Paradoria 2

Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm (released in some markets as Paradoria 2) is a 2019 American 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film produced by Universal Animation. It is the sequel to the 2015 film Paradoria and the second feature film in the franchise, making it the 24th entry in the Universal Animated Features canon. The film was directed by Steve Samono from a screenplay by Samono, Laurie Craig, Jonathan Aibel, and Glenn Berger, and stars the reprised voices of Finn Wolfhard, AnnaSophia Robb, Jenny Slate, Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph, and Bryan Cranston, along with new additions including Zoe Saldana, Paul Giamatti, Tom Cruise, Madelaine Petsch, and Gina Rodriguez. The film takes place four years after the first film, featuring Jamo and Princess Keena as young adults as they travel to a mysterious realm known as the Enchanted Realm to get a potion to heal Keena's father King Clint before their proposed marriage. Meanwhile, Jamo discovers a shocking secret about his past, and unexpectedly meets his long-lost birth mother, Londa.

Development on a Paradoria sequel began in April 2015, following the critical and commercial success of the first film. Samono, who directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the second film on the condition that he would be allowed to turn it into a saga. The new installment went through three different scripts before the filmmakers settled on the final plot. By the fall of 2015, much of the original cast confirmed they had signed on, with new cast members added from 2017 to 2018. Composer Mark Mothersbaugh returned to score the film.

Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2019, and was released in the United States on March 22, 2019 by Universal Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics, who commended its humor, characters, screenplay, animation, and the vocal performances of Wolfhard and Robb, although some were mixed on the film for "playing it safe". It grossed over $923 million worldwide over a $200 million budget, making it the seventh highest-grossing film of 2019, as well as the third highest-grossing animated film of that year. A third film is currently in development and is scheduled to be released on March 4, 2022.

Plot
Four years after the events of the first film, Jamo and his childhood fiancée Princess Keena are expected to get married as they are fully grown adults now, but their guardians, Jamo's adoptive mother Verra and Keena's parents King Clint and Queen Melly of Paradoria, are not ready for their marriage yet. Jamo is teased by some children by calling him "tree boy" due to his greenish hair, and learns from Verra that she found Jamo as an infant on the shore and adopted him. Jamo remains unsatisfied with the story, wondering how and why he ended up in Paradoria. Meanwhile, Clint's old rival, a mysterious conqueror intends to overthrow the Paradorian kingdom by placing a spell that poisons Clint, allowing the Conqueror to take over his place as the king of Paradoria. Later, Melly warns Jamo and Keena that Clint has been poisoned by the Conqueror. Clint offers Jamo and Keena a new quest to find a potion in a mysterious palace called the Enchanted Realm, in which the pair accepted.

Jamo and Keena head off to the Enchanted Realm along with the neets, where they find a small boat that goes through the Enchanted Realm. However, things don't go well when the boat Jamo and Keena ride crashes into rocks, causing them to walk on a long trail to the realm. They later encounter a handsome archer named Vicktor, who helps them reach the realm. When they eventually enter the Enchanted Realm, Jamo and Keena are brought by Falia, a young native woman with magical powers who gets romantically close to Vicktor, to the realm's leader and empress Londa, whom Keena instructs her to find a potion in the Enchanted Realm so they can heal Clint. When Londa encounters Jamo, she realizes that he is her long-lost biological son and the Enchanted Realm turns out to be Jamo's birthplace. They eventually reunite and bond with each other, much to the jealousy of Keena. As the potion will take a few days to be made, Londa encourages Jamo and Keena to explore the Enchanted Realm and spend time together there.

Meanwhile, back at the kingdom of Paradoria, Melly, Verra, and the rest of their fellow Paradorians are forced to work under the Conqueror's reign. Melly hopes that Jamo and Keena will come back from the Enchanted Realm to heal Clint if they get the potion. Without getting caught by the Conqueror, Melly sneaks up into the castle to go check Clint in his bedroom, but turning out he is presumed dead. The Conqueror later caught Melly and threatens to punish her. In the meantime, at the Enchanted Realm, Jamo, Keena, Londa, Vicktor, Falia and the other Enchanted Realm members defend the realm from the Conqueror's army.

Londa suddenly remembers that the Conqueror used to be a resident of the Enchanted Realm and a former proposed mate of Londa. As Jamo became concerned, she explains to him that before Jamo was born, she and her colony used to live in Paradoria peacefully until one day, the Conqueror, who was hoped to become king, grew out of frustration when Clint was picked as king, so he wanted to plot to eliminate Clint to take over as the king by attacking the village, causing one colony led by Londa to separate from Paradoria. After many days of searching, Londa and her tribe found a mountain that they could call home. Meanwhile, the Conqueror and his small army had been banished from Paradoria when his plans to take over as king of Paradoria failed. At the new built Enchanted Realm, Londa and her husband gave birth to Jamo and they all lived peacefully until one day, Jamo and Keena's old nemesis King Kakas and his army invaded the Enchanted Realm, Londa and her mate sacrificed themselves to save their son from them, Londa hid Jamo in a small boat and lured Kakas' forces away from him, allowing Jamo to realize why Londa abandoned him and that he has lived a happy and peaceful life despite his tragic past. Londa also explains that Kakas and his orc-like army were believed to be created by the Conqueror under a spell.

With the potion completed, Jamo and Keena return to Paradoria and try to heal Clint, only to discover that the kingdom is now taken over by the Conqueror and his forces and the pair are captured by the Conqueror's guards and taken to the castle. Melly, now imprisoned, tells the two that it is too late to heal Clint as he is dead because of the poison. As a result, the Conqueror then orders Jamo and Keena to work with the other Paradorians, but they refuse. Jamo explains to everyone else in the castle including Verra that the Enchanted Realm was his birthplace, he found his birth mother Londa and she told him about Jamo and the realm's origins. After hearing Jamo's speech, the Conqueror makes a choice for Jamo: work with Keena and the others in Paradoria or go back to the Enchanted Realm and never return to Paradoria. Fearing that working as slave would torture his whole life and never be safe for him, Jamo chooses to stay with Londa at the Enchanted Realm, but Keena is undeterred and wants to be Jamo. Jamo assures her that no matter what, she will always love him right before he leaves the castle, leaving a tearful Keena heartbroken.

Jamo returns to the Enchanted Realm with Londa, who encourages him to replace Keena with another girl who looks exactly like her, Leena and even marry her, but Jamo has more heart in Keena. Afterwards, Jamo begins to worry about Keena, realizing that she will get tortured and killed by the Conqueror if she refuses to work so does everyone else in Paradoria, and manages to convince Londa, Vicktor, and Falia to head to Paradoria to help him save Keena and the other Paradorians from the Conqueror. Back at Paradoria, Keena readies herself to be beheaded, but Jamo, Londa, Vicktor, and Falia arrive, defeat the Conqueror and his army and rescue Keena and the Paradorians. However, the Conqueror pursues Jamo and tries to kill him, but Londa attacks the Conqueror with her magical scepter and throws him out to his death, while the Conqueror's army flees.

With the Conqueror gone and Paradoria back to normal, Jamo and Keena finally get married and are declared king and queen of Paradoria, bringing new life to the kingdom and renewing the life in Paradoria.

Voice cast

 * Finn Wolfhard as Jamo, the adoptive 17-year-old son of Verra, and Keena's boyfriend and later husband.
 * AnnaSophia Robb as Princess Keena, the 18-year-old daughter of Queen Melly and King Clint, and Jamo's childhood fiancée and later wife.
 * Zoe Saldana as Londa, the leader of the Enchanted Realm who is Jamo's long-lost biographical mother.
 * Paul Giamatti as the Conqueror, a mysterious conqueror and former member of the Enchanted Realm who intends to overthrow the Paradorian kingdom by placing a spell that poisons Clint, allowing the Conqueror to take over his place as the king of Paradoria.
 * Tom Cruise as Vicktor, a handsome, muscular archer who helps Jamo, Keena and the Neets on their adventure.
 * Madelaine Petsch as Falia, a member of the Enchanted Realm with magical powers who happily greets Jamo and Keena when they visit the Enchanted Realm, and is Vicktor's fiancée.
 * Maya Rudolph as Melly, the queen of the Paradorian kingdom and Keena's mother.
 * Patrick Stewart as Clint, the king of the Paradorian kingdom and Keena's father.
 * Jenny Slate as Verra, Jamo's adoptive mother who runs an inn.
 * Bryan Cranston as Noalus, a Paradorian who serves as Clint's adviser.
 * Gina Rodriguez as Leena, a mysterious girl who looks exactly like Keena.
 * Steve Samono as Cookie and the Neets, small creatures that resemble a mouse and a rabbit and are friends with Jamo and Keena.
 * Samono also voices a Paradorian guard, a chair, and the Conqueror's servant.
 * Wendie Malick as Maggie, a caretaker for the Paradorian children.
 * Chris Parnell as Eugene, Clint's loyal lieutenant.
 * Dawnn Lewis as Canna, a Paradorian elder who has various neets who follow and communicate with her.
 * Amy McNeill as Elderly Woman, Mother and Witch
 * Daniel Ross as Guard #1 and Tree
 * Gary Hall as Guard #2, Clock and Baker
 * Alan Rodgers as Guard #3
 * Laurie Craig as Flower Shop Owner
 * Maddie Samono as Sweet Girl #1
 * Theresa Rose McNeill as Sweet Girl #2
 * Sam Lavagnino as Little Boy
 * Clancy Brown as Captain
 * Conrad Vernon as Enchanted Realm Villager
 * Lauren Tom as Villager's Wife
 * Roger Craig Smith as Norb
 * Rob Riggle as King Kakas (via flashbacks)

Additional voices

 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Steve Blum
 * Cam Clarke
 * Robert Clotworthy
 * Brian T. Delaney
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Terri Douglas
 * Sophia Hall
 * Carter Hastings
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Mia Sinclair Jenness
 * Ashley Johnson
 * Logan Kishi
 * Lex Lang
 * Yuri Lowenthal
 * Mona Marshall
 * Scott Menville
 * Max Mittelman
 * Arthur Ortiz
 * Alicyn Packard
 * Bryce Papenbrook
 * Courtney Peldon
 * Lynwood Robinson
 * Lilly Rodgers
 * Emma Shannon
 * Warren Sroka
 * Shannon Stein
 * Tara Strong
 * Diamond White
 * Wally Wingert
 * Shelby Young
 * Lynnanne Zager

Development
After the success of the first film, Universal Animation Studios announced the sequel on April 18, 2015, with director Steve Samono, producers Amy McNeill and Daniel Ross, and writer Laurie Craig returning. On June 24, 2015, Samono confirmed that the script was being written. On July 31, 2015, it was reported that Finn Wolfhard was willing to reprise his role as Jamo in the sequel. It was also reported that AnnaSophia Robb might return to reprise her role as Keena but had not decided yet. In November 2015, it was reported that Kung Fu Panda co-writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger had been hired to rewrite the script. On January 14, 2016, Universal Pictures announced that the sequel would be released on March 1, 2019. At the CinemaCon in April 2016, it was revealed that the sequel would focus on "Jamo and Keena finding a mysterious realm far away from Paradoria".

On May 20, 2018, Universal officially announced the film's title Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm along with its new release of April 26, 2019, as well as the first teaser poster. On December 7, 2018, Universal moved the release date a month earlier to March 22, 2019, with Avengers: Endgame taking its slot of April 26, 2019. Gary Hall, who co-directed the first film stated that he was unable to return in the sequel due to Hall being busy on directing the fifth Computeropolis installment, but was still involved as an executive producer alongside Michael Wildshill, Audel LaRoque and John Hamburg.

Writing
Coming soon!

Casting
In September 2015, it had been confirmed that Wolfhard and Robb would reprise their respective roles as Jamo and Keena in the sequel. By February 2016, Jenny Slate, Patrick Stewart, Maya Rudolph, and Bryan Cranston were confirmed to reprise their roles.

In October 2017, it was announced that Zoe Saldana has joined the cast to voice a brand new character in the sequel. The following month, Paul Giamatti was cast to voice a villain in the film. On August 12, 2018, it was announced that Madelaine Petsch joined the cast. Later that week, Tom Cruise announced that he will be making his first animation debut in the sequel. When Steve Samono and producer Amy McNeill saw the Mission: Impossible movies (including the sixth film), they were impressed by Cruise's performance and decided to cast Cruise in his first voice-acting role in the film. In December 2018, Gina Rodriguez joined the cast.

Animation
The film contains over 140 unique sets and 4723 assets, the most for a film by Universal Animation.

Music
On February 14, 2018, Mark Mothersbaugh was revealed to be returning for the sequel's score. However, John Powell, who collaborated with Mothersbaugh on the first film, did not return for the sequel due to Powell being busy on composing the score for DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but is given a "Special Thanks" credit. Because of this, most of Powell's score from the first film was included. In addition, Finn Wolfhard and AnnaSophia Robb had also sung "Cutest Dreams", an original song that was included prior to Jamo and Keena's wedding.

Release
Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm had its world premiere in the out of competition section at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2019. It was released in the United States on March 22, 2019 by Universal Pictures. Originally scheduled for release on March 1, 2019, the date was postponed multiple times. The film was pushed back to May 31, 2019, then to August 16, 2019, August 2, 2019, April 5, 2019, and April 26, 2019, before being eventually moved up a month earlier to March 22, 2019 to avoid competition with Avengers: Endgame. The film was released in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D.

On February 16, 2019, Universal announced it would hold one-day advanced previews for the film in 500 theaters in the United States and were held two days later.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on March 1, as shown on its international trailer. The film was released in China on April 12.

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released on September 12, 2018, and was shown alongside Cool Spot. It received 122 million views in its first 24 hours, becoming the most viewed trailer for an animated film, dethroning Incredibles 2 as the seventh most-viewed trailer overall. An interview with the cast was released on September 16, 2018, which revealed the 3 undisclosed characters' names voiced by Zoe Saldana, Tom Cruise, and Madelaine Petsch. The second trailer (and official trailer) of the film was released on December 12, 2018, and was shown alongside Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. A sneak peek of the film was released on January 17, 2019. The third and final trailer was released on February 6, 2019, and was shown alongside The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

Universal partnered 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, Xfinity, McFarlane Toys, McDonald's, and Ziploc.

A Lego video game based on both films was announced on January 28, 2019, and was released on March 19, 2019, three days before the film's release, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Home media
Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on digital and Movies Anywhere on May 21, 2019, and on Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD on June 4, 2019. All releases include three mini-movies: Super A.C.E., Birth, and Falia's Challenge. Birth was first shown on NBC on April 3, 2019, after Paradoria (2015).

Box office
Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm grossed $383.3 million in North America and $540.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $923.7 million. On April 17, 2019, the film surpassed $800 million worldwide in only 27 days, faster than the original film. On April 23, 2019, the film grossed $363.5 million domestically, surpassing Computeropolis 2 ($362.1 million) to become Universal Animation's highest grossing sequel of all time domestically. On May 6, 2019, the film grossed $900 million, the first animated film of 2019 to do so.

United States and Canada
Three weeks before the film's release, official tracking had the film debuting around $110 million in 4,304 theaters while being released alongside Us, with Deadline Hollywood noting the film's projection being a "give or take $20 million" due to the huge popularity of Universal Animation as a brand along with Paradoria 's popularity as a franchise, but the inaccuracy of recent box office estimates such as The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part ' s underperformance in its opening weekend was noted as being a factor in these predictions. According to Fandango, Paradoria 2 has amassed the second largest advanced ticket sales of any animated film, behind Incredibles 2, and has surpassed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Cool Spot, Suicide Squad, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and its own predecessor during the same time period. By the week of the film's release, projections were increased to $120–140 million.

The film made $69.1 million on its first day including $17.2 million in Thursday night previews, the biggest of all time for Universal Animation but falling shy of Cool Spot’s $18.1 million cume. It ended up grossing $152.9 million in its opening weekend, the second biggest overall for an animated film behind Incredibles 2 ($182.7 million), and the biggest of all time for a Universal Animation and a non-Disney animated film respectively. The film fell 73% in its second Friday, while grossing $18.6 million due to heavy competition with Dumbo. It remained in first place in its second weekend while grossing $53.2 million and falling 65.2%. By comparison, its own predecessor dropped 52% and grossed $54.7 million in its second weekend. The film dropped to second place in its third weekend while grossing $26.8 million over the weekend. The film grossed $13.3 million while falling to third place in its fourth weekend behind Shazam! and Little. It grossed $8.6 million in its fifth weekend while falling to fifth place. The film remained in fifth place while grossing $5.6 million in its sixth weekend. It dropped to sixth in its seventh weekend with $4.1 million. The film lost 982 theaters in its eighth weekend while dropping out of the top 10 and grossed $1.1 million.

Outside North America
In the United Kingdom, the film grossed an estimated $15.7 million (£11.86 million) in its opening weekend, finishing first at the box office and marking Universal Animation's best opening in the UK. In its second weekend, the film grossed $6.3 million, falling nearly 60% and finishing second at the box office behind newcomer Captain Marvel, then it dropped 22% and remained in second place, grossing $4.9 million in its third weekend.

Additionally, the film grossed $112.1 million from 38 international countries alongside its North American release with Japan having the biggest debut. It finished first in all countries, including Japan ($19.8 million, the best-ever start for a Universal Animation film), South Korea ($17.4 million over its five-day debut), Russia ($13.6 million), Germany ($12.5 million) and Mexico ($11.2 million, the best-ever start for a Universal film in the country). The opening included $30.5 million from IMAX, the largest opening for an animated film in March and a Universal Animation film; of that, $10 million was from overseas IMAX screens, the largest overseas IMAX debut for Universal Animation. In its second weekend, the film opened at number one in France ($7.7 million), Vietnam ($5 million), and Thailand ($3.2 million), and of its 43 other markets remained at number one in 29 of them, including Brazil which dropped only 6% from the first weekend. It was number one in 17 markets for the third weekend. Its top overseas markets at that point, ahead of its release in China, were the UK ($42.6 million), Russia ($39.2 million), South Korea ($30.1 million), Mexico ($23.8 million) and France/Brazil (tied at $18.3 million). In China, the film made $20.6 million on its opening day, the biggest opening day of all time for a Universal Animation film and $54.6 million over the weekend. The film dropped 77% in its second Friday grossing $4.7 million and made $13.2 million over its second weekend in China.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 302 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Paradoria 2 may not live up to the mountain-traveling voyage of its 2015 predecessor, but its heartfelt moments, colorful atmosphere, and iconic couple should nonetheless outweigh its flaws." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A" earned by the first film.

Peter Debruge of Variety called the film "very cute", and also writing "If you loved the original film, your kids will appreciate to have more fun to Jamo and Keena's experience on their riveting, silly, and fascinating fantasy adventure." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the lightweight tone as a treat and a breath following the "dark and dramatic tones" of Computeropolis: The Deep Web. He also praised the cast, especially Wolfhard and Saldana, as well as the visual effects and perfect usage of action sequences in the film.

Accolades
The trailer for the film was nominated for a Golden Trailer Award.

Sequel
In January 2019, in an interview with CNN, Samono hinted that a third film would be possible, saying, "we would like to show more stories featuring these unique and special characters. But you may have to wait a bit for it to happen as we are far from finished with these characters." By April 2019, Universal Animation CEO Michael Wildshill has confirmed that the development of Paradoria 3 is underway, but Samono and writer Laurie Craig will not return, since they are working on Nepola at Illumination.

On May 14, 2019, it was announced that Paradoria 3 will be released on March 4, 2022. On July 13, 2019, it was reported that Mike Mitchell has been hired by Universal to direct the third film with Daniel Ross returning as producer and Wildshill and Samono as executive producers, while Tom Wheeler would write the script.

Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.