It’s been a wild year for Chris Pratt, thanks to scoring hits with movies like The Tomorrow War, and of course being cast in Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. movie. But just when you thought all Pratt had in his future was prepping for Nintendo greatness, as well as stoking the fires on films like Jurassic World: Dominion, another iconic character has been added to his dance card. Meet Chris Pratt: the new voice of Jim Davis’ beloved creation, Garfield.
As previously reported several years ago, the action in this Garfield adventure is going to be animated, thanks to production company Alcon Entertainment. However, as The Hollywood Reporter has announced, worldwide distributor Sony Pictures has just jumped on board to take the fat orange cat out for a spin, with Pratt scoring another voice role after previous efforts like The LEGO Movie duology and Disney/Pixar’s Onward.
Chris Pratt doesn’t have the excuse that Bill Murray had to fall back on when previously accepting the role, as this untitled Garfield movie is written by David Reynolds and directed by Mark Dindal. Which, if you’re familiar with animation, means that Pratt has one hell of a creative pedigree working with him on this new cproject.
Screenwriter David Reynolds’ previous credits include everything from the writer’s room of Late Night with Conan O’Brien to an Academy Award nomination for 2003’s Finding Nemo. Meanwhile, Mark Dindal has directed Cats Don’t Dance and Disney’s Chicken Little as past credits of note. But the one movie that Reynolds and Dindal both worked on, which should have Disney fans especially excited, is 2000’s hit comedy classic The Emperor’s New Groove.
Even the most skeptical Garfield fan can’t pass up taking a moment to enjoy this pair tackling a new animated adventure. With Mark Dindal and David Reynolds working on that immensely loved David Spade/John Goodman buddy comedy, using their wits and Chris Pratt’s skills of playing lovable rule breakers could mean some pretty huge results. And that’s even in light of the fact that this movie was announced on Garfield’s least favorite day of the week: a Monday.
The rest of the cast for this untitled Garfield adaptation hasn’t been set at this time. So we have no clue who will be playing characters like Jon Arbuckle, Liz, or even Nermal. That is, if they decide to bring Nermal along for the ride, rather than focus on Garfield and dog sibling Odie’s rivalry as the centerpiece of this story. For now, all we have to go on is the fact that a team of talent who have all worked on Disney projects themselves, banding together to turn Garfield into an apex predator against a certain mouse.
Deep cut Garfield fans know that he’s not exactly a mouser, but the competition doesn’t need to know that. It can be just another secret that lurks in the shadows of the previous films that saw CGI and life-action bring this beloved comic strip character to life. Eventually, these unknown factors will become public knowledge, drawing further detail on Chris Pratt’s portrayal of this tricky tabby.
There’s no release date specified for Garfield at this time, but you can catch Mr. Pratt’s antics in The Tomorrow War, which is currently streaming on Prime Video. Meanwhile, if you want to look for family friendly fun throughout the rest of this year, our 2021 Movie Release Schedule may hold the answers you seek.