Even in a world where Legos, Battleship, Angry Birds and soon Tetris have gotten their own movie adaptations, many were surprised last year when it was announced that Sony Pictures Animation would be making an emoji movie. Those animated faces may brighten our text and instant messages, but it's not like one would have thought they were prime candidates for a story on the big screen. Nevertheless, EmojiMovie: Express Yourself is heading our way next year, and the animated movie has found its first voice in Deadpool star T.J. Miller.
To celebrate World Emoji Day yesterday (yes, that's a thing), Sony announced Miller's casting to the public. EmojiMovie: Express Yourself will be set in the digital world of a smartphone, showing what the living emojis are up to when they're not being sent across the world. According to Variety, Miller will play Gene, who was originally supposed to be a "meh" emoji like his parents, but a glitch has caused him to express him to express multiple emotions uncontrollably. Cue shenanigans.
Along with the casting announcement, Sony posted T.J. Miller's "audition video" for EmojiMovie: Express Yourself, where he showed off his various emoji impressions, from expressions like smiling and kissy face to objects like fried shrimp...seriously. Unfortunately for him, the Silicon Valley star eventually learned the movie is animated, not live action, leading him to make the "disappointed" face.
While we would have paid (maybe not full ticket price) to see Miller make weird faces for 90 minutes, there's no doubt that CGI animation is the best way to go for a movie starring the emojis. So far, Miller is the only actor attached to EmojiMovie: Express Yourself, but you can bet that more actors will be announced in the coming months. Although Miller's Gene will have be rocking multiple expressions, presumably most, if not all, of the other main characters will only be showing off type of expression or look, similar to what Pixar did with the personified emotions in Inside Out. This is Miller's latest opportunity to impress moviegoing audiences. He starred earlier this year as Weasel in Deadpool, and his other upcoming movie appearances include Office Christmas Party, Ready Player One and reprising Tuffnut Thorston for How To Train Your Dragon 3.
Directed by Anthony Leondis, who co-wrote the feature with Eric Siegel, EmojiMovie: Express Yourself hits theaters on August 11, 2017. Let us know what you think about Miller's casting in the comments below.
