Ruby Rivest: Time of Power

Ruby Rivest: Time of Power is a 2020 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and MGM Animation Studios. It is the sequel to Ruby Rivest 2 (2010) and the third and final installment in the Ruby Rivest trilogy. The film was written and directed by Kevin Mitchell (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Tom Wheeler, Pamela Ribon, Matthew Fogel, and Mike White. Mandy Moore, Tobey Maguire, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, William H. Macy, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Idle, and Dakota Fanning reprise their roles from the previous installments, alongside new cast members including Joaquin Phoenix, Mila Kunis, Chadwick Boseman, Minnie Driver, Seth Rogen, James Marsden, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. In the film, Ruby and her friends travel through many multiverses to prevent Dr. Havoc, a mastermind who steals time crystals using a superweapon that will wipe out the entirety of the galaxy.

A third and final installment to Ruby Rivest was first announced in April 2010 following the commercial success of its 2010 sequel, with director Dick McClane helming the film. Its development continued through 2011 and 2012 until its cancellation in February 2013 to the wake of a management change at MGM Animation Studios. However, the project was revived in November 2016 with Mitchell replacing McClane as director in the following month.

Ruby Rivest: Time of Power was originally set for a worldwide theatrical release on June 5, 2020 by Sony Pictures Releasing, but in response to the COVID-19 pandemic causing the closure of theaters across the globe, Sony made the film available to own digitally in the United States on the same date it was planned to be released in theaters. However, it was later released theatrically in selected territories beginning in August 2020, followed by a secondary theatrical release in the United States beginning on April 9, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its action sequences, animation, visuals, screenplay, humor, voice performances, and score. Time of Power topped digital rental charts in its first three weekends of release, and became the third-most watched title on PVOD.

Plot
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Voice cast

 * Mandy Moore as Ruby Rivest
 * Tobey Maguire as Robert Stawls
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Ray Moonblazer
 * Joaquin Phoenix as Dr. Havoc
 * Scarlett Johansson as Wava Clarkin
 * Whoopi Goldberg as Linda
 * William H. Macy as Ben Rivest
 * David Spade as Crimson
 * Steve Zahn as Barney
 * Eric Idle as Fredrick
 * Anthony Anderson as Kerry
 * Nathan Lane as Louie
 * Dakota Fanning as Vivian
 * Tom Kenny as Tuck
 * Patrick Warburton as Bean
 * Mila Kunis as Dark Ruby
 * Chadwick Boseman
 * Seth Rogen
 * James Marsden
 * Christopher Mintz-Plasse
 * Minnie Driver

Additional voices

 * Carlos Alazraqui
 * Steve Alterman
 * Gregg Berger
 * Steven Jay Blum
 * Corey Burton
 * Catherine Cavadini
 * Jim Cummings
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Keith Ferguson
 * Grey Griffin
 * Kerry Gutierrez
 * Jess Harnell
 * Jessica Kardos
 * John Kassir
 * Matt Yang King
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Lex Lang
 * Hope Levy
 * Mona Marshall
 * Caitlin McKenna
 * Scott Menville
 * Max Mittelman
 * Laraine Newman
 * Kevin Mitchell
 * Heidi Brook Myers
 * Juan Pacheco
 * Jim Pirri
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Tara Strong
 * Melissa Sturm
 * Cree Summer
 * Fred Tatasciore
 * James Arnold Taylor
 * Kirk Thornton
 * Lisa Wilhoit

Development
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Casting
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Animation and design
Unlike the previous films, animation services were provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, which has animated many of Sony Pictures Animation's previous films. Production was underway by February 2018, with animation work ending in December 2019. Some of the technology used for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) was reused for Time of Power alongside new tools that were also created for Araceli (2019), to make the film look more illustrative with 2D-style effects to mimic the look of traditionally-animated films.

Music
In June 2019, John Debney was announced to compose the film's score. The soundtrack was released on May 29, 2020 by Sony Classical Records.

Theatrical
Ruby Rivest: Time of Power was originally planned to release theatrically in the United States on April 3, 2020 by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Columbia Pictures label. It was later pushed up to June 5, 2020 with Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway taking its original date. On April 23, 2020, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Sony announced that the film's theatrical release had been cancelled and it would instead go straight to digital via premium video on demand on the originally scheduled theatrical date. It was later released in IMAX 3D theaters in Russia, China, and Thailand only. The film was eventually reissued in North American theaters staring on April 9, 2021. In the United Kingdom, the film was released in cinemas on July 30, 2021.

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released via Sony Pictures Entertainment's YouTube channel on August 11, 2019 and debuted before The Angry Birds Movie 2 three days later. This was followed by a full trailer on November 18, 2019, shown during theater screenings of Frozen II and Ico. During the week before Super Bowl LIV, Sony released three TV spots featuring new footage, including the reveal of Kunis' character. A special TV spot aired during Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020. The final trailer was released on April 27, 2020.

Sony spent less than $20 million on television spots promoting the film in the United States, which generated 682 million impressions.

Home media
Ruby Rivest: Time of Power was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on August 25, 2020 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Box office
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VOD sales
Ruby Rivest: Time of Power was the top-rented film on Prime Video, Google Play, FandangoNow, Vudu, YouTube, DirecTV Now, Spectrum, and the iTunes Store in its opening weekend. Although Sony did not report actual figures, the film had a higher sales count than Trolls World Tour and Scoob!. It remained the top-rented film across all services in its second weekend, then on three of four services in its third. In its fourth week it remained #1 on FandangoNow, while falling to second on Amazon Prime and fourth on the iTunes charts. In its fifth weekend of release Sony lowered the price from $19.99 to $14.99, and the film finished third on FandangoNow, Amazon Prime, and Spectrum, and sixth on iTunes.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Ruby Rivest: Time of Power holds an approval rating of 74% based on 340 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10.

Accolades
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Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.