Future

Future is a 2028 American animated sci-fi adventure comedy film directed by Christopher Knights (in his directorial debut), written by Xavier Shaquille and Madagascar co-creator Eric Darnell, and produced by DreamWorks Animation. It stars Bobby Moynihan, Ashley Johnson, Patton Oswalt and Jason Issacs as the lead roles. Contrasting to the recent computer-animated films, the film uses 2D-animation; marking this as the studio's first ever 2D-animated feature film since 2003's Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas; which was requested by writer Xavier Shaquille.

The film was released in May 10, 2028, by Universal Pictures, with Shaquille's studio Smashup Productions co-producing. The film received mixed reviews with criticism towards the plot, while the animation and voice performances received praise. The film also was a commercial success grossing $162.9 million on a budget of $75 million.

Plot
A 30-year-old man by the name of Brody Harrison receives a flier about a creation by Stephen Zmit. He heads downtown and meets meets him. Zmit introduces the Portal to the 31th Century. Brody is psyched to be the one to see the future. Zmit gives him a watch that is set for when he enters the portal, he gets an hour to see it, then return, although when the curious Brody enters, he takes the watch off and puts it on a tree. He wanders around the futuristic town and goes to several places. After all the places in the city, he notices his house is still there and empty. He buys it and moves in it. Later, he then goes to an amusement park where he meets a bald-headed woman named Ann Jonah in a house of mirrors.

Meanwhile, Zmit has discovered that he took off that watch. He later gets his Sentry robots to find him. The robots find Brody with Ann who run from them. They follow them in a house, which Brody blows up and destroys in the process. The house blown up was Ann's. Making it up to her, he lets her live in his house. After finding out the robot have failed, Zmit decides to find him himself. With Brody's father, he waits for him to come back, then decides to find him with his friends, the Rallyblock Gang. The next morning, Ann brings Brody to a company called Olson Industries, where they meet the founder Malcom Olson who later brings them on a delivery to their. After that, Ann tells Brody a backstory of that miserable day and when she lost her hair; she was tested for a cure for hair loss, but the formula was recalled after the serum only removed hair rather than as described. Since then, she was ridiculed by her baldness by society. He comforts her by saying that it will pass for her one day. The next day, Brody and Ann fall in love.

Zmit and his robots find Brody. The robots discover his location, Olson Industries. They break in, capture his friends and incapacitate him. Brody wakes up in his bedroom and finds himself back in the present. Meanwhile, his friends are caged and Moja is chained to a wall. Brody returns before Zmit could return to dismantle his machine. Sneaking into his lab, he frees the Olson Industries crew, but is caught at gunpoint before he could free Ann. As Zmit prepares to shoot Brody, Malcom blocks his shot and is killed instead. Brody faces off with Zmit by disarming him and hijacking all his robots with Zmit's communicator earpiece. The crew that fled had gotten the police who arrest Zmit. Reunited with his father and friends, Brody tells them about his last three days in the future; to which they find surprising. Due to the loss of Malcom, his sister Ruth takes over his position, with Zmit's Sentry robots as the company's new salesman and assistants. Brody, who has decided to stay in the 31st Century, introduces Ann and the Olson Industries crew to his friends and family.

In a post-credits scene, Malcolm's receptionist robot called B-o-M tells the audience to throw away their wrappers and empty popcorn buckets in the trash when they leave before the credits roll.

Cast

 * Bobby Moynihan as Brody Harrison, a simple-minded men who enjoys country music. Writer Xavier Shaquille named the character after his brother Cedryc Mosley's close friend Brody Hogan.
 * Ashley Johnson as Annie "Ann" Jonah, an overweight bald woman and is Harr's love interest.
 * Johnson also does the voice of Sally, the third of the Rallyblock Gang.
 * Jason Issacs as Professor Stephen Zmit, a world-renowned scientist who creates a machine at sends people to the future.
 * Patton Oswalt as Malcom Olson, the head of a business called Olson Industries.
 * Maya Rudolph as Ruth Olson, Malcom's enthusiastic sister and salesman of Olson Industries.
 * Beck Bennett as Tim Bruce, the second salesman of Olson Industries.
 * Pete Browngardt as Brody's father.
 * Bumper Robinson as Matt, the first member of the Rallyblock Gang.
 * David Kaufman as Don, the second member of the Rallyblock Gang.
 * Tim Curry as Sanches Manchas, a wealthy client to Olson Industries.

Additional voices include writer Xavier Shaquille as B-o-M (Bot of Malcom's), Malcom's handmade robot helper and receptionist; Chris Miller as a retailer hologram; translation service Google Translate as the Mark Infinity's computer and Jim Cummings as Mayor Jon Newman, the mayor of Nelvena in 3018.

Animation
The film's animation was done by Company 3 Animation, while DWA Glendale provided the CG effects for the vehicles, and other effects while they are cel-shaded to be accurate to the film's animation.

Release
Future was given a Hollywood premiere on May 5, 2028, then released worldwide on May 10. The film was accompanied by Marshmallow Madness, a Spirit Untamed short animated in the traditional animation style of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron; the short centers around Abigail Stone chasing an eagle who snatches her bag of marshmallows.

Home media
Future was released on digital platforms on August 8, 2028, then on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 22 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Its bonus features consist of an exclusive short film titled B-o-M Buffering, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. A look at the Olson Industries employees' files is exclusive to the Blu-ray release.

Box office
Future had grossed $43 million on its opening weekend, then ended with $162 million in North America.

Critical response
The film was met with mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 50% rating based on 169 reviews on the rating of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Future brings out a few emotional heartfelt and humorist moments, but being a comeback to 2D-animation wasn't what we expected – or predicted."