Leaders of Academy: War of the L.O.E.V.

Leaders of Academy: War of the L.O.E.V. (also known as Leaders of Academy 2) is a 2022 American computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group and Frenzy Animation. Directed by Chris McKay from a screenplay by John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, John Whittington, Seth Grahame-Smith, William Wheeler, and Tom Wheeler, the film will serve as a sequel to Leaders of Academy (2012) and stars James McAvoy, Emma Stone, Owen Wilson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Eric Idle, and J. K. Simmons reprising their roles from the first film, joined by Kate McKinnon, Woody Harrelson, Tiffany Haddish, Antonio Banderas, Fred Armisen, Kristen Schaal, Channing Tatum, Michelle Yeoh, Keegan-Michael Key, Justice Smith, and Richard Ayoade.

It will be the final Frenzy Animation film to be distributed under Warner Bros. as its new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery had terminated Frenzy's long-term partnership with the studio on August 4, 2022.

The film premiered on October 30, 2022 at the TCL Chinese Theatre and will be theatrically released on November 4, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures in IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and RealD 3D. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

Premise
Taking place ten years after the first film, FireStar is enlisted by the Vigilante Protection Agency with the help of an rookie undercover agent named Natalie Quinn, where they must stop an malevolent supervillain team called the League of Evil Villains.

Voice cast

 * James McAvoy as FireStar / Wayne Stone, a superhero with the powers of fire.
 * Emma Stone as Ms. Thunder / Alice McKee, a superhero with the power of lighting and thunder.
 * Justice Smith
 * Chloë Grace Moretz
 * Owen Wilson
 * Kate McKinnon as Natalie Quinn, an V.P.A. rookie agent who teams up with FireStar.
 * Eric Idle as Dr. Warren Spartacus, FireStar's elderly gadget man.
 * Woody Harrelson
 * Tiffany Haddish
 * Antonio Banderas
 * Kristen Schaal
 * Channing Tatum
 * J. K. Simmons
 * Keegan-Michael Key
 * Michelle Yeoh
 * Richard Ayoade
 * Fred Armisen

Production
In March 2020, Warner Animation Group and Frenzy Animation confirmed that they were working on a sequel to Leaders of Academy, and that Chris McKay was announced as the film's director with John Requa and Glenn Ficarra penning the screenplay while the cast including James McAvoy, Emma Stone, Chloë Grace Moretz, J. K. Simmons, Eric Idle, and Owen Wilson would return to reprise their roles in the sequel. On September 14, 2020, Warner Bros. had trademarked Leaders of Academy: War of the L.O.E.V. as the new title of the sequel, which was approved in January of 2021.

On August 24, 2021, producer Marcus Crawford had stated that the sequel will take place 10 years after the events of the first film. On March 11, 2022, Kate McKinnon, Woody Harrelson, Tiffany Haddish, Michelle Yeoh, Antonio Banderas, Fred Armisen, Channing Tatum, Justice Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Kristen Schaal, and Richard Ayoade were announced to the sequel's cast.

Release
Leaders of Academy: War of the L.O.E.V. is was theatrically released on November 4, 2022, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Marketing
Warner Bros. released a teaser poster for the film on March 22, 2022, along with a teaser trailer, which included the AC/DC song "Back in Black", the next day. An official trailer was released on July 27, 2022. The film's final trailer was later released online on September 14.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, War of the L.O.E.V. will be released alongside One Piece Film: Red, and is projected to gross $60–65 million in it's opening weekend with some projections going as high as $70 million. However, after the film made $19.5 million on it's opening day (including $4.2 million in Thursday previews), projections were lowered to $50–55 million.

Worldwide it's expected to make $120–135 million overseas for a worldwide debut of $180–200 million.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 69% based on 183 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10.