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, Tiffany Haddish, Zendaya, Sterling K. Brown, David Spade, Daisy Ridley, 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 is scheduled for wide release 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 humor, character development, screenplay, soundtrack, animation, and the voice cast, although some criticism was on the film being derivative to the original film. It is the final film to be released by 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-traveling 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 musical and dangerous adventure.

Cast

 * Tom Holland as Bryce Jones
 * Jason Drucker as an 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
 * Tiffany Haddish as Queen Maddie
 * Zoe Saldana as Nya, a nature warrior princess
 * Jason Sudeikis as Jay, a speedy bird-like creature
 * David Spade as Eric Jones, Bryce's deceased father
 * Kristen Wiig as Harper Jones, Bryce's mother
 * Bill Hader as Dale Duck, Peppy Penguin's best friend
 * Sterling K. Brown as General Samson, Lord Hex's co-assistant
 * Zendaya as Petunia, Lord Hex's new assistant
 * John Cena as Big Bill, an tough fighter
 * Daisy Ridley as Mia Mayhem
 * Josh Gad as Darren Dog
 * Seth MacFarlane as Rupert, Dr. Silverclaw's assistant
 * Ellie Kemper as Amelia, the gatekeeper of Pixel City
 * Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as Ed and Elliot, two multicolored shape-shifting creatures.
 * Nick Offerman as Wizman, an wizard
 * Patrick Stewart as Mayor Simon, the mayor of Pixel City
 * Will Forte as Mr. Marshmallow

Music
On February 16, 2019, Henry Jackman was revealed to be returning for the sequel's score, while 4 songs from the film were written by Marc Shaiman and Jon Lajoie. The film originally had no songs until five months into production when the suggestion of making the film a musical came from 20th Century Fox president Emma Watts as well as writer Nicholas Stoller, due to the success of competing Disney musical films like Frozen and Moana.

Release
The Pixelators: Level Two had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on January 14, 2020, and is scheduled for wide release on February 7, 2020 by 20th Century Fox. It was previously set for November 1, 2019. It is set to be released in Australia and New Zealand on February 27, 2020. The film will be released in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2020, as shown on its international trailer.

The film is rated PG by the MPA for “mild action, some thematic elements, and rude humor.”

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

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, Fandango, Gamefly, McDonald's, Discover credit cards, and Ziploc. In late September 2019, American pizza chain Pizza Hut announced that they will be the official partner of the film.
 * The first poster was released and first teaser trailer for the film was released by 20th Century Fox on March 2, 2019, and was attached to screenings of Captain Marvel, and the trailer quickly became viral, getting more than 5 million views in 24 hours.
 * On June 9, 2019, the first official trailer was released online on June 12, 2019 and was shown before Toy Story 4, The Lion King, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Abominable, and The Addams Family.
 * On November 3, 2019, Fox released 21 character posters for the film, along with promotional film stills, as well a second trailer, which was released online a couple days later and was attached to screenings of Paradoria 2.
 * The third and final trailer was released on December 16, 2019 and was attached to screenings of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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

Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 24 reviews, and an average rating of 7.9/10. 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 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office
In the United States and Canada, The Pixelators: Level Two will be released alongside Birds of Prey and is projected to gross $55–70 million in its domestic opening weekend.