Gorillaz Netflix Movie

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The Gorillaz Netflix Movie is an untitled unreleased British animated film directed and written by Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and produced by Netflix Animation. As of 2021, little information is known about the film aside from clues and tidbits of information given by Albarn and Hewlett. No plot, title, release date, rating, cast or crew has yet been given. The movie is the first time plans for a Gorillaz movie were introduced since the scrapped Gorillaz film Celebrity Harvest was discussed in the 2000s.

History

Since the end of Phase One, Gorillaz fans have wanted a Gorillaz cinematic release which never happened, This includes the scrapped project from Celebrity Harvest which was used as inspiration for Gorillaz art and songs. In 2017, an announcement of a ten-episode animated Gorillaz television series was in the works. Hewlett said that he would direct the first and final episode of the series, but the episodes in between them would need to be directed by somebody else, also stating that the television series will feature a mix of animation styles as well as live-action elements as per Gorillaz' usual mixed media animation style, with the characters being drawn in 2D and backgrounds and props being "up for grabs", also mentioning that there would be live action guest appearances in the show from various Humanz collaborators interacting with the characters. However, Hewlett soon realized he wanted the TV show to be a standalone project that was not attached to an album. Hewlett has since told fans that the series turned into “something much bigger, " presumably referring to the Netflix film. In a 2018 interview with The Sunday Times, Hewlett mentioned that the next big project for Gorillaz would possibly “take the form of a tv show or film” and center around the characters more so than the music. In a 2018 interview with La Parisie, Jamie made a similar statement saying that his next project would be “probably a full length movie about my characters.”.

In an interview with Damon Albarn for La Tercera, he revealed that a deal was made with Netflix Animation to produce a feature length animated film about Gorillaz that would be released after season two of Song Machine, describing the film as “one hour of pure fiction with music.” and noted that they were evaluating the first draft of the script for the movie. In another interview with Albarn for Alt 105.3, he stated that contracts were signed and they’ve started work on the script. He also mentioned that the movie was very risky because it was an expensive movie with “a slightly obtuse story that only sometimes makes any sense”. In a 2020 interview with Gorillaz-Unofficial, Hewlett briefly spoke (indirectly) of the movie and said that it was to proceed Song Machine, and also mentioned that it had been in the works “For 3 years on and off”, describing it as “a more in-depth kinda epic story with the characters and music. Not just an album, but bigger”. He also hinted that the Maydeup Festival playlist and image from 2018 may be hinting at something related to the movie, but it wasn't ready to be revealed. In a 2021 interview with Albarn for Irish News, it was mentioned that the movie would be around an hour and 20 minutes, and will feature both old and new music from Gorillaz. In an interview with Albarn and Hewlett from BBC, it was mentioned that Plastic Beach may make an appearance in the movie, but in a Reddit AMA with the pair, Hewlett clarified that the movie was not a Plastic Beach movie. Hewlett has also implied that he wrote the script for the Gorillaz movie himself. On a November 8th, 2020 episode of The Zane Lowe Show, Albarn mentioned that he was in Los Angeles for a writing session for the movie in Malibu.

So far, this is currently most of what's known about the upcoming Gorillaz Netflix movie. However, as of February 2023, the Gorillaz Netflix Movie has been cancelled as confirmed by Albarn in an interview with Dutch magazine Humo.

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"The new record came about because Jamie and I were often in Los Angeles. We were working on a Gorillaz feature film, which will never happen. That is to say, and without naming names because the whole thing has not yet been settled: the streaming platform for which we were making the film has withdrawn. They started to panic because they were making too much content and decided to cut back on their movie offerings. And, as has been classic Hollywood practice for decades, the guy we were working with has moved on to another company. (…) Hollywood is quite territorial: if a new guy comes along, he must and will have a different opinion, even if he secretly agrees with his predecessor. Anyway, I don't know what will happen to the material. I'm also getting tired of talking about it since… 2002. And it's still not there." - Damon Albarn

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Trivia

• Shortly before Demon Dayz Festival LA Hewlett was spotted at Netflix Animation and meeting up with animators at the studio such as Gravity Falls' Alex Hirsch and The Book of Life and El Tigre's Jorge Gutierrez.
• Netflix Animation is also responsible for animated films such as The Willoughby's, Klaus, Over The Moon, Arlo The Alligator Boy, and more.