‘Peter Rabbit 2’ Hops Closer To Easter 2020

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UPDATED, 10:33 AM: Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2 is jumping away from its Feb. 7 release date to April 3, which is nine days before Easter. MGM’s 007 film No Time to Die will own the Easter frame. On the upside, with spring breaks the advance runway before Bond is an advantage for Peter Rabbit 2, as it plays to a younger crowd. However, per Comscore, the April 3-5 period is crowded with Warner Bros. claiming an untitled release during that time, Paramount’s Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani movie The Lovebirds, and finally Fox/Marvel’s much delayed The New Mutants. Sony has the Kevin Hart drama Fatherhood on April 3.

PREVIOUSLY, May 4, 2018: Peter Rabbit scored plenty of lettuce for Sony Pictures this year, and now the studio wants more. Sony said late this afternoon that it has greenlighted Peter Rabbit 2, which will be hopping in on February 7, 2020, nearly two years to the date after the James Corden-led original bowed.

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Writer-director Will Gluck is returning to handle both duties on the sequel, and the original cast also is expected back.

Peter Rabbit grossed $115M domestically, ranking fifth for the year so far — one rung ahead of Fifty Shades Freed, the movie it opened against. The live-action/animation hybrid scored an impressive 4.5x multiple off of its $25M bow. It took in an additional $210M overseas, reaching No. 1 in 22 territories.

Sony also said that the pic will bow on March 27, 2020, in the UK, where the original held the No. 1 spot for four weeks. It grossed $55.7M there, becoming Sony Pictures’ biggest non-Bond film in the territory.

Peter Rabbit features Corden as the kid-lit classic character, fronting a voice cast also includes Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Ridley and Fayssal Bazzi. Domhnall Gleeson and Rose Byrne are among the live-action human characters. The original cast is expected to return for the sequel.

As it stands, Peter Rabbit 2 will have some competition on that domestic date: Paramount’s TV toon adaptation The Loud House and Untitled Warner Bros Event Film #3.

Sony had stashed an untitled animated movie from Phil Lord & Chris Miller on that date, but it has been moved ahead a month to January 10, 2020. The studio today also dated Escape Room for November 30. No details on the latter project yet.

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