The Boss Baby: Family Business

The Boss Baby: Family Business
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tom McGrath
Screenplay by	Michael McCullers
Story by	Tom McGrath Michael McCullers
Based on	The Boss Baby and The Bossier Baby by Marla Frazee
Produced by	Jeff Hermann
Starring	Alec Baldwin James Marsden Amy Sedaris Ariana Greenblatt Jeff Goldblum Eva Longoria Jimmy Kimmel Lisa Kudrow
Edited by	Mary Blee Mark A. Hester
Music by	Hans Zimmer Steve Mazzaro
Production company	DreamWorks Animation
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	July 2, 2021 (2021-07-02)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$82 million[1]
Box office	$100.3 million[2][3]

The Boss Baby: Family Business (known in other territories as The Boss Baby 2) is a 2021 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 2010 picture book The Boss Baby and its 2016 sequel The Bossier Baby by Marla Frazee, produced by DreamWorks Animation, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The second installment in The Boss Baby franchise and the sequel to the 2017 film, the film is directed by Tom McGrath, from a screenplay by Michael McCullers with a story by McGrath and McCullers, and stars the voices of Alec Baldwin, James Marsden, Amy Sedaris, Ariana Greenblatt, Jeff Goldblum, Eva Longoria, Jimmy Kimmel, and Lisa Kudrow. The plot follows the now-adult Templeton brothers (Baldwin and Marsden) who are brought back together after the new Boss Baby (Sedaris) requests their help to stop a professor (Goldblum) from erasing childhoods worldwide.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on July 2, 2021 in traditional and select RealD 3D and Dolby Cinema locations, by Universal Pictures; it also streamed on paid tiers of Peacock for 60 days. The film has grossed $100 million worldwide, with the Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus calling it "a painless diversion for the kids".

Plot[]

Set 40 years after the events of the first film,^[4] Tim Templeton is now fully grown and lives with his wife Carol and their two daughters, 7-year-old Tabitha and infant Tina. Tim's younger brother Ted Jr. is now a successful CEO and is never around, instead sending lavish gifts to Tim and his family. Tabitha is exhibiting more grown-up behavior, and one night while a discouraged Tim wonders about the person his daughter is becoming, he hears something from Tina's room. He discovers that Tina is a Boss Baby, just as Ted once was, and that she has been assigned to get Ted there for a special mission. Tim refuses to call, saying that he will never come, and encourages Tina to go back to sleep. However, Tina leaves a fake voicemail for Ted, luring him to the Templeton's house.

The next morning Ted arrives and Tim tries to explain to him that Tina is a Boss Baby and Ted just does not remember that he was one, too. Tina reveals herself as a Boss Baby to Ted and gives them both magic pacifiers to visit BabyCorp. Tina introduces the brothers to a new formula that will allow them to turn back into children for 48 hours in order to go undercover to Tabitha's school and figure out what Dr. Erwin Armstrong, founder and principal of the school, is planning behind parents' back.

At the school, Tim, now as his 7-year-old self, follows Tabitha to her class while baby Ted is placed with other babies. Ted rallies the babies to help him get out of the playroom so that he can go to Armstrong's office to investigate. Tim tries to get sent to the principal's office as well by disrupting class, but is instead put in "The Box" for timeout. Ted discovers that Armstrong is actually a baby himself, having run away from home after realizing that he was smarter than his parents and now makes money by creating popular phone apps. His ultimate plan is to get rid of every parent on B-Day, so that they cannot tell their children what to do anymore. After being unable to get ahold of BabyCorp and seeing that the brothers are once again drifting apart, Tina makes a show of quitting and says that they will complete the mission themselves.

On the night of the holiday pageant, where Tabitha is supposed to sing a solo, the brothers and Tina plan to expose Armstrong as a fraud. However, they learn that B-Day is set to happen that night through Armstrong's new app, QT-Snap, which will hypnotize the parents into mindless zombies. Both Tim and Ted are caught by Armstrong's ninja babies and are put in The Box, which slowly starts to fill with water. Tabitha sings her solo, but when she sees that Tim has not showed up as he promised, she runs off the stage crying. She is consoled by Tina, who reveals her identity and her mission. Tabitha agrees to help her younger sister by getting to the server and shutting down QT-Snap before it can go worldwide. Ted is able to call Precious, Tabitha's pet pony, into the school, as she breaks them out of The Box.

Tim and Ted reach the server first, but they are stopped by Armstrong, who calls the zombie parents for backup. While the brothers hold them back as the formula starts to wear off, Tina and Tabitha get up to the server. Tabitha is able to hack in and pull up the shutdown screen, but the keyboard is destroyed by Armstrong. The sisters then set off a candy volcano using Mentos and soda, destroying the servers and turning all parents back to normal. Tina then reveals that she never quit BabyCorp and that bringing Tim and Ted back together was her true mission. The whole Templeton family gathers to celebrate Christmas, while Armstrong returns to his own family.

Cast[]

• Alec Baldwin as Ted Templeton Jr. / Boss Baby, a former executive of BabyCorp, Tim's younger brother, Tina and Tabitha's uncle, Carol's brother-in-law, and Ted Sr. and Janice's younger son.
• James Marsden as Tim Templeton, Ted Jr.'s older brother, Carol's husband, Tina and Tabitha's father, and Ted Sr. and Janice's older son. He was previously voiced by Tobey Maguire and Miles Bakshi in the first film, where Maguire voiced the adult Tim and Bakshi voiced the younger Tim.
• Amy Sedaris as Tina Templeton, an undercover and new executive of BabyCorp, Tim and Carol's younger daughter, Tabitha's younger sister, Ted's younger niece, and Ted Sr. and Janice's younger granddaughter.
• Ariana Greenblatt as Tabitha Templeton, Tina's older sister, Tim and Carol's highly intelligent older daughter, Ted's older niece, and Ted Sr. and Janice's older granddaughter. She was previously voiced by Nina Zoe Bakshi from the first film.
• Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Erwin Armstrong, an intelligent baby with a plot to remove all grownups.
• Eva Longoria as Carol Templeton, Tim's wife, Ted Jr.'s sister-in-law, Ted Sr. and Janice's daughter-in-law, and Tina and Tabitha's mother.
• Jimmy Kimmel as Ted Templeton Sr., Janice's husband, Ted Jr. and Tim's father, Carol's father-in-law, and Tina and Tabitha's grandfather.
• Lisa Kudrow as Janice Templeton, Ted Sr.'s wife, Ted Jr. and Tim's mother, Carol's mother-in-law, and Tina and Tabitha's grandmother.
• James McGrath as Wizzie, Tim's Gandalf-esque alarm clock from his childhood.^[5]

Production[]

Development[]

On May 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced that a sequel was set to be released on March 26, 2021, with Alec Baldwin reprising his role.^[6][7][8] On May 17, 2019, it was announced that Tom McGrath returned as director and Jeff Hermann, whose credits include Bilby, Bird Karma, and Marooned, replaced Ramsey Ann Naito as producer.^[9] On September 17, 2020, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Greenblatt, Eva Longoria, James Marsden (replacing Tobey Maguire), and Amy Sedaris joined the cast, alongside returning actors Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow.^[10][11]

Portions of production were done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[12] Jellyfish Pictures, who worked on How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming and Spirit Untamed, used its production assets for Family Business.^[13][14]

Music[]

Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, who previously composed the score for the first film, returned for the sequel,^[15] while Jacob Collier wrote a cover of Cat Stevens' "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out".^[16][17] Songwriter Gary Barlow of Finding Neverland fame also contributed with a brand new song performed by Greenblatt called "Together We Stand".^[16]

Release[]

Theatrical and streaming[]

The Boss Baby: Family Business was theatrically released in the United States on July 2, 2021, in regular showings and in select RealD 3D and Dolby Cinema by Universal Pictures; it also streamed on paid tiers of Peacock for 60 days.^[18] It was originally scheduled for release on March 26, 2021, but was delayed to September 17, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before moving to July 2, 2021.^[19][20][21]

According to Samba TV, 783,000 households streamed the film on Peacock over its opening weekend.^[22]

Home media[]

The film is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2021 for 4K, DVD, and Blu-ray, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.^[23]

Reception[]

Box office[]

As of August 29, 2021, The Boss Baby: Family Business had grossed $56.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $43.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $100.3 million.^[2][3]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside The Forever Purge, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,640 theaters in its opening weekend.^[24][1] The film made $7.7 million on its first day, including $1.31 million from Thursday night previews, slightly down from the $1.5 million made by the first installment. It went on to debut to $17.3 million, finishing second at the box office behind Universal's own F9. With Universal's F9, Family Business, and The Forever Purge finishing in the top three spots, it marked the first time a single studio accomplished the feat since February 2005.^[25] The film fell 44.5% in its sophomore weekend to $8.9 million, finishing third, then made $4.7 million in its third weekend, finishing in fourth.^[26][27]

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "It's more C-level than C-suite, but as a painless diversion for the kids, this Boss Baby manages some decent Family Business."^[28] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale (an improvement over the first film's "A–"), while PostTrak reported 72% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 49% saying they would definitely recommend it.^[25]

Thomas Floyd of The Washington Post gave the film 2.5/4 stars, writing that "...there's a severe case of sequel-itis, as returning director Tom McGrath and screenwriter Michael McCullers go to farcical lengths to re-create the original movie's gags, story beats and character dynamics. Still, Family Business manages to largely improve on its predecessor, with the help of savvy casting and surprisingly pointed social satire."^[30] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Michael Ordoña said: "It's more of the same, for better or worse, but likely with enough bells and whistles — especially those new characters — to please younger fans."^[31]

Writing for The A.V. Club, Katie Rife gave the film a "C+" grade and said: "...it's nothing to get worked up about, in part because this Boss Baby moves too quickly to inspire thought about much of anything. Compared to the first film, Family Business moves along at a swift and stimulating clip, with fewer diversions into world-building and hallucinatory internal logic."^[32] Carlos Aguilar of the TheWrap wrote: "Family Business offers an array of half-baked conflicts, all crying out to be noticed, while the creators are apparently unsure of which requires the most urgent attention."^[33]

Possible sequel[]

In June 2021, during a Q&A with Alec Baldwin and Amy Sedaris, a third Boss Baby film was announced to be in early development.^[34]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• The Boss Baby: Family Business at IMDb