It’s the Revenge of the Leftovers in “Cloudy” Sequel

The new, 3D animated comedy “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” picks up where Sony Pictures Animation’s mouth-watering 2009 original left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention — a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals – “foodimals!” Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world – again!

Starring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, and Kristen Schaal, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” is directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn. Story by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Erica Rivinoja. Screenplay by Erica Rivinoja and John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein. Inspired by the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs written by Judi Barrett & illustrated by Ron Barrett.

Flint Lockwood and his pals discover that something big was leftover on the island of Swallow Falls. The action picks up just sixty seconds after the first film ends: Flint Lockwood has destroyed his greatest invention, the Flint Lockwood Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator, or FLDSMDFR for short. That invention was a wild success, in that it could turn water into food, and an unmitigated disaster, in that it unleashed a torrent of deadly food weather that threatened to destroy the world. Flint blew it up – or, at least, that’s what he thought.

“I love the world of Cloudy,” says Cody Cameron, who directs the film with Kris Pearn. A story board artist on the first three “Shrek” films, as well as the Sony Pictures Animation films “Surf’s Up,” the first “Cloudy,” Cameron says, “Of all the films I’ve worked on, `Cloudy’ is my favorite. So to get the chance to go back and revisit the characters in this new, crazy world that we were developing made this a really exciting project for me.”

“When we started the brainstorming process, we found a very rich amount of elements to explore – not just a new adventure, but also the characters,” says Pearn, who headed up the story team on the first “Cloudy” film. “On this adventure, all of the characters get to express themselves more fully. For example, Earl, the town cop, wants to protect the home he loves so much. Manny – who was so silent through most of the first film – reveals more and more hidden sides of himself. Sam, the one person who understands Flint better than anybody else, is the one to see the island for what it is – an expression of Flint’s creativity.”

Cameron and Pearn were hand-picked to direct “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the writers and directors of the first film. “I worked on the movie for 4½ years – the last 3½ with Phil and Chris,” says Pearn. “In the story department, you tend to have a small crew and you spend a lot of time with the directors. We got to know each other well and there was a lot of trust there. Cody and I were on the movie pretty much until the end, which is unusual, because it’s common as a film winds down to let board artists move on to other projects. So, once Phil and Chris decided they weren’t going to direct the sequel, it was an organic choice to allow us to take the reins – and not only that, but I think they saw how important it was to us to maintain the unique humor and quirkiness that made the first film so special as we embarked on the sequel.” Lord and Miller remain actively involved with the project as executive producers.

“On the first film, Phil and Chris were the first directors I’d ever worked with who treated the film like a writer’s room,” says Pearn. “Anybody with a thought that could help the film – even assistants and PAs – could pipe up. After all, a good idea can come from anywhere. We found that very helpful, and we’re keeping that going on this film. It’s very helpful when you can trust the crew and there’s a give-and-take in how the show is run.”

Lord and Miller say, “Kris and Cody were great collaborators on the first film and we loved working with them to bring these fun, unique characters back to life. The final result is a beautiful, stylized, funny film and we are thrilled that the Cloudy franchise has continued on in the hands of so many great people.”

Opening across the Philippines in Oct. 9, 2013, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit https://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.