Although the weekend box office numbers certainly echo the name Dune over and over considering the massive opening debut of Denis Villeneuve’s movie, which led to the sequel being officially greenlit by Warner Bros, there was another new movie that hit theaters this past weekend: Ron’s Gone Wrong. The animated sci-fi family film starring the voice talents of Zach Galifianakis and Jack Dylan Grazer received great reviews overall and an “A” Cinemascore by moviegoers. So, could it get a sequel too?
When CinemaBlend spoke to the Ron’s Gone Wrong filmmakers prior to its release about if they imagine Barney and his malfunctioning bot Ron returning for a sequel, co-director Jean-Philippe Vine shared where their heads were at with it. In Vine’s words:
We have started to think about how the world of Ron could grow and where we could go after this movie but we’re kind of holding on to those ideas for the time being. But, it’s super exciting, you can see the progression that happens with Ron and it also gives us opportunities to do really cool things further with the story.
It sounds like if there’s an audience for it, Ron’s Gone Wrong could very well continue past this first adventure. The filmmakers have already started coming up with some ideas for the story to continue. Unfortunately, Ron’s Gone Wrong had a less than impressive opening weekend in theaters with a $7.3 million domestic opening and $17 million worldwide gross so far. In comparison, The Addams Family 2 made $17 million in its domestic opening weekend alone and has made $75 million worldwide.
In contrast to the Addams Family sequel, Ron’s Gone Wrong is an original IP that came out at a time when family movies are generally finding more success on streaming than theaters. When Ron’s Gone Wrong hits digital, it’s possible it could grow a much larger following than it currently has, perhaps leading to a sequel down the line. Ron’s Gone Wrong is also the first movie for British animated studio Locksmith Animation, which was distributed by 20th Century Studios via Walt Disney Studios.
SPOILERS are ahead for Ron’s Gone Wrong for the remainder of the article.
Ron’s Gone Wrong ends with Barney’s b-bot Ron being uploaded into the cloud and all of the devices being reprogrammed to be like him. Instead of the tech being based on an algorithm that helps the kids befriend people with common interests, these b-bots inspire more organic (albeit more chaotic) friendships. By the end of the movie, Barney had to give up Ron to the cloud, but he in turn made some real friendships, thus surviving middle school.
Hear me out: I would like to see a Ron’s Gone Wrong sequel when Barney is older, either going off to college or an adult in his 20s. Perhaps something else goes wrong with the b-bots years after Barney’s initial journey with him, and Marc reaches out to him to help out with another situation to fix the b-bots. Perhaps over time, the in-the-cloud Ron has begun to malfunction again because their actual friendship has died off and Barney will have to get in touch with his childhood again to help save the world.
That’s just my rough pitch, but the Ron’s Gone Wrong filmmakers will certainly have their own great ideas for the film if it does get a sequel. While we wait and see, you can check out our interview with Jack Dylan Grazer and Zach Galifianakis, who spoke about their experience voicing their roles, and writers Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith, who shared how the movie compares to Borat. Check out what other movies are coming out the rest of the year with CinemaBlend’s 2021 new movie release schedule.
