Upside Mystery (franchise)

Upside Mystery is a computer-animated fantasy detective film series, consisting of three theatrical films produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Arc Productions and two short films, as well as a TV series broadcast on Fox Family and several video games. The series consists of an ensemble cast, usually led by the voices of John Travolta, Christian Slater, and Michelle Rodriguez.

The first film, Upside Mystery, was released in August 2007, with two sequels, Upside Mystery 2 and Upside Mystery 3, were released in August 2010 and September 2015, respectively. The first two were distributed by MGM, while the third film was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The films have received mixed to positive reviews from critics and grossed over $1.7 billion worldwide against a combined production budget of $325 million.

The series focuses on the adventures surrounding two detectives named Hans Truman and Jason Truder and a fellow secret spy agent named Stella Lee who attempt to solve cases from many dangerous threats in other cities.

Upside Mystery (2007)
Upside Mystery was released on August 17, 2007, and follows the two detectives named Hans Truman and Jason Truder as they are hired by the LVDD to stop the mastermind Becky Brutal from destroying Los Vegas with the help of the secret spy agent Stella Lee.

Upside Mystery 2 (2010)
Upside Mystery 2 was released on August 27, 2010, and follows Hans Truman, Jason Truder and Stella Lee on a quest to uncover a suspect of a threat in Old York.

Upside Mystery 3 (2015)
Upside Mystery 3 was released on September 4, 2015, and continues Hans Truman, Jason Truder and Stella Lee on a quest to ally with a physicist to solve the case and recover the diamonds from the unknown thief. 20th Century Fox handled distribution to this installment.

Upside Mystery Legacy (2023)
Upside Mystery Legacy will be released on July 7, 2023, and will follow the final mystery adventure for Hans Truman, Jason Truder and Stella Lee for the terrifying last quest. The film will be distributed by United Artists Releasing (MGM and Annapurna's joint venture distribution unit) in the United States, and will be distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Television series
On March 24, 2011, it was announced that Fox Family has acquired broadcast rights based on the film series, which was scheduled to begin on November 13, 2012. Vicky Jenson, Gary Barber, and Roger Birnbaum returned to executive produce the TV show while the main characters would be recast (except Judi Dench). The TV series ended on April 14, 2015 after 4 seasons.

Spy Secret (2012)
In 2010, MGM announced that a short film based on the franchise is in the works for a 2012 release. Entitled Spy Secret, the short follows the story of Stella Lee on her own mission for her spy service. It was released in theaters before Puma Race and Skyfall on May 18 and November 9, 2012, respectively.

An Upside Mystery Christmas (2009)
A 30-minute Christmas television special, An Upside Mystery Christmas, premiered on Fox on November 27, 2009. The story takes place between Upside Mystery and Upside Mystery 2. In this special, Hans Truman is starting a Christmas party for his friends Jason Truder and Stella Lee. However, he figures out that all of their presents were stolen. Now Truman, Truder, and Lee has to find out who stole their presents. The television special was co-written and directed by Peggy Holmes (who serves as head of story for the first film) with Mark Burton, Steve Bencich, and Ron J. Friedman also writing the script.

Cast and characters

 * A grey cell indicates character did not appear in that medium.

Video games
A video game based on the first film, Upside Mystery, was released on August 7, 2007 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and the PC on August 7, 2007. It was developed by Papaya Studio for home consoles and Altron for DS and published by MGM Interactive.

A video game based on the second film, Upside Mystery 2, was released on August 17, 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and the PC. It was developed by Eurocom and published by Activision.

A fighting video game, Upside Mystery Showdown, was released on May 14, 2013, for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Nintendo 3DS. It was developed by Toys for Bob for most consoles and Behaviour Interactive for 3DS and published by Activision.

A video game based on the third film, Upside Mystery 3, was released on September 1, 2015 for the PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One, and Nintendo 3DS. It was developed by Behaviour Interactive and published again by Activision.

Skydance New Media has collaborated with MGM to work on an upcoming Upside Mystery game.