Rio-PosterAfter taking just shy of 0m. around the world with 2011’s Rio, Blue Sky Studios will be back on the big screen next spring with the sequel, Rio 2.

With a release date already set for March/April 2014, Fox and Blue Sky Studios have announced the movie’s leading voice cast, with the major players from the original returning for more animated entertainment.

Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Bebel Gilberto, Jake T. Austin, and Jamie Foxx are all reprising their roles from the original film.

And joining them will be a great new set of additions to the cast, headed up by Andy Garcia, Bruno Mars, Kristin Chenoweth, Rita Moreno, Amanda Stenberg, Rachel Crow, Pierce Gagnon, and Natalie Morales.

Personally, I really like what I’ve seen so far of the young Pierce Gagnon (Looper, One Tree Hill), and look forward to hearing him in Rio 2 alongside such a fantastic cast.

“In RIO 2 we find Blu, Jewel and their three kids living the perfect domesticated life in that magical city.  When Jewel decides the kids need to learn to live like real birds, she insists the family venture into the Amazon.  As Blu tries to fit in with his new neighbors, he worries he may lose Jewel and the kids to the call of the wild.”

Carlos Saldanha is back in the director’s chair once more, with John C. Donkin and Bruce Anderson returning to produce.

John Powell will be composing the score once more, with the soundtrack also set to feature new Brazilian artists and original music from Janelle Monáe and The Wondaland Arts Society, with Monáe also set to lend her voice to the film.

Rio 2 will be released in the UK on 4th April, 2014, with its US release date set for 11th April, a few weeks after the film debuts in Russia on 20th March. And just for fun (no pun intended), here’s the music video for fun.’s We Are Young, featuring Janelle Monáe.

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