The Garfield Movie | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Mark Dindal |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Garfield by Jim Davis |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Mark Keefer |
Music by | John Debney |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes[3] |
Country |
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Language | English |
Budget | $60 million[4] |
Box office | $49 million[2][5] |
The Garfield Movie is a 2024 American animated adventure comedy film based on the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis. Directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove, and David Reynolds, the film stars Chris Pratt as the voice of the titular character, alongside the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. In the film, Garfield is reunited with his long-lost father, a street cat named Vic, being forced into joining him on a high-stakes adventure.
Development on the first animated Garfield film for theatrical release started at Alcon Entertainment in May 2016. Dindal was announced as the film's director in November 2018, and pre-production began the following month. By 2021, Sony Pictures had already purchased the film rights for global distribution and Pratt was cast as Garfield, with the rest of the cast joining the following year. The film was animated by DNEG Animation, while John Debney, a frequent collaborator of Dindal, composed the score.
The Garfield Movie was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing on May 24, 2024. The film received negative reviews from critics and has grossed $49 million internationally.
Garfield is a large, lazy, orange cat who loves lasagna, hates Mondays, and lives happily with his best friend and beagle dog, Odie, with their owner, Jon Arbuckle. One night, while getting a midnight snack, Garfield and Odie were kidnapped by Roland, a large Shar Pei, and Nolan, a small whippet, and were taken to an abandoned mall. Garfield and Odie are tied up before they are rescued by Vic, Garfield's biological and estranged father, whom Garfield resents for abandoning him in an alley. Jinx, a persian cat, arrives to exact revenge on Vic for leaving her behind during a milk heist before she was caught and imprisoned in a pound. She agrees to let Vic go free if Garfield, Odie, and Vic steal a large quantity of milk as repayment for her imprisonment. They reluctantly agree, with Roland and Nolan watching them.
Jon finds out Garfield and Odie are missing. The three board a train to Lactose Farms, where Vic tries to bond with Garfield, but the latter refuses to do anything with Vic. The three reach Lactose Farms, guarded by a highly advanced security system. They meet Otto, a former mascot for the farm, who was forced out after a corporation ran the original owner out of business and took over the farm, separating him from his beloved Ethel. They agree to help get Ethel out of the farm if Otto can help them get in.
Otto comes up with a plan to get them inside. While working on the plan, Vic reveals that he was getting food for Garfield when he saw him being taken care of by Jon. He decided to let Jon adopt Garfield, and keeps his distance while watching from afar. Meanwhile, Jinx calls the Animal Control officer, Marge Malone, about a heist at Lactose Farms, so Marge heads over to apprehend the animals.
Garfield, Odie, and Vic successfully infiltrate the farm, but Marge intercepts them and captures Garfield and Odie. Vic reluctantly leaves them behind, stealing the milk truck. Garfield and Odie are being taken to the pound, where he meets all of Vic's former heist crew, including Snoop Catt, a blue Maine Coon, all of whom kicked Vic out because he checked on Garfield often. Jon arrives and takes Garfield and Odie back home. However, Garfield realizes that Vic does love him and decides to go back and save him from Jinx.
Vic rendezvous with Jinx and her henchmen, who betray Vic and plan to throw him off the train. Garfield and Odie arrive to rescue him with Otto's help. Seeing the love Vic has for his son, Roland and Nolan turn on Jinx. Outraged, she pushes them off the train, but she gets knocked off by an overpass. Otto swings a rope to save them and safely lands them on a net set up by Odie. They deliver Jinx in a cat cage to Marge in exchange for Ethel being released back to Otto, with Roland and Nolan working as guard dogs for Marge.
At Jon's house, Garfield reconciles with Vic, and Vic promises to visit him often whenever they have dinner.
In May 2016, seven years after 20th Century Fox's license with Paws, Inc. expired, it was announced that Alcon Entertainment would develop a new computer-animated Garfield film, with John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner producing, from a script by Mark Torgove and Paul A. Kaplan.[8][9] Mark Dindal was announced as director in November 2018, with pre-production beginning the following month.[10][11] In November 2021, David Reynolds was announced to write the film, reuniting with Dindal after having previously worked together on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000).[12] Sony Pictures would distribute the film under its Columbia Pictures label except for China, and DNEG Animation would provide the animation.[12] By September 2023, it was reported that the film would be entitled The Garfield Movie.[13][14]
In November 2021, Chris Pratt was announced to star as Garfield. In May 2022, it was reported that Samuel L. Jackson joined the film as Garfield's father, Vic.[15] In August 2022, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Hannah Waddingham and Cecily Strong were added to the cast.[16] In November 2022, Brett Goldstein and Bowen Yang were added to the cast.[17] Harvey Guillén was confirmed to voice Odie in November 2023,[18] and Hoult was later confirmed to voice Jon Arbuckle in December 2023.[19] With the release of the second trailer in March 2024, Snoop Dogg was revealed to star in the film, and Janelle James was also announced to star the same month.[7][20]
Garfield creator Jim Davis has approved of Pratt's casting as Garfield, believing his performance embraced "all sides of the character" and not just Garfield's deadpan humor.[21] Pratt was also director Mark Dindal's first choice to voice Garfield, believing "he had been 'imagining [Pratt's] voice coming out of Garfield' for years".[21] Dindal believed that his natural voice captured Garfield's laziness and sarcasm, and to test the compatibility, the animators have paired his voice with snippets of Garfield's dialogue as a test.[22]
In November 2023, it was reported that John Debney would compose the film's score, marking his third collaboration with Dindal following Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and Chicken Little (2005).[23] Snoop Dogg collaborated with Keith Urban on an original song for the film titled "Let It Roll", which was released as a single on April 12, 2024.[24] Another single titled "Then There Was You" was released by Calum Scott in May 2024.[25] On May 15, 2024, yet another single titled "Good Life", this time from Jon Batiste, was released.[26]
The Garfield Movie was theatrically released in the United States on May 24, 2024.[27] Internationally, the film was released earlier, on May 1, 2024.[28] It was previously scheduled for release domestically on February 16, 2024.[29]
In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included The Garfield Movie. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks.[30]
A video game spin-off based on the film is reportedly set to be released in 2024.[31][32]
In the United States and Canada, The Garfield Movie was released alongside Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Sight, and is projected to gross around $30 million from 4,000 theaters in its four-day opening weekend.[33]
The film opened in 18 countries on May 3, and grossed $22 million in its first weekend. Its largest markets were Mexico ($8.8 million),[34] Spain ($3.2 million), Brazil ($2.2 million), Italy ($1.6 million), and Peru ($1.3 million).[35]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 78 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Garfield Movie rolls along at a zany enough clip to be diverting for kids, but this animated adventure doesn't much resemble Jim Davis' iconically grumpy creation."[36] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 31 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[37]
In a negative review, Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film's unfaithfulness to the comic, writing, "As anyone familiar with cartoonist Jim Davis' iconic feline character knows, Garfield doesn't like to move around very much. He likes to eat, particularly pepperoni pizza and lasagna, and he likes to lie around and make sarcastic comments. In other words, he's not a cat of action. And yet for some reason, the creators of the new animated film revolving around him think that what the audience really wants is to watch Garfield engage in Mission: Impossible-style, stunt-laden violent mayhem."[38]