Sing 2 is a 2021 American animated musical comedy film written and directed by Garth Jennings. Produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, it is the sequel to Sing (2016) and the second film in the franchise. The film stars the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll, and Nick Offerman reprising their roles from the first film, with Bobby Cannavale, Halsey, Pharrell Williams, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, and Bono joining the cast. The story is set after the events of the first film with Buster Moon and his group putting on a show in Redshore City while working to impress an entertainment mogul (Cannavale) and enlist a reclusive rock star (Bono) to perform with the group. Like its predecessor, the film features songs from many artists, most of which are performed diegetically.
Sing 2 had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 14, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22 by Universal. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $408 million against a budget of $85 million, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2021 and the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2021. A sequel is in development.
Plot Buster Moon is thriving with his newly rebuilt theater. Johnny, Rosita, Gunter, Meena, and Miss Crawly work as his cast and crew, while Ash performs as a soloist at a rock club. Buster's show fails to impress Crystal Entertainment's talent scout Suki Lane from Redshore City. Encouraged by Nana Noodleman, Buster gathers his crew, and they travel to the city to make an impression.
After being denied entry into Crystal Entertainment, they sneak in for an audition with entertainment mogul Jimmy Crystal. As Jimmy is uninterested in Buster's original pitch, Gunter suggests a space-themed sci-fi musical that features songs from Clay Calloway, a legendary rock star who disappeared after his wife Ruby died 15 years ago. Intrigued, and assuming that Clay will be part of the show, Jimmy greenlights it and lets Buster and his friends stay at his hotel during production.
Miss Crawly finds where Clay lives and goes to visit him, but he scares her away with a paintball gun. During rehearsal, Rosita reveals to have a fear of heights after learning she needs to make a high jump, prompting Jimmy to insist Buster have his daughter Porsha play her part instead. Buster reluctantly writes Rosita a minor role. Top choreographer Klaus Kickenklober is hired to teach Johnny to dance, but is unnecessarily harsh, causing Johnny to fall behind. Johnny later comes across street dancer Nooshy, who takes over as his teacher. Meena is cast in a romantic scene with a well-intentioned but heavily egocentric actor named Darius, but is unable to act the part convincingly, having never been in love before. She later meets and falls in love with an ice cream vendor named Alfonso. Jimmy eventually finds out that Buster never contacted Clay about the show and threatens to hurt Buster if he does not deliver.
Ash and Buster visit Clay to convince him to join the show. He refuses at first, finding it too emotionally sad to perform after Ruby's death, but Ash changes his mind. Back at the theater, Buster offers Porsha to switch roles with Rosita, as Porsha's acting skills are poor. Porsha misunderstands this as Buster firing her and leaves. After news of the "firing" is broadcast, Jimmy scolds Porsha, sobbing, and nearly drops Buster off the hotel's roof for making him look bad before locking him in his closet. Suki frees Buster and warns him to leave Redshore City before Jimmy sends his bodyguards to find him. Ash arrives at the hotel room with the crew and Clay, who advises Buster not to run and hide as he did. After overhearing Jimmy insulting him and his crew on television, Buster decides to put on the show behind Jimmy's back. Porsha rejoins the show, Johnny calls his father and his gang to keep Jimmy, Jerry, and his bodyguards at bay, and Rosita arranges for her husband Norman and their children to distract hotel security.
During the show, a jealous Klaus takes the place of Johnny's performance partner to undermine his number, but Johnny defeats Klaus with encouragement from Nooshy and the other dancers, finally earning Klaus' respect. Porsha performs a high-energy song and dance number in the minor role originally given to Rosita, standing up to Jimmy. Meena visualizes Darius as Alfonso and successfully performs a romantic duet with him. In a last attempt to stop the show, Jimmy, at his breaking point, drops Buster off from a high catwalk, which causes Rosita to overcome her fear of heights to save Buster from Jimmy. When it's time for Clay to take the stage for the finale, he says he is not ready yet. Ash leads the audience in a rendition of one of Clay's songs, giving him the courage to perform. After the curtain call, impressed by how wrong he was over the show’s performance, Jimmy tries to take the credit for the successful show, but is instead arrested for his crimes by the police for lying and attempting to kill Buster.
Just as Buster and his friends begin to leave the next morning with Nooshy, Porsha, and Clay joining them, Suki stops them and tells them a major theater called The Majestic wants to put on their show. As they put on their first official performance, Buster watches from the VIP section, proud to have succeeded in Redshore City.
Voice cast
Matthew McConaughey as Buster Moon, a koala who owns the New Moon Theater Reese Witherspoon as Rosita, a pig and mother of 25 piglets who recently realized her singing dreams Scarlett Johansson as Ash, a porcupine punk rock guitarist Taron Egerton as Johnny, a teenage gorilla who left his father's ex-criminal gang to become a singer and pianist Bobby Cannavale as Jimmy Crystal, a white wolf and media owner who runs Crystal Entertainment Tori Kelly as Meena, a slightly shy teenage elephant with an exquisite singing voice Nick Kroll as Gunter, a passionate dancing pig and Rosita's dance partner Pharrell Williams as Alfonso, an elephant and ice cream vendor who becomes Meena's love interest Halsey as Porsha Crystal, Jimmy's daughter who is a talented singer Chelsea Peretti as Suki Lane, Jimmy's haughty Saluki assistant and talent scout Letitia Wright as Nooshy, a lynx street dancer who becomes Johnny's dance instructor Eric André as Darius, an egocentric yak who plays Meena's love interest in the show Adam Buxton as Klaus Kickenklober, a harsh and prideful proboscis monkey dance instructor. Buxton previously voiced Stan in the first film. Garth Jennings as Miss Crawly, an elderly iguana with a glass eye who works as Buster's assistant Jennings also voices the bus terminal and the airbag from a rental car. Peter Serafinowicz as Big Daddy, a mobster gorilla and Johnny's father who is now on work release Jennifer Saunders as Nana Noodleman, a sheep and former singing star Nick Offerman as Norman, a pig and Rosita's husband Bono as Clay Calloway, a white-maned aged lion who was once a rock star legend until his wife Ruby died
In addition, Julia Davis voices Linda Le Bon, a horse and host of Hot News, while Spike Jonze has an uncredited voice role as Jerry, a cat who is Jimmy's personal assistant.
Amongst the voices of Rosita and Norman's piglets is Matthew McConaughey's daughter, Vida Alves, who voices the piglet that goes splashing in chocolate. Director Jennings' wife, Louise, voices a dog worker making Meena's costume for the show, while the couple's four children, Asa, Caspar, Leo and Oscar, are among the piglet voices.
As with the first film, Jennings' filmmaker friends Wes Anderson, Chris Renaud, and Edgar Wright all have cameos in the film, with Anderson as a tarsier night cleaner, Renaud as Linda Le Bon's show announcer, and Wright voicing a dog cop and a pig driver. Scott Mosier, director of Dr. Seuss' The Grinch and the short film Eddie's Life Coach, voices Mason, a walrus worker making the sets for the show.
Production
Development On January 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced that a sequel to their 2016 animated film Sing was in development. Writer/director Garth Jennings and producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy return along with voiceover stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll, Taron Egerton and Tori Kelly. The sequel took 4 years to make before the COVID-19 pandemic hits.
Casting In December 2020, Bobby Cannavale, Letitia Wright, Eric André, Chelsea Peretti, longtime Illumination collaborator Pharrell Williams, Bono and Halsey were added to the voice cast.
Animation and design Work on the film shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was done remotely following the temporary closure of Illumination Mac Guff (now renamed as Illumination Studios Paris).
The scope of the theater in the finale was a major stepping stone to take over 10,000 animals for the crowd department, old and new ones designed by long-time Illumination artist Eric Guillon who worked on Sing and designed the new characters in the sequel like choreographer Klaus and the tarsiers. Fashion brand Rodarte designed some of the costumes used in the film.
Music
In December 2020, Joby Talbot returned to compose the score. U2 performed the film's original song "Your Song Saved My Life". The song was released on November 3, 2021. Additional music includes songs by Kiana Ledé, Sam i, Billie Eilish, Elton John and more. The film's soundtrack was released on December 17, 2021.
Release Theatrical and home media Sing 2 had its world premiere, opening the AFI Fest Celebration on November 14, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 22, 2021, in RealD 3D, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after previously being scheduled to be released in the United States on December 25, 2020, and July 2, 2021. Early access screenings occurred in the United States on November 27, 2021. The film was released to video on January 7, 2022, on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu, Xfinity, and YouTube. It was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 29, 2022, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Marketing Tomy made a deal with Illumination and Universal to develop the Sing 2 toy line, featuring plush toys, collectible figures, and a role-playing game. An Adopt Me! live event was released on Roblox by Uplift Games in partnership with Illumination to promote this film. The film also has many promotional partners including Xfinity, McDonald's, Kellogg's, and Mercari. By its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film had made 393.1 million impressions across all social media platforms, a statistic 24% above those of a film released before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the film had a better social media reach than 2021's Encanto, The Addams Family 2, Tom & Jerry, Spirit Untamed, and The Croods: A New Age.
Reception Box office Sing 2 grossed $162.8million in the United States and Canada, and $245.6million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $408.4 million.