We bring you the facts about Blu and Jewel’s latest adventure…
1. Welcome To Rio
The original RIO movie from Blue Sky Animation was released in 2011 to rave reviews and a massive box office haul, It grossed $484,635,760 worldwide, making it the 13th highest-grossing film of the year – that will buy a lot of bird seed! The sequel brings back the original’s voice and musical cast and opens in Irish cinemas on April 4th.
2. P-P-P-pick up a Penguin
Director Carlos Saldanha first had the initial story idea for RIO in 1995 involving a penguin being washed up on the beaches of Ipanema, the story and the birds changed after he learned that the penguin heavy movies HAPPY FEET and SURF’S UP were both being made at the same time.
3. Bird Song
RIO 2 boasts one of the most eclectic film soundtracks of the year… With tunes from Janelle Monae, Bruno Mars and Jemaine Clement from Flight Of The Conchords on there… if that wasn’t enough, Hollywood stars like Jmie Foxx and Anne Hathaway exercise their vocal chords on a number of tracks.
4. Angry Birds
In 2011 Rovio Entertainment released a ‘Rio’ themed version of their hugely popular Angry Birds game, it has since been downloaded more than 10 million times and has been one of the top downloaded games on both the Apple App Store and Google Play store.
5. Birds On Tour
To perfect the look of the movie the animators at Blue Sky were sent to Rio De Janeiro and afterwards they consulted with experts on Macaws at the Bronx Zoo to study their movements and portray them as realistically as possible on screen.
6. Happy Jesse Eisenberg day!
April 4th should be renamed Jesse Eisenberg day at cinemas around the country, not only is Jesse voicing the world’s most famous parrot Blu in RIO 2 but his latest film THE DOUBLE is also opening on the same day… Jesse signed up for the original RIO movie while he was filming the Facebook themed movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK, he agreed to voice the movie on weekends saying “It was the perfect antidote to get out of the mindset of my character in THE SOCIAL NETWORK who was so severe, and in some ways so joyless.”
7. Get Real
Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg worked together on a Twentieth Century Fox show called GET REAL, the duo played brother & sister on the long forgotten 1999 sitcom. The RIO movies are the first time they’ve worked side by side since.
8. 5 Years Of Carlos Saldanha
Carlos Saldanha, director of RIO & RIO 2 has signed a five year deal with 20th Century Fox to make not only animation but live-action projects too. He is set to direct THE STORY OF FERDINAND in 2017 and is developing a film based on ALIENOLOGY from the OLOGIES fantasy book series.
9. Don Rhymer RIP
RIO 2 is the last title written by legendary screenwriter Don Rhymer before his death in November 2012. Some of Dan’s best known movies include BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE, THE HONEYMOONERS, DECK THE HALLS, SURF’S UP and the first RIO movie.
10. Happy New Year
It’s not every film that can sponsor a national holiday but RIO 2 was the official partner of the iconic New Years Eve celebration at Copacabana Beach in its hometown of Rio De Janeiro.
RIO 2 is released in Irish cinemas on April 4th