Each year when Deadline runs its Most Valuable Blockbuster film profitability countdown, readers understandably ask about certain wildly profitable films that for one reason or another, didn’t crack the Top 20. But that doesn’t mean these films don’t tell compelling stories in their own right. Here are snapshots of…

A re-teaming of Seth Rogen with director Conrad Vernon, following 2009’s Monsters vs. Aliens, Sausage Party was a risk, financially and creatively—a film that spent years in development before Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures came on board to jump start the process. Co-financed and distributed through Sony Pictures…

“The glances and tenderness of a taco towards a hotdog bun do not have the character of a sex scene." That’s an excerpt from the Administrative Court of Paris’ decision dismissing a suit brought by Christian values group Promouvoir, and other associations, to remove the operating visa for Sony's animated comedy Sausage…

Perhaps one of the more unlikely participants in this year’s big all-day awards-season event The Contenders Presented By Deadline is the raunchy and very adult animated feature Sausage Party, which Sony Pictures brought to showcase in front of a packed DGA theater full of Oscar and key guild voters.

Star and creative f…

Sony's hit animated comedy Sausage Party has completed much of its offshore run, grossing about $140M worldwide to date, and was just released in France on Wednesday. But some folks here are not getting the joke. Rated R in North America, the film was granted a -12 certificate by France's classification commission…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said today that a record 27 films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 89th Academy Awards. They are:

The Angry Birds Movie
April and the Extraordinary World
Bilal
Finding Dory
Ice Age: Collision Course
Kingsglaive Final Fant












…

Make no mistake—Seth Rogen and company take their comedy quite seriously, particularly when it comes to Sausage Party. A triple threat bringing his skills in writing, acting and producing to the Sony animated release, Rogen fought for more than three years to secure financing for the film—which brandishes his and…

When it comes to a bawdy, R-rated animated film, don’t count it out of Oscar season. As a refresher: 1999’s South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was nominated in the best song category for “Blame Canada”, which wound up being an unforgettable musical number during the awards telecast with Robin Williams. The mind…

Sony's operating income in the July-September quarter, its fiscal Q2, fell 48% vs the period last year to $453M. But the Sony Pictures unit held its own, generating a $32M profit, up from a slight loss, with help from releases including Ghostbusters, Sausage Party and Don't Breathe.

Revenue for the conglomerate, led by…

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

MEL IS BACK

It was an emotional night Monday at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, where director Mel Gibson got a sustained standing ovation after Andrew Garfield, star of his new film Hacksaw Ridge, brought him up on the stage following the Los…

EXCLUSIVE: Sausage Party co-director Conrad Vernon has been set to helm The Toxic Avenger, the live-action remake of the signature schlock franchise launched years ago by Troma. This version is a more grounded and mainstream telling of the story, and it’s set up at Bob Cooper and Richard Saperstein's Storyscape Enterta…

Sony Pictures has promoted Marisa Liston to Executive Vice President of Domestic Publicity of the Motion Picture Group, the company has announced. Liston will oversee and develop publicity strategies for all feature film releases from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and will report to Andre Caraco…