The Black Hole is a series of American animated science fiction comedy action films. The series consists of two films. The first installment was the film The Black Hole, released in 2016 by Paramount Pictures. The franchise centers around a group in space who have to survive the biggest black hole in space, all the while one of the main characters slowly turns into a villain. The second installment, The Black Hole Book Two follows the group 10 years after the events of the first installment.
The duology grossed a combined $1.1 billion against a combined production budget of $114 million, and becoming the 17th-highest-grossing animated franchise ever.
Films[]
| ‘’’Film’’’ | ‘’‘U.S. release date’’’ | ‘’’Director(s)’’’ | ‘’’Writer(s)’’’ | ‘’’Producer(s)’’’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Black Hole | August 12, 2016 | Matteo Sigillo | Daniel Bauernfeind | Sigillo and Bauernfeind |
| The Black Hole Book Two | January 10, 2020 | Sigillo | Bauernfeind | Sigillo and Bauernfeind |
The Black Hole[]
The Black Hole (retroactively known as The Black Hole Book One) is a 2016 American animated science fiction comedy action film. The film tells the story of a group in space who have to survive the biggest black hole in space, all the while one of the members slowly turns into a villain. Sam Lavagnino voices The Alien, Daniel Bauernfeind voices Skip May Leogift, Ashley Johnson voices Lucy Turner, Michael Caine voices Duncan Bolt and Seth Meyers voices Saxophonist Asteroid. Production began on January 22nd, 2015 and ended on March 5th, 2015. The film was released on August 12, 2016 and grossed over $700 million worldwide, against a production budget of $35 million. The film launched the careers of Matteo Sigillo and Daniel Bauernfeind. It received positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, direction, animation and musical score, and many critics calling it the best animated film of 2016.
The Black Hole Book Two[]
Talks for an The Black Hole sequel began in New Years Eve 2015. By September 2017, Paramount Pictures announced that it would be released in January 2020, with Sigillo and Bauernfeind returning to their roles as director and writer. Production began on July 26th, 2018 and ended on September 6th, 2018. As said earlier, Matteo Sigillo returned as director and Daniel Bauernfeind returned as writer. Set in 2581, 10 years after the first film, Logan Grove voices The Alien, replacing Sam Lavagnino because of puberty, Daniel Bauernfeind also reprises his role as the voice of Skip May Leogift, Ashley Johnson reprises her role as the voice of Lucy Turner, Michael Caine reprises his role as the voice of Duncan Bolt, this time the majority of the film, his character goes as his alter-ego Dark Shadow, Seth Meyers reprises his role as the voice of Saxophonist Asteroid and Malcolm McDowell voices the Black Hole. The Black Hole Book Two premiered at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on January 1, 2020, and was theatrically released in the United States on January 10, 2020. The film received praise for its acting (particularly Meyers and McDowell) and themes, though criticism was aimed at its runtime and weaker action scenes compared to its predecessor. Its faithfulness to its depiction of a talking black hole also drew a polarized response from scientists.
Future[]
On the second film’s opening weekend, Daniel Bauernfeind spoke of the possibility of a third installment, saying “I know you all are anticipating a third film of The Black Hole and so are my own parents, but, sadly, there won't be a third film. The second film seemed kinda obvious as it was the thrilling conclusion of the films. I'm truly sorry to those who are fans."
Development[]
Daniel Bauernfeind conceived The Black Hole in his eighth grade art class. Like protagonist Leogift, Bauernfeind predicted there being extraterrestrial life on Mars, and Bauernfeind reported to Newsday that he cites Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who and the novel 1984 to be influences.
Two years after the drawing’s creation, Daniel told Matteo about his idea about The Black Hole on a conversation over the phone. Matteo was interested in what Bauernfeind had to offer. So he decided to make the film with Bauernfeind, making their careers as both animators a dream come true when they started their careers on the Internet in 2008 with mini films.
In 2011, Bauernfeind and Sigillo went to Paramount Pictures and told them their idea of The Black Hole and 3 months after the meeting, Paramount texted Bauernfeind and Sigillo that their idea had been greenlit officially launching the production of the film and the animation studio Bauernfeind-Sigillo Productions in the process.
Main cast and characters[]
This section shows the character that have appeared in both films or in one of the films.
NOTE: A empty slot indicates that the character did not appear in the film.
| ‘’’Character’’’ | ‘’’The Black Hole’’’ | ‘’’The Black Hole Book Two’’’ |
|---|---|---|
| The Alien | Sam Lavagnino | Logan Grove |
| Skip May Leogift | Daniel Bauernfeind | Daniel Bauernfeind |
| Lucy Turner | Ashley Johnson | Ashley Johnson |
| Duncan Bolt | Michael Caine | Michael Caine |
| Black Hole | Malcolm McDowell | |
| Saxophonist Asteroid | Seth Meyers | Seth Meyers |
| Choir of Stars | The Long Island Children’s Chorus |
Additional crew and production details[]
| ‘’’Role’’’ | ‘’’The Black Hole’’’ | ‘’’The Black Hole Book Two’’’ |
|---|---|---|
| Composer(s) | Hans Zimmer | Hans Zimmer |
| Storyboarder(s) | Mitch Collins | Mitch Collins |
| Editor(s) | Joey Griffith | Joey Griffith |
| Production company | Bauernfeind-Sigillo Productions | Bauernfeind-Sigillo Productions |
| Distributor | Paramount Pictures | Paramount Pictures |
| Running time | 135 minutes | 170 minutes |
| Release date | August 12, 2016 | January 10, 2020 |
Reception[]
Box office perfomance[]
| ‘’’Film’’’ | ‘’’Release date’’’ | ‘’’Gross in North America’’’ | ‘’’Gross in other territories’’’ | ‘’’Worldwide Gross’’’ | ‘’’Box Office Ranking in North America’’’ | ‘’’Worldwide Box Office Ranking’’’ | ‘’’Budget’’’ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘’’The Black Hole’’’ | August 12, 2016 | $327,481,748 | $372,900,000 | $700,381,748 | #66 | #117 | $35 million |
| ‘’’The Black Hole Book Two’’’ | January 10, 2020 | $211,593,228 | $260,500,000 | $472,093,228 | #190 | #249 | $79 million |
| Totals | Totals | $539,074,976 | $633,400,000 | $1,172,474,976 | $114 million |
Critical response[]
| ‘’’Film’’’ | ‘’’Rotten Tomatoes’’’ | ‘’’Metacritic’’’ | ‘’’CinemaScore’’’ |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘’’The Black Hole’’’ | 86% (362 reviews) | 69 (49 critics) | B+ |
| ‘’’The Black Hole Book Two’’’ | 63% (335 reviews) | 58 (52 critics) | B+ |
See also[]
- The Black Hole
- The Black Hole Book Two