It was announced ironically on Monday that Chris Pratt will play the lasagna-loving cat, Garfield in an upcoming animated movie directed by Chicken Little director, Mark Dindal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Not much is known as far as plot details but Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson’s Alcon Entertainment are producing the animated movie with Sony Pictures handling distribution. The script is being handled by Finding Nemo screenwriter, David Reynolds who previously worked with Marks Dindal on Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove.
It has been a while since we’ve last seen Garfield on the big screen as he last appeared in the 20th century Fox-produced movie Garfield which was a live-action/animated movie released in 2004 plus its 2006 sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. Garfield was voiced by Bill Murray in both movies.
Garfield was originally created by Jim Davis which made its debut in 41 newspapers in 1978 as a lazy orange cat that causes problems for his owner, Jon Arbuckle and Odie, the lovable household dog. Garfield holds the record for the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world. Alcon Entertainment has acquired the rights from the Garfield creator who will serve as an executive producer on the movie which is being animated by DNEG Animation.
The internet’s reaction to Chris Pratt’s new role voicing the Monday-avoiding cat has been anything but positive. Be it coincidence or not, Pratt is voicing two iconic characters with Italian ties, one a lover of Italian food and the other being Nintendo’s iconic Italian mascot, Mario in an animated movie releasing late next year. Pratt’s other notable voice roles include Emmet Brickowski in the LEGO movies and Barley Lightfoot in Pixar’s Onward.
His role in the upcoming Nintendo movie which is set to release in theatres on December 21st, 2022 was announced during a recent Nintendo Direct. The rest of the cast includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Browser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong.
