Clearly, the valiant band of adventurers who went to try and destroy the magic book conjuring up a movie based on emojis are now nothing more than smouldering skeletons at the bottom of a haunted ravine. How else do you explain that EmojiMovie: Express Yourself is still going ahead, and that James Corden and Ilana Glazer have joined the voice cast?
The basic story of this one finds T.J. Miller as Gene, a ‘meh’ emoji who’s supposed to act just like his equally meh parents. But a strange hiccup in his wiring has given him a whole range of expressions that should be beyond him. Desperate to return to normality in his home city of Textopolis, Gene recruits the help of best pal Hi-5 (Corden) and notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Glazer). But on their "app-venture" through the different application worlds of their user's phone, they discover a great danger threatening every emoji. Yes, even greater than having to use the phrase "app-venture" in polite company.
“Hi-5 is a high-five emoji who is a highly motivated, and highly dramatic, hand on a mission (sorry), and the brilliantly versatile, ebullient and always lovable James Corden fits this part like a glove (sorry again)," explains an apologetic Anthony Leondis, who is directing the film. "For the rebel ‘break all the codes’ computer programmer emoji Jailbreak, Ilana Glazer is the kind of singularly free-spirited, fearless and funny actress to make girls really feel the empowered ‘nobody’s gonna keep me in a cage’ attitude this character exudes."
Clearly hoping to channel the success of Wreck-It Ralph or The Lego Movie, this one will be downloading to cinemas on 11 August 2017.