Cory & Zeke

Cory & Zeke is a 2012 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Spirit Animal Studios and Nickelodeon Movies for Paramount Pictures. The film was directed, produced and written by Conner Jones, co-produced by Mary Parent, and co-written by J. David Stem, and David N. Weiss. The film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Michael Cera, Evan Peters, Josh Peck, and Clancy Brown. The film centers around two teenage friends named Cory and Zeke as they try to plan their greatest summer ever before they start high school. While planning their summer, the two get abducted by aliens and are taken to a planet known as Amicitia. The plant appears to be a peaceful society, but Cory and Zeke soon learn that the planet has a mysterious past and they set out to uncover it while also trying to find a way back to Earth.

The film was released into theatres on August 10, 2012 in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D formats. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who commended the cast, story, and animation, but criticized the designs of the characters. It grossed $395.8 million dollars on its $80 million budget. It was nominated for Favorite Animated Movie in the 2013 Kids' Choice Awards, but it lost to Wreck-It Ralph.

Plot
In the fictional town of Sapphire Grove, Cory Johnson befriends a boy named Zeke Baker when the two of them are assigned to do a class project about planning their future. They end up making up a project about how they wish to visit outer space and visit different planets, but their entire class laughs at them for it. Despite being teased, Cory and Zeke both think that visiting outer space might happen someday.

Five years later, Cory and Zeke have recently graduated from middle school and are trying to plan  their “best summer ever” before having to start high school in the fall. They discuss various ideas, but they both think that their ideas are not exciting enough.

Meanwhile, on a planet called Amicitia, the Earth is being observed by Ghagi, the planet’s king. He observes Cory and Zeke’s conversation about their summer plans and decides to use them in a nefarious plan of his, saying that it’ll be a “summer vacation that they’ll never forget.”

Back on Earth, Cory and Zeke meet up with their friends, Nate Townsend and Clyde Simmons, who have agreed to help Cory and Zeke with their summer plans. As they talk about what they want to do first, a spaceship appears above all of them and abducts Cory and Zeke. The ships flies away into outer space, leaving Nate and Clyde in shock.

The spaceship takes Cory & Zeke to Amicitia, and the citizens of the planet escort them to Ghagi's castle. He welcomes them as their guests from Earth and he gives them a grand tour of the planet. Later, he takes them back to the castle where they have a Thanksgiving-like dinner. While they eat, Cory and Zeke meet Zarina and Kirst, Ghagi's two daughters who Cory and Zeke fall in love with. Later that night, Zarina and Kirst take Cory & Zeke for a night out in an Amicitian city resembling New York.

Back on Earth, Nate and Clyde try to tell people that Cory and Zeke have been abducted by aliens, but nobody believes them. As they try to think of plan to rescue their friends, they see another spaceship being operated by Eimo and Knox, two of Ghaghi's bumbling guards. Nate and Clyde manage to knock them out, steal their spaceship, and set a course of Amicitia.

Back on Amicitia, Cory and Zeke return to Ghagi's castle with Zarina and Kirst. The boys tell the girls that they had a really great time and then Ghagi shows up, telling them to rest up because plans to have a special ceremony for Cory & Zeke in the morning. As the teens all get ready for bed, Ghagi gets ready to put his plan into action.

The next morning, the ceremony for Cory & Zeke goes underway and everybody is applauding and cheering for them. The ceremony comes to a screeching halt when they get put in a cage and get taken to an intergalactic zoo. That's when Cory & Zeke learn that Amicitia is a trap to take species from other planets and show them on display at Ghagi's zoo. When Zarina and Kirst realize what their father had done, they plan to help Cory & Zeke.

Later, Nate and Clyde crash land the spaceship in the middle of Amicitia and they cross paths with Zarina and Kirst. The four of them then come with up a plan to help Cory & Zeke escape from the zoo and stop Ghagi. Upon arriving the zoo, they notice Cory & Zeke locked up in cage and they see a guard operating the cage system. They knock out the guard and open Cory and Zeke's cage.

Upon being freed, Cory and Zeke convince their friends to let all the other aliens out of their cages because they have a plan to rebel against Ghagi. They do that, and Cory and Zeke convince all the free aliens to start a revolution and take down Ghagi. All the aliens agree as they are furious at Ghagi for locking them, and most of them were tricked just like how Cory & Zeke were. They all leave the zoo and return to Ghagi's castle.

At Ghagi's castle, Cory, Zeke, their friends, and the freed aliens storm the place and start attacking all of Gaghi's guards. As the fight happens, Cory & Zeke (along with Zarina and Kirst) confront Ghagi and tell him that his kidnapping days are over. Ghagi refuses to back and points a ray gun at all of them. Before he gets a chance to blast them, he trips and fall to the ground where he gets beaten up by the aliens that he captured.

Following the battle, the news of Ghagi's true intentions breaks out and he gets dethroned and sent to the Amicitian dungeon. Zarina and Kirst are then named the new queens of the Amicitia and accept the royal offer. Nate and Clyde then prepare to leave Amicitia and return to Earth and tell and Cory and Zeke to come along.

Cory & Zeke are conflicted as they can't decide to whether go home or stay Amicitia, but Cory comes up with an idea. He tells them that can spend the rest of the cruising the galaxy and having fun in outer space. They all agree and take the spaceship as they begin to travel the galaxy and get in all sorts of hijinks. The film ends with Cory & Zeke saying "Best summer ever!"

In a mid-credits scene, Eimo and Knox wake up and notice that their spaceship is gone, realize that they're stranded on Earth and try to pin the blame on each other.

Cast
More coming soon.
 * Donald Glover as Cory Johnson, a young teenager who tends to have a thirst for adventure and fun.
 * Coy Stewart voices a young Cory.
 * Michael Cera as Zeke Baker, Cory's best friend who tends to be laidback and calm, but springs into action when he needs to.
 * Jake Short voices a young Zeke.
 * Evan Peters as Nate Townsend, a self-centered and stubborn teenager who often puts himself before others.
 * Josh Peck as Clyde Simmons, a friend of Cory and Zeke's who enjoys finding valuable things and selling them for money.
 * Clancy Brown as Ghagi, the alien king of Amicitia who has diabolical plans for Cory and Zeke.

Production
Early production of the film started in 2009 while Conner Jones was working on the final season of the animated series Adam Feldman: Amateur Wizard. He had conceived the idea of Cory & Zeke by researching various comedy duos and researching classic science fiction films such as Back to the Future, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Jones originally intended to pitch the film to Columbia Pictures under the Sony Pictures Animation label, but he decided to pitch it to Paramount Pictures under the Nickelodeon Movies label with Spirit Animal Studios co-producing it.

More coming soon.

Release
The film was released into theatres by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 2012 in the United States and Canada.

Marketing
Coming soon.

Home Media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 27, 2012 by Paramount Home Media Distribution. A 3D version of the Blu-ray was later released on December 18, 2012.

Reception
Coming soon.

Television series
A television series based on the film, entitled The Galactic Adventures of Cory & Zeke was made to serve as a follow-up to the movie. It ran on Nickelodeon from September 21, 2013 to May 28. 2016.

More coming soon.