, Ellie Kemper, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig who all reprise their roles from the first film, along with new additions including Zach Galifianakis, Daisy Ridley, Tiffany Haddish, James McAvoy, Zendaya, Sterling K. Brown, Seth MacFarlane, and Josh Gad. In the film, Bryce Jones must team up with Lord Hex in order to rescue Bryce's friends from various video game dimensions while an advanced and powerful supervillain from an abandoned video game that threatens to destroy Pixel City and the entire video game universe.

The Pixelators: Level Two had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on January 14, 2020, and was released theatrically on February 7, 2020, by 20th Century Fox in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, and IMAX. The film received positive reviews, with many considered it an improvement over its predecessor and commended its humour, character development, screenplay, soundtrack, animation, and the voice cast, although some criticism was on the film being derivative to the original film as well as the plot. It has grossed $521 million worldwide. It is the final film to be released under the Fox name as the company was renamed 20th Century Studios on January 17, 2020.

Premise
Lord Hex, the ruler of the Hack Masters, plots revenge against the Pixelators after they devastated his fortress in a prior battle, leading to a comical war that seemingly does not end until a time-travelling powerful supervillain named Dr. Silverclaw from an abandoned 80s video game that kidnaps Bryce's friends and plans to threaten to destroy Pixel City and the entire video game universe. To save the universe, Bryce and Lord Hex may have to make the impossible choice to forge an uneasy alliance against Dr. Silverclaw and embark on a new dangerous adventure.

Cast

 * Tom Holland as Bryce Jones
 * Jason Drucker as a young Bryce Jones
 * Anna Kendrick as Officer Alice Summers
 * Jason Statham as Lord Hex
 * Kevin Hart as Carl Stevenson
 * Ryan Reynolds as Peppy Penguin
 * Zach Galifianakis as Dr. Silverclaw
 * Daisy Ridley as Mia Mayhem
 * Tiffany Haddish as Queen Maddie
 * James McAvoy as Jack Stone, an explorer and Peppy's rival.
 * Josh Gad as Darren Dog, Queen Maddie's assistant.
 * Sterling K. Brown as General Samson, Lord Hex's co-assistant.
 * Zendaya as Petunia, Lord Hex's new assistant.
 * Seth MacFarlane as Rupert, Dr. Silverclaw's assistant.
 * Ellie Kemper as Amelia, the gatekeeper of Pixel City.
 * Kristen Wiig as Harper Jones, Bryce's mother.
 * Zoe Saldana as Nya, a nature warrior princess.
 * Jason Sudeikis as Jay, a speedy bird-like creature.
 * Bill Hader as Dale Duck, Peppy Penguin's best friend.
 * John Cena as Big Bill, a tough fighter.
 * Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as Ed and Elliot, two multicoloured shape-shifting creatures.
 * Nick Offerman as Wizman, a wizard.
 * Patrick Stewart as Mayor Simon, the mayor of Pixel City.
 * Will Forte as Mr. Marshmallow

Popular culture cameos and references
Just like the first film, characters from other Fox films and media also make cameo appearances with their voice actors, such as Alaina Gleen (voiced by Kristen Bell), Kate Anderson (voiced by Mandy Moore) from Kate & Chris, Crystal (voiced by Selena Gomez), Homer Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) and Bart Simpson (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) from The Simpsons, and Caesar (voiced by Andy Serkis) from the Planet of the Apes reboot films.

More coming soon!

Music
On February 16, 2019, Henry Jackman was revealed to be returning for the sequel's score.

Release
The Pixelators: Level Two had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on January 14, 2020, and was released theatrically on February 7, 2020, by 20th Century Fox. It was previously set for November 1, 2019. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on February 20, 2020. The film was released in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2020, as shown on its international trailer. It was supposed to be released in China on March 27, 2020, but because of the COVID-19 (2019-20) spread, the China release was cancelled.

The film is rated PG by the MPA for “frenetic sequences of animated action, brief mild language, some thematic elements, and rude humour.”

The film's North American theatrical release was preceded by Lemonade Love, a Fox Animation short film.

The film was also released in THX Ultimate Cinema on February 14, 2020, making it the first animated film to receive a THX Ultimate Cinema release.

Marketing
Fox will partner with more than 100 licensing and promotional partners to market the film including Sprint Corporation, which gives customers free movie tickets when they buy a free smartphone and switch, Chiquita bananas, Fandango, Gamefly, McDonald's, Discover credit cards, and Ziploc. In late November 2019, American pizza chain Pizza Hut announced that they will be the official partner of the film. In January 2020, Disney Channel aired promos on its channel to promote the film's release, making it the first Fox film to be promoted on a channel owned by Disney.
 * The first official trailer was released online on June 12, 2019, and was attached to screenings of Toy Story 4.
 * On November 3, 2019, Fox released 18 character posters for the film, along with promotional film stills, as well a second trailer, which was released online a couple of days later and was attached to screenings of Paradoria 2.
 * The third and final trailer was released on December 14, 2019, and was attached to screenings of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
 * An exclusive 4-minute IMAX preview was released on January 16, 2019, and was attached to IMAX screenings of Dolittle.

A Lego video game based on both films was announced at E3 2019 and was released on February 4, 2020, three days before the film's release, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Home media
On March 15, 2020, Fox and Disney announced that the film would be available on Digital and Movies Anywhere on March 27 and 4K Blu-ray, DVD, and Blu-ray on May 5 as a result of the 2019–20 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as the film was originally going to be released on home media on May 26, 2020.

Box office
As of March 13, 2020, The Pixelators: Level Two has grossed $241 million in the United States and Canada, and $331.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $572.8 million against a production budget of $175 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Pixelators: Level Two was released alongside Birds of Prey and was projected to gross $55–70 million in its opening weekend from 4,392 theatres, playing in 2,400 3D theatres, 360 IMAX theatres, 750 premium large format screens, and 220 D-Box/4D enhanced theatres. However, after making $38.2 million (including $10.2 million in its Thursday night previews), projections were increased to $90 million. It went on to gross $96.8 million in its opening weekend, breaking The Lego Movie 's record of $69 million for the biggest animated opening of all time in February. In its second weekend, the film fell 65% to $33.8 million, finishing second, behind newcomer Sonic the Hedgehog. It dropped to third and stayed there in its third, fourth, and fifth weekend grossing $21.4 million, $13.3 million, and $10.8 million respectively.

Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "Certified Fresh" rating of 85% based on 392 reviews, and an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With crisp animation and humorous twists, The Pixelators: Level Two offers an undemanding yet delightfully entertaining update on the original film with enough replay value." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 69 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, higher than the first film’s B+, and PostTrak reported it received an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 83% of people saying they would recommend it.