The Bad Guys (film)

This article is about the 2022 animated film. For the unrelated 2019 South Korean film, see The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos.

The Bad Guys
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPierre Perifel
Screenplay byEtan Cohen
Based onThe Bad Guys
by Aaron Blabey
Produced by
  • Damon Ross
  • Rebecca Huntley
Starring
Edited byJohn Venzon
Music byDaniel Pemberton
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • April 22, 2022 (2022-04-22) (United States)
Running time
100 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$69–80 million[2][3]
Box office$250.4 million[4][5]

The Bad Guys is a 2022 American animated heist comedy film[6][7][8] based on the children's book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey, produced by DreamWorks Animation Studios and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Pierre Perifel (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, and stars the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh. It tells the story of a criminal group of anthropomorphic animals who, upon being caught, pretend to attempt to reform themselves as model citizens, only for their leader to find himself genuinely drawn to changing his ways for good as a new villain has his own plans.

Work on the film started in March 2018, with Cohen writing the screenplay; the characters and themes drew inspiration from various crime films and anime series such as Pulp Fiction (1994), the Ocean's film trilogy, Lupin III, and Sherlock Hound, while the inspiration for the film's animation style came from Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Production began at DreamWorks Animation's Glendale campus and some additional production assets were borrowed from Jellyfish Pictures, with voice acting being done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bad Guys was released theatrically in several countries beginning on March 16, 2022, and in the United States on April 22, in 2D and RealD 3D formats. It received positive reviews from critics for its animation, screenplay, humor, and voice acting. It was also a box office success, grossing $250 million worldwide. A sequel is set to be released on August 1, 2025.

  1. ^ "The Bad Guys". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on May 30, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference opening was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Fuster, Jeremy (April 21, 2022). "'The Bad Guys' Leads a Crucial Box Office Weekend for Non-Franchise Films". TheWrap. The Wrap News Inc. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Bad Guys (2022)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "The Bad Guys". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 22, 2023.Edit this at Wikidata
  6. ^ Moore, Roger (April 23, 2022). "Movie Review: An "Ocean's" caper for kiddies — "The Bad Guys"". Movie Nation. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  7. ^ "The Bad Guys Film Review: Talking Animals Meet 1970s Caper". April 21, 2022. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Bad Guys review – Tarantino-style kids' crime caper is amiable animated fun". the Guardian. March 30, 2022. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2022.