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''Ron's Gone Wrong'' is a 2021
computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...
science fiction comedy film directed by Sarah Smith and Jean-Philippe Vine (in his feature directorial debut), and written by
Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He is best known for appearing in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His work largely represents collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve C ...
and Smith. The film features the voice of
Jack Dylan Grazer Jack Dylan Grazer (born September 3, 2003) is an American actor. He began his acting career by playing guest roles in film and on television and had his breakthrough playing the role of Eddie Kaspbrak in the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of ...
as Barney, a socially awkward middle-schooler who befriends a defective robot he names Ron, voiced by
Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in '' Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show '' Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''T ...
. Barney must find a way to protect Ron, who comes under danger from corporate employees. Additional voices include
Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Offi ...
, Justice Smith,
Rob Delaney Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and activist. He was the co-star and co-writer of the TV show ''Catastrophe'', and has appeared in comedy films such as '' Deadpool 2'' (2018) and '' Tom & Jerry'' (2021 ...
, Kylie Cantrall, Ricardo Hurtado, and
Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...
. ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' is the first feature film from Locksmith Animation, and was animated by
DNEG Animation DNEG (formerly known as Double Negative) is a British visual effects, computer animation, and stereo conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus. The c ...
. Animation and voice acting for the film were all done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film had its world premiere at the 2021
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
on October 9, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2021, and in the United States on October 22, 2021, by
20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
. It is the first animated feature film to be theatrically released under the studio's new name, 20th Century Studios, following the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and t ...
. The film grossed $60.7 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics.


Plot

Tech giant Bubble unveils their latest creation: the B-bot, created by Bubble's
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
Marc Wydell with the intent to make a robot buddy that is designed to help make friends via
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing ...
. In the city of Nonsuch, California, middle schooler Barney Pudowski, whose mother passed away, is the only kid in his class who does not have a B-bot. His former childhood friends, Savannah Meades, Rich Belcher, Noah, and Ava have all become absorbed by their individual B-bots. On Barney's birthday, his father, Graham, and his grandmother, Donka, come to realize that he does not have any friends. They hastily go to a Bubble store, but it closes for the day, leading them to buy a slightly damaged one from the store's delivery driver. Barney receives the B-bot as his late-birthday gift, but upon activating it, he quickly learns that it is defective and glitchy. Not wanting to upset his father, Barney decides to take it back to the Bubble store to get it fixed, but ends up running into Rich and his friends who taunt and try to humiliate Barney. The B-bot begins to fight back as his safety functions have been disabled, with him and Barney happily running off. However, Rich called the police and they along with Graham and Donka are taken to the Bubble store so that the B-bot can be crushed. Not wanting to see him go, Barney secretly rescues him and names him Ron, a shortened version of his model number. When Barney and Ron's actions are reported, Marc is happy to see Ron go against his programming while his fellow executive Andrew Morris views it as bad publicity, believing Ron must be destroyed for the issue to be resolved. Barney teaches Ron how to be a good friend and, while hanging out, runs into Savannah who tells Ron that he needs to help Barney get friends. Despite Barney telling Savannah not to, she posts Ron's actions online, alerting Bubble. The next day, Ron gets out of the house and tries to get "friends" for Barney, bringing a series of random people to school. As Barney gets in trouble, Rich discovers Ron's unlocked function and downloads it, causing all the other B-bots to have their safety features turned off. The B-bots run wild and, in the end, after the B-Bots have a patch update, Savannah is publicly humiliated. Barney is kicked out from school and tells Ron off, but upon returning home, realizes that Ron was truly being a friend and decides to run away with him when Bubble employees come for him. They briefly run into Savannah, still upset over her incident, and tells her that he is hiding in the woods. Meanwhile, while Andrew warns Marc about the ramifications of the B-bot, Marc sneaks away so that he can meet Ron while Bubble uses their resources to take control of all the B-bots to go looking for Ron and Barney in the woods. Due to the cold weather and Barney's
asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
, he becomes weak and Ron brings him back to civilization just outside the school where Savannah, Rich, Noah and Ava rush out to help him. Barney is taken to the hospital and recuperates before meeting Marc who patched Ron, making him like every other B-Bot. Barney demands that Marc access the cloud to get Ron's original personality, but Andrew took over the Bubble company and locked Marc out. Through an elaborate plan for Barney, Graham, Donka and Marc breaking into Bubble HQ, Barney manages to make it to the Bubble database, finds Ron's original data by his light and uploads him back into his body, restoring him back to his original code. Seeing that Bubble has direct access to everyone's B-bot and realizing that everyone is just as lonely as he was, Barney suggests upgrading all the B-bots to have Ron's flaws. However, this means that Ron will be dispersed. Barney reluctantly says goodbye to Ron as his programming is spread to everyone, mixing Marc's friendship algorithm with Ron's code. Marc
blackmails Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
Andrew into giving his position of CEO back after secretly recording him admitting that the B-bots spy on their owners for profit. Three months later, everyone has a faulty B-bot, but are happy with their weird and wild personalities. Barney (who is now allowed back in school) no longer has one, but has become much more sociable and has gotten close with his former friends. As they hang out at recess, a giant Bubble tower that overlooks Nonsuch produces Ron's face, implying that Ron could still be alive.


Voice cast


Production


Development and production

After founding Locksmith Animation, Sarah Smith wanted to create a film that observed the impact of the internet on children's relationships and self-esteem, which she realised could be made into a film after watching '' Her'' (2013), commenting "we have to make that film for kids, to elpthem evaluate those experiences". Smith approached
Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He is best known for appearing in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His work largely represents collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve C ...
with one paragraph of story where a robot learns through imitation, Smith said that Baynham asked "what if it was an idiot and it was annoying?" Despite creating a British animated film, a creative decision was made to set it in a United States suburb. Locksmith co-founder Julie Lockhart explained, "From a design perspective, the fact that all the big tech companies are in California made it feel that’s where it should be. We're also making films for a global audience that may not specifically be about British culture." Locksmith had a troubled history in securing a distributor for the project. In May 2016, the studio formed a production deal with
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest ...
in which they would distribute Locksmith's films under their
Paramount Animation Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own ...
banner. However, the following year Paramount abandoned the deal when Paramount chairman and CEO
Brad Grey Brad Alan Grey (December 29, 1957 – May 14, 2017) was an American television and film producer. He co-founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (now Brillstein Entertainment Partners), and afterwards became the chairman and CEO of Paramount Picture ...
was replaced by Jim Gianopulos. In September 2017, Locksmith formed a multi-year production deal with
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
, which would distribute their films under the
20th Century Fox Animation 20th Century Animation, Inc. (originally known as Fox Family Films, Fox Animation Studios, and 20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to as Fox Animation) is an American animation studio located in Century City, Los Angeles. Formed ...
label with Locksmith aiming to theatrically release a film every 12–18 months. The acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney led to concern that the distribution deal would be lost again. Smith said the resulting acquisition was "terrifying", and described the prospect of promoting the project to Disney executives as " carrying coals to Newcastle", but ultimately they were supportive of the project. After production began on the film, Locksmith moved to Warner Bros. Pictures for its future projects. On October 12, 2017, it was announced that the project would be titled ''Ron's Gone Wrong'', and will serve as the first animated feature film from Locksmith Animation.
Alessandro Carloni Alessandro Carloni is an Italian film director, animator, and art director, best known for his work with DreamWorks Animation in general, particularly the ''Kung Fu Panda'' films. He co-directed ''Kung Fu Panda 3'', alongside Jennifer Yuh Nelson ...
and Jean-Phillipe Vine were announced to serve as the film's co-directors with Octavio E. Rodriguez. The visual effects company
DNEG DNEG (formerly known as Double Negative) is a British visual effects, computer animation, and stereo conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus. The ...
was on board as a digital production partner to provide the film's computer animation. Also, Baynham, who previously worked with Smith on ''
Arthur Christmas ''Arthur Christmas'' is a 2011 computer-animated Christmas science fantasy comedy film directed by Sarah Smith and co-directed by Barry Cook. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and A ...
'' (2011), and Elisabeth Murdoch were announced to executive produce the film with Smith. In test screenings, Smith was surprised to find that Donka was a popular character with children. The scene where Donka dances on a table with Ron was a favourite scene for children, and Smith viewed this as "comedy there that they haven't seen before".


Casting

Grazer first began recording lines for the role of Barney in 2017 when he was 13 and did not finalize his role until early 2021 by the time he was 18. Grazer said that it became difficult to maintain his 13-year-old prepubescent voice throughout the years of recording. He was originally introduced as a test voice for early animatics, but Smith kept him on after being astounded by the emotional range of his performance. Galifianakis was instructed to perform much of his lines for the role of Ron in a deadpan voice, to convey that Ron is run by an algorithm and is not very emotional. He commented that this was challenging and unusual, because he had never had directors in the past ask for "less" emotion. Smith praised Helms performance as the role of Graham for skilfully improvising lines and contributing additional "touches" to the film, saying "You give him the lines and he’ll do six versions of his own and he’s hilarious".


Animation

The character of Ron was designed to be aesthetically reminiscent of "stripped-down" computer software, with the pixelated interfaces of the
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...
operating system being a source of inspiration. Emphasis was placed on allowing Ron's animated performance to be versatile within the constraints of his design, which demanded precise control over his motion graphics
skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different de ...
that deliver his facial expressions. This included allowing his face slide all across his body, such as his eyeballs appearing between his legs when picked up. Baynham explained "he doesn't have a face that you can do all the classic things with, but somehow he does... like the way his eye might slip a little bit... that speaks to his simple clownishness." Vine referred to Ron's behaviour as being alike to the
Clippy The Office Assistant is a discontinued intelligent user interface for Microsoft Office that assisted users by way of an interactive animated character which user interface, interfaced with the Office help content. It was included in Microsoft Off ...
personal assistant, describing him "cheerfully and annoyingly helpful all the time". Locksmith consulted with the toy designer
Sphero Sphero, Inc. (formerly Orbotix) is an American consumer robotics and toy company based in Boulder, Colorado. Their first product, the Sphero, is a white spherical robot launched in December 2011 capable of rolling around under the control of a s ...
to investigate what would be a realistic design for a social media robot. Vine said, "we wanted the movie to feel like it’s set right around now so the bot needs to feel tangible". Animation director Eric Leighton explained that it was important to track the emotional state of Ron to determine his range of behaviour. The scene where Ron physically attacks children is where he is "the most broken that a robot could possibly be", and the scene where he is reprogrammed is at his most benign. The whole movie was shot out of sequence in favor of doing scenes across his degrees of "brokeness". The character design of Barney was distinguished through coordinated color palettes; Barney's clothes are patterned in "earth tones" to indicate his love of nature, and his home is vibrant in contrast to the muted colors of other homes in the town he lives in. DNEG had to develop a new "shot-based" animation process for creating the film, in changeover from previously specializing in
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
for live-action cinema. The animation software
Pixar RenderMan Pixar RenderMan (formerly PhotoRealistic RenderMan) is proprietary photorealistic 3D rendering software produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Pixar uses RenderMan to render their in-house 3D animated movie productions and it is also available as ...
was used for the film, and the Universal Scene Description file format was adopted a third of the way during production. Production was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Animation for the film was done remotely with crew members working from home, which included digital modelling, rigging, and lighting. Editors faced difficulty assembling footage with temporarily out-of-sync audio, which impaired judgement over the timing of edits. Voice acting was also done remotely, and involved makeshift home recording setups where blankets were used for soundproofing. A voice actor even had to ask family members sharing an internet connection to come offline, in order to free bandwidth for a recording session. A labor dispute arose over DNEG announcing 20%-25% pay cuts to employees earning more than £35,000 ( GBP) per year, which it said was due to business disruption caused by COVID-19. This led to 169 employees signing a collective grievance statement. The move was later partially reversed; DNEG was forced to reach deals with its business partners, this included Locksmith who agreed to offer a salary top-up and completion bonus to employees working on the film. The trade union BECTU condemned DNEG for its refusal to communicate with the union, and said its response to the collective grievance was deliberately indirect. The film took approximately five years to complete.


Musical score and soundtrack album

Henry Jackman Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1974) is an English composer. He composed music for films such as '' Kong: Skull Island'', '' X-Men: First Class'', ''Winnie the Pooh'', ''Wreck-It Ralph'', ''Puss in Boots'', ''Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Captain Phil ...
composed the film score. Speaking about the score, Jackman said that "it has its own identity, similar to ''
Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 52nd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Rich Moore (in his feature directo ...
'' or '' Big Hero 6''" having the "same musical landscape and color in this film", and also had enjoyed working in the film, calling the scoring sessions as "enormous fun". Vine and Smith expressed gratitude to Jackman on how his score elevated the film. Smith wanted the score to have a "contemporary John Hughes feel along with a classic 'high school movie' vibe and the orchestral scale and emotion of '' E.T.'' on top". The score was recorded at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
and
Air Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...
in
London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
. Jackman composed most of the tracks, with two songs in collaboration with Dave Bayley of the indie-pop band
Glass Animals Glass Animals are an English indie pop band formed in Oxford in 2010. Founded and led by singer, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, the group also features his childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane. Bayley wrote ...
.
Liam Payne Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...
performed an original song titled "Sunshine" and its music video was released on August 27, 2021. The soundtrack was released digitally on October 15, 2021 by
Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records ...
and
Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...
and in physical formats on October 22.


Release

In October 2017, ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' was scheduled for a theatrical release on November 6, 2020. In November 2019, the film was moved to February 26, 2021. In May 2020, the film was moved to April 23, 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 22, 2021, the film was then delayed further to October 22, 2021 in
RealD 3D RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by approximately 1 ...
originally. The film also had its world premiere as the headlining act of the 2021
BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...
on October 9, 2021 making it a Special BFI Presentation. On the same date, the film premiered at the 36th
Guadalajara International Film Festival The Guadalajara International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara) is a week-long film festival held each March in the Mexican city of Guadalajara since 1986. The presence in Guadalajara of delegates from other impor ...
's Guadalajara opening celebration event. The film was premiered in United Kingdom on October 15, 2021. The film also held a special surprise screening premiere at the
El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the ...
on the day of its USA theatrical release date of October 22, 2021. The film played exclusively in theaters for 45 days before heading to digital platforms. The film is also the only film under Locksmith's deal with 20th Century Studios, as the animation studio struck a new deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to distribute future films under
Warner Animation Group The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, t ...
.


Marketing and promotion

TOMY is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...
made a deal with
20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
and Locksmith Animation to develop and promote the film's toys including plush toys and action figures.


Home media

''Ron's Gone Wrong'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
,
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of stori ...
and
Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Blu ...
on December 7, 2021 and on Digital on December 15, 2021 by
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
. Special features include Questions and Answers with
Jack Dylan Grazer Jack Dylan Grazer (born September 3, 2003) is an American actor. He began his acting career by playing guest roles in film and on television and had his breakthrough playing the role of Eddie Kaspbrak in the 2017 and 2019 film adaptations of ...
and
Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in '' Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show '' Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''T ...
calling "A Boy and His B-bot", a ''Making Ron Right'' featurette and the music video of the film's soundtrack album's one and only original hit song called "Sunshine" by British English singer and songwriter
Liam Payne Liam James Payne (born 29 August 1993) is an English singer. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series ''The X Factor''. After being ...
. ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' became available for streaming on
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Network ...
and
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
on December 15, 2021, after
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
reached a deal with
WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
for a majority of the upcoming films from
20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...
to be streamed collaboratively between Disney+, HBO Max and
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...
until HBO's deal with 20th Century, signed before Disney's acquisition of the company in 2012, runs out at the end of 2022. ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' also made its American television premiere on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
on December 18, 2021.


Reception


Box office

''Ron's Gone Wrong'' grossed $23 million in the United States and Canada and $37.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $60.7 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
'' and was projected to gross around $10 million from 3,065 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $2.3 million on its first day, including $260,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut in fifth place with $7.3 million. On its second weekend, the film fell 48% and made $3.7 million. Brennan Klein of ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scree ...
'' speculated the film to be a
box office disappointment A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
due to its low performance and undisclosed budget.


Critical response

''Ron's Gone Wrong'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 80% with a "Certified Fresh" rating, based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "It isn't the first animated film to confront technology creep, but in terms of striking an entertaining balance between humor and heart, ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' gets it right." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...
, the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. James Mottram of ''
The South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...
'' wrote: "sweet, heart-warming and frighteningly prescient, ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' is one of the best animated films in recent memory." Tim Robey of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' gave the film four out of five stars and said that the film is "visualized with verve" and that "it's a zingy and mercilessly funny satire on how devices, with their ever-so-friendly interfaces, have in fact become our despots." Ben Kenigsberg of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said "As family entertainment, it's fine."
Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'' gave the film three out of five stars, saying that the film was "entertaining, though composed with algorithmic precision", adding that "it winds up suspiciously neutral about whether kids really should abandon digital enslavement in favour of real-life human friends." Pat Padua of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...
'' gave the film three out of four stars, writing that it "has plenty of slapstick and potty humor for kids. But adults will also be intrigued by its frequently scathing (albeit somewhat conflicted) critique of consumerism."
Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', presen ...
said that the film was "really good fun and a real surprise." Anna Smith of '' Deadline Hollywood Daily'' wrote that the film was "one for all the family - just put your cellphones away first." Brandon Zachary of '' CBR'' wrote "What starts as a movie you'd expect to know every twist to transcends into something far more interesting." Charles Bramesco of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' wrote: "As in the curiously similar ''
The Mitchells vs. the Machines ''The Mitchells vs. the Machines'' is a 2021 computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film was directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Rianda and Jeff Rowe, with P ...
'', the misadventures transmit a light-hearted commentary on the wonders and hazards of our screen-saturated culture." Wendy Ide of ''
Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...
'' said that the film "transcends the familiarity of the story with deft writing, appealing animation and a big heart crammed into a small malfunctioning robot." Angie Han of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' wrote "What the animated feature lacks in daring imagination, it makes up for with endearing good humor, thoughtful cultural critique and one heck of a cute robot." Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press was more critical of the film, describing it as "a derivative tale about a middle schooler and his quirky computer sidekick" and writing that it "seems to want to preach we should all disconnect from our devices and restore human contact. But then what will the filmmakers do with all that adorable merch?" Michael Ordoña of ''
The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' wrote that the film "dots its primer on friendship with chase scenes and warnings about Big Tech with only mixed success." Yolanda Machando of ''
TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009. Awards ''TheWrap'' has won awards for its journalism, incl ...
'' wrote that the film "offers partially realized messaging about social media while populating the story with elementary sight gags, too many overused "fish out of water" tropes and attractive merchandise options."


Audience viewership

According to
Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, ''Ron's Gone Wrong'' was the third most streamed feature film worldwide across all major platforms between December 13 and December 19, 2021. ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scree ...
'' reported that within the United States it was the most viewed feature film on Disney+ after two days of appearing on the service on December 15.


Accolades, awards and nominations


References


External links

* * {{Disney theatrical animated features 2020s American animated films 2020s British animated films 2020s English-language films 2020s adventure comedy films 2020s satirical films 2020s science fiction comedy films 2020s teen comedy films 2021 comedy films 2021 computer-animated films 2021 directorial debut films 2021 science fiction films 20th Century Studios animated films 20th Century Animation films 20th Century Studios films 3D animated films American 3D films American adventure comedy films American children's animated comic science fiction films American computer-animated films American high school films American teen comedy films American robot films American satirical films Animated films about friendship Animated films about robots Animated films set in California Animated films set in the future British 3D films British children's animated films British animated science fiction films British computer-animated films British satirical films Films about artificial intelligence Films about asthma Films about social media Films about technological impact Films about technology Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Films scored by Henry Jackman Films with screenplays by Peter Baynham Middle school films TSG Entertainment films TSG Entertainment animated films 2020s British films