A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas

A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas (known in some countries as Pete the Cat: A Groovy Christmas) is a 2023 American live-action/animated hybrid Christmas comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation. The film serves as a sequel to the 2021 film Pete the Cat. Like the first, the film is directed by Tim Story, and produced by Dan Lin,, and Neal H Moritz. Most of the cast reprise their roles in the film, starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Jack McBrayer, Ken Jeong, and Jacob Tremblay. In this film, the gang takes a trip to New York City for Christmas break.

The film was released on December 8th, 2023. The film recieved mixed-to-positive reviews, and was a box-office success, receiving $278.4 million on an $82 million budget.

Synopsis
It is Christmas time in California! Pete and his friends get ready for Christmas. To celebrate it, Darren suggests they take a trip to another city. But, as they get there, Pete wanders off from the gang, which makes him lost.

Plot
TBA.

Live-action actors

 * Ryan Reynolds as Darren Smith, the deuteragonist of the film.
 * Will Ferrell as Julian Foster, the main antagonist of the film, who has an extremely large hatred for cats; a much worse hatred than Bobby.
 * Jack McBrayer as Terry Donovan, the regional manager and boss of an office company. He returns in the film.
 * Archie Yates as Rob Smith, Darren's little brother, who is a student.
 * Michael Peña as Juan, a Mexican who is the investigator for Missing Animal Response.
 * Ellie Kemper as Lily, who comes with Darren; heads back to Canada afterwards.
 * Ken Jeong as Lee, a Korean restaurant waiter, who lets Pete stay at his place for a while.
 * Anna Faris as Amelia, Lee's wife.
 * Darby Camp as Millie, a girl who gets lost in the streets of NYC, but is assisted by Pete.
 * T.J. Miller as Joey, a client for Terry.
 * Iain Armitage as Noah, Lee and Amelia's son.
 * Amy Poehler as Teresa, Millie's mother.
 * Brain Baumgartner as David, Millie's father.
 * Patton Oswalt as a NYC Police Department officer.

TBA.

Voice actors

 * Jacob Tremblay as Pete the Cat, a groovy cat who gets lost in the city.
 * Alyson Stoner as Callie, who is allowed to come on the trip.
 * Jake Johnson as Roger, a German-shepard who is Julian's pet, and is the secondary antagonist of the film.
 * Frank Welker as one of the dogs and cats on an alley street.
 * Dee Bradley Baker as another one of dogs on the alley street.

TBA.

Development
During production of Pete the Cat, Ryan Reynolds, who played Darren in the first film, stated that a sequel is not possible, even if the film does well at the box office. He also stated that if the sequel was made, he'd like to see Pete start a band, and go on a world tour. Those plans were later scrapped.

Exactly a week after post-production had completed, Tim Story had begun development on a sequel to Pete the Cat, along with Dan Lin, and Neal H. Moritz. Lin, stated the concept to be like a "related Christmas special".

A month later, on December 13, 2021, the film was announced as A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas, with most of the cast returning.

Casting
As forementioned, Ryan Reynolds was set to reprise his role as Darren Smith, as well as Jacob Tremblay. T.J. Miller, Ken Jeong, and Anna Faris would star in the film.

Music
Christopher Lennertz, who composed the score for the first, would compose the second. The film would also feature an original song by Bruno Mars, called, "A Very Groovy Christmas", a reference to Pete the Cat: A Very Groovy Christmas, a Christmas special.

Release
A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas is scheduled to release on December 8th, 2023. It was originally scheduled to release on November 24, but was later delayed to December 22nd, before being pulled up two weeks.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 62% based on 120 critics, with an approval rating of 6.28/10. The website's critcal consensus states, "The grooviest cat in town is back in this thrilling sequel, but A Groovy Pete the Cat Christmas has a much more extreme turn than the first." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled on CinemaScore gave the film an "A-" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak surveyed 81% of audiences to have given the film, with 78% giving a 'definite recommend'.

Box office
The film grossed $110.1 million dollars in the US and Canada, and $168.3 million in other territories, grossing $278.4 million, making it a box-office success.

Canceled sequel
There was a plan to create a second sequel, but it was canceled because Story said it was "unnecessary to create another sequel".