Starstone

Starstone is a 2022 live-action/animated absurdist sports comedy-drama film written and directed by Jamie Hickinbottom in his filmmaking debut, who produced it alongside J.J. Abrams and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller; the film is a crossover between infinite multimedia franchises including the MCU, the DCEU, Pokémon, Super Mario Bros., The Loud House, the MonsterVerse, Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, The Simpsons, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Rayman among many, many, many, many, many more, and, while it primarily focuses around elements of the sports genre, experimentalism absurdist themes, incorporates multiple elements from other genres such as surreal comedy, psychological horror, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, and martial-arts movies. Hickinbottom stars as a fictionalised version of himself who, while on a mission to complete a full playthrough of NBA 2K23, teams up with characters from both the aforementioned and unmentioned franchises to prevent an omnipresent entity from destroying the multiverse with the titular godly artifact by completing a high-stakes multiversal tournament comprised of various different sports from around the world. The ensemble cast also has many supporting roles largely consisting of actors from the respective featured franchises reprising their roles, among them including Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Sarah Natochenny as Ash Ketchum and Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin, and Christopher Lloyd playing an original character in the form of the multiverse-destroying entity Perishiduse.

Hickinbottom began writing the script in early 2020 after expressing disappointment in the cancellation of Everything Everywhere All At Once, which was highly anticipated by many but was ultimately cancelled due to development issues behind-the-scenes (NOTE: This is an AU; I have nothing against Everything Everywhere All At Once and this article shouldn't be taken seriously since it's for fun). Upon sharing it with his family members and eventually his classmates and teachers at school, they highly praised the concept and shipped the screen out to film companies and the creators of the respective franchises intended to be featured in the film, whom Amazon Studios eventually accepted and acquired exclusive distribution rights for. Production was announced in March of that year, with principal photography running from July to September 2020. The works of Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-wai, as well as the 1996 sports comedy film Space Jam and the video game Everything, serve as primary inspirations for several scenes in the film. The soundtrack features compositions by Son Lux, including collaborations with Shinji Miyazaki, Mitski, Randy Newman, André 3000, and Hans Zimmer.