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Upside Mystery 3 is a 2015 3D computer-animated fantasy detective film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Pin High Productions with animation being provided by Arc Productions. It is the third installment of the Upside Mystery franchise, directed by Brenda Chapman from the screenplay by Josh Klausner and stars the voices of John Travolta, Christian Slater, Michelle Rodriguez, Christina Ricci, Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, and Judi Dench. It follows Hans Truman, Jason Truder, and Stella Lee unexpectedly find reports that the unknown thief was intended to steal the diamonds in Lowfon and all three allies with the physicist to solve the case in order to find the thief.
The film was released in the United States on September 4, 2015, by 20th Century Fox in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics who praise its vocal performances (particularly Travolta, Slater, Rodriguez, Ricci and Cage) and animation but criticized its screenplay for being generic. It grossed $804 million worldwide, making it Travolta's highest-grossing film to date, and the highest-grossing film in the franchise, surpassing Upside Mystery 2.
Plot
In Lowfon, an unknown thief escapes from prison to steal all the diamonds and escape in his hideout. The president of Lowfon reports the thief escape to Hans Truman and Stella Lee as well as Jason Truder. Truder was playing games while Truman forgot about his ring before the report to all three. Rose Elizabeth told Truman that Lowfon could be difficult to solve around before Truman, Truder and Lee arrive.
While arriving in Lowfon, its president convinces Truman, Truder and Lee to accept the mission to arrest an unknown thief again. While on the mission, Truman and Truder meet the physicist Kelly France, who was good at physics, and convinces her to help them on their mission. Truman and Truder follow Tracy to prevent him from killing France. The three fight and Tracy falls to his death before Truman can learn what Tracy is working for. Stella Lee discovers the silhouette of the thief and alerts Truman, Truder and France, then catches the thief who introduces himself as Francis Fellon as he stole some diamonds. However, as he escapes from the detective crew, Fellon tells them that when he gets all the diamonds he will activate the weapon to effect the entire city.
The Lowfon president was dissatisfied that the detective crew failed to capture the diamond thief Francis Fellon. As the result of failing the mission, Jason Truder and Stella Lee left Hans' detective crew, leaving him heartbroken. Meanwhile, Kelly France tells Truman that someday his team will be recruited. Truder and Lee go on their separate ways to find Fellon while Truman and France see diamond pieces in the thief case.
With the help from Elizabeth on the phone, both Truman and France locate Fellon's place. Lee saw some of Fellon's henchmen and melee fights them while Truder uncovers Fellon's fingerprints in one of the diamonds and both tries to report them to the president of Lowfon, but however, Fellon triggers the traps to capture both of them. Fellon completes his weapon so that he can activate it to effect the city but Truman and France rush into Fellon's place to rescue Truder and Lee. They all recruited each other and then fight Fellon and his henchmen. After the place collapsed, the crew reports Fellon's evidence to the Lowfon president and then he and his guards arrest Fellon.
The Lowfon president was proud of the crew that they finally captured Fellon's evidence to him. Truman also gives credit to France and detective headquarters boss Elizabeth for the detective crew's support.
Cast
- John Travolta as Hans Truman, a detective who intended to solve the case.
- Christian Slater as Jason Truder, Hans Truman's best friend.
- Michelle Rodriguez as Stella Lee, a spy agent who is Hans Truman's love interest.
- Christina Ricci as Kelly France, a physicist who works with Hans, Jason, and Stella to solve the thief case.
- Nicolas Cage as Francis Fellon
- Brad Pitt as the president of Lowfon.
- Judi Dench as Rose Elizabeth, the detective headquarters boss.
- Rob Paulsen as Tracy, a servant under Francis' command.
Production
In late 2010, Vicky Jenson stated that there would be third Upside Mystery as long as the script is "looking-good". In November 2011, John Travolta stated that he would like to reprise his role alongside Christian Slater and Michelle Rodriguez, but said in February 2012:
We need to wait for Rodriguez after she is done voicing her character in DreamWorks' Turbo, then we'll begin our third detective journey.
In January 2013, it was announced that the sequel had hired The Prince of Egypt and Brave co-director Brenda Chapman to direct with Josh Klausner writing the screenplay and Travolta, Slater, Rodriguez and Judi Dench reprising their roles. In April 2014, Christina Ricci, Nicolas Cage, and Brad Pitt have joined the voice cast. In December 2014, it was announced that Lorne Balfe would score the film as Marco Beltrami stated that he will not be returning due to scheduling conflicts.
Release
Upside Mystery 3 was released on September 4, 2015, by 20th Century Fox, who acquired distribution rights back in 2013. It was previously scheduled for December 25, 2014 before being pushed to avoid box office competition with other films being released in the holiday season, including The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (which MGM also co-produced), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (which Fox also distributed) and Into the Woods.
Marketing
The teaser trailer was released on November 14, 2014 and was attached into the DVD and Blu-ray releases of If I Stay and Penguins of Madagascar, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Paddington, Strange Magic, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, McFarland, USA, and Cinderella in theaters. The first official trailer was released on March 25, 2015, and was attached into Home, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Tomorrowland, Crystal: The Lost Realms, and Inside Out in theaters. The final trailer was released on June 24, 2015, and was attached into Max, Minions and Shaun the Sheep Movie in theaters.
Video game
- Main article(s): Upside Mystery 3 (video game)
A video game was released on September 1, 2015, developed by Behaviour Interactive and published by Activision for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
Home media
Upside Mystery 3 was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on December 15, 2015, by MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Soundtrack
- Main article(s): Upside Mystery 3/Soundtrack
The official soundtrack for the film was released on August 28, 2015. The soundtrack features the score, composed by Lorne Balfe, who succeeded Marco Beltrami from the first two films.
Reception
Box office
Upside Mystery 3 grossed $303.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $501.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $804.3 million, against a production budget of $150 million, becoming the highest-grossing film in the Upside Mystery franchise and the fourth highest-grossing animated film of 2015, behind Inside Out ($857.6 million), Crystal: The Lost Realms ($890.3 million), and Minions ($1.159 billion).
In the United States and Canada, this film was released alongside A Walk in the Woods, and was projected to gross $80–95 million in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $100 million. It opened in 4,402 theaters, the most ever for the franchise. The film made $39.3 million on opening day (including $9 million from Thursday night previews), the highest of the series, a record for Travolta, and a 100% increase from the previous film’s $4.5 million. It went on to debut to $110.3 million, the best of the series and the highest of Travolta’s career. The film dropped 58% and grossed $46.3 million in its second weekend, while remaining on top of box office.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59%, based on 223 reviews, the lowest RT rating of the Upside Mystery franchise. The site's critical consensus reads: "Upside Mystery 3 doesn't necessarily solve the new case, but should satisfy fans of its predecessors." On Metacritic, the film has a weighed average score of 55 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Template:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer theatrical animated features