{"id":490425,"date":"2026-06-22T20:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490425\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T20:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T20:24:10","slug":"illumination-reveals-next-original-feature-not-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/490425\/","title":{"rendered":"Illumination Reveals Next Original Feature \u2018Not Alone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Illumination has revealed the first details and a new poster for Not Alone, an original animated feature set to arrive in theaters on April 16, 2027.<\/p>\n

Not Alone marks a return to original filmmaking for Illumination, whose recent slate, aside from Migration, has been dominated by established franchises such as Despicable Me, Sing, and The Super Mario Bros.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Cartoon Brew following the announcement, Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri said the project\u2019s significance lies in both its originality and its creative leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big story there is that we\u2019re going back to originality,\u201d Meledandri told us during a conversation in Annecy. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a homegrown directing team coming right out of the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film is directed by Illumination veterans Eric Guillon, Claire Dodgson, and Jonathan Del Val. Guillon previously co-directed Despicable Me 3 and served as a designer on many of the studio\u2019s biggest productions, while Dodgson and Del Val worked on films including Minions: The Rise of Gru, The Lorax, and The Secret Life of Pets 2.<\/p>\n

The film is headlined by Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, who plays Joe, an introverted rocket mechanic who lives a quiet life alone, and Selena Gomez, who voices Fran, a brilliant astro-botanist who is developing the world\u2019s first-ever plant-fueled rocket.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>\u2018Not Alone\u2019 Poster<\/p>\n

Illumination\u2019s official synopsis reads:<\/p>\n

When Joe and Fran are brought together to prepare for the inaugural launch of this revolutionary rocket, there are immediate sparks, but neither is particularly adept at romance.<\/p>\n

Life becomes more complicated when three aliens \u2014 tiny, unruly and adorable \u2014 take refuge in Joe\u2019s home. Dunk, Welly and Shirm are on the interplanetary run from a zealous-yet-inept officer of the law named Zandro. The aliens determine that Fran\u2019s rocket could provide their means of getting back home to safety.<\/p>\n

The supporting voice cast includes Brett Goldstein, Rob Brydon, Diane Morgan, Jamie Demetriou, Allison Janney, and Lamorne Morris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Illumination has revealed the first details and a new poster for Not Alone, an original animated feature set…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-490425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}