''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' is a 2021

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed and produced by

Will Gluck Will Gluck (born November 7, 1978) is an American filmmaker, songwriter, and composer. He is known for writing and directing films such as ''Easy A'' (2010), ''Friends with Benefits (film), Friends with Benefits'' (2011), the ''Peter Rabbit'' f ...

, who co-wrote the screenplay with

Patrick Burleigh Patrick Burleigh is an American screenwriter, playwright, and essayist. He is best known as a screenwriter for '' Eternals'', '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'', and ''Ant-Man and the Wasp''. Burleigh grew up in New York City and Los Angeles before ...

. The film is the sequel to ''

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subseq ...

'' (2018), and is based on the stories of

created by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Heelis (; 28 July 186622 December 1943), usually known as Beatrix Potter ( ), was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' ...

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & S ...

reprises his role as the title character, alongside

Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994) , and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She gained her first leading film role in ...

Domhnall Gleeson Domhnall Gleeson (; born 12 May 1983) is an Irish actor and screenwriter. The son of actor Brendan Gleeson, he studied media arts at the Dublin Institute of Technology. He began his career by directing and writing several short films, and garne ...

, and

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awar ...

in live-action roles, and the voices of

Elizabeth Debicki Elizabeth Debicki (born 24 August 1990) is an Australian actress. Born in Paris and raised in Melbourne, she studied acting at the University of Melbourne. Her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors ...

Lennie James Lennie Michael James is a British actor. He is best known for portraying Morgan Jones in the AMC series '' The Walking Dead'' and in its spin-off, ''Fear the Walking Dead'', and starring as DCI Tony Gates in ''Line of Duty'' series one. Among ...

, and

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie ( ; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Her work includes both blockbuster and independent films, and her accolades include nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and six BAFT ...

. After facing numerous delays from its original February 2020 release date due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the film was released theatrically by

Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operatio ...

under its

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

label, first in Australia on March 25, 2021, then in the United Kingdom on May 17 and in the United States on June 11. The film was not as successful as its predecessor, but grossed $154 million worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Some time after the events of

the first film ''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...

, Thomas McGregor and Bea get

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

, with their friends, human and animal, attending, while

accepts having Thomas in his life. A month after their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

, Thomas helps Bea as she works on her children's storybook based on Peter and his friends, but Peter is disappointed that the book portrays him as naughty. After getting a letter from a

publishing company Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

wanting to distribute the book, Thomas and Bea take Peter, Benjamin, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail to meet the publisher, Nigel Basil-Jones, who presents his

marketing plan A marketing plan is a plan created to accomplish specific marketing objectives, outlining a company's advertising and marketing efforts for a given period, describing the current marketing position of a business, and discussing the target market a ...

which paints Peter as a troublemaker and shows a

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

design for a potential movie that makes him look villainous. Dismayed, Peter walks away from the group and goes into town where he meets an older rabbit named Barnabas, who claims to be an old friend of his late father. They are snared by animal catchers, who take them to a pet pound, where they were taken in by a girl named Amelia. Barnabas and Peter raid the family's fridge with the help of Barnabas’ crew, and take the food back to their hideout. Barnabas talks about how his father used to steal for Peter and his sisters to keep their bellies full until Thomas and Bea find Peter and bring him home. The next morning, Peter tells Benjamin about Barnabas and convinces him and his sisters to join him in meeting the crew. Recognising Peter's sisters and Benjamin, Barnabas divulges his big plan to rob from the

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

, with their big score being packs of

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

. The rabbits gather help from their animal friends to pull off their heist. Thomas and Bea meet with Nigel again to go over the designs for the rabbits, but after already having them dressed up in contemporary clothes, Nigel makes more suggestions for the next book. Thomas starts to realise that Nigel's ideas are not in the best interests of Bea's work. The animals arrive at the market and get away with the dried fruits, but all of Peter's friends, including Benjamin and the sisters, are captured by the animal catchers when they sneak into a

petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...

. Barnabas reveals he was intending to keep the dried fruit for himself, while explaining that, after being rejected by humans in the pound due to his old age, he intentionally met Peter in town after reading about him in his book, never even knowing his father. Feeling guilty, Peter leaves Barnabas and enlists Thomas to help rescue his friends. After hitting a snag with their truck, they go to Bea for help while she is in a meeting with Nigel who wants to put Peter and his friends in a ludicrous space adventure as well as a dangerously unpredictable rescue mission as a way to end the story. Bea pulls her stories from Nigel's company and helps Thomas and Peter rescue their friends while going on over-the-top missions to find them. Peter, Benjamin, and the sisters then go to Barnabas's hideout where they turn the tables by tying Barnabas and his crew to ropes so that they can get pulled away when the nearby tailor shop owner leaves in his truck, leading them to get taken to the pound. The rabbits return the dried fruit to the market sellers, and rejoin Thomas and Bea as they drive home, with Peter deciding to be more willing to listen to the ones that love him. Some time later, Thomas and Bea became parents to a baby girl and Bea names the new book "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”.

Cast

Live-action

as Bea, the wife of Thomas McGregor. *

as Thomas McGregor, the former villain and husband of Bea. *

as Nigel Basil-Jones

Voice

Production

In May 2018, it was announced that

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

had started the development of the sequel to ''

''. In February 2019, it was announced

had joined the cast of the film, with

and Domnhall Gleeson reprising their roles from the first.

and

were confirmed to reprise their respective roles in October 2019.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in January 2019 in

Centennial Parklands Centennial Parklands is the name given to a group of three urban parklands located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Comprising approximately , the lands encompass Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park. Th ...

, Australia. Filming took place in the Lake District at

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

and

Haverthwaite Haverthwaite is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. It is also within the boundaries of the Lake District National Park. The village is 7 km or 4.5 miles NE of Ulverston and 5 k ...

, around Hill Street and Richmond Bridge in London,

Gloucester Docks Gloucester Docks is a historic area of the city of Gloucester. The docks are located at the northern junction of the River Severn with the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. They are Britain's most inland port. The docks include fifteen Victoria ...

, a replica of the House of the Tailor of Gloucester, and in

Camden, New South Wales Camden is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Camden was the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council until July 2016 a ...

Music

The film score was composed by

Dominic Lewis Dominic Alexander Charles Lewis (born January 29, 1985) is a British film and television composer and singer. He first worked on various music departments for film projects before transitioning into more solo work starting with ''Free Birds''. H ...

. A score album was released through

Madison Gate Records Madison Gate Records, Inc. is an American record label owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment that specializes in soundtracks and other recordings derived from films, television programs, and other entertainment media. History Madison Gate Records ...

on June 18, 2021.

Release

''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' was theatrically released in Australia on March 25, 2021, in the United Kingdom on May 17, and in the United States on June 11. It was initially set to be released in the United States on February 7, 2020, before being moved back to April 3, 2020, earlier in Australia on March 19, and in the United Kingdom on March 27. The film was delayed again to August 7, 2020, due to the

. It was then further delayed to January 15, 2021, in the United States, then to April 2, and again to June 11. The date was then moved up to May 14 before moving back again to July 2, then moving up once more to June 18, and then once again back to June 11, following the film's box office success outside of the United States.

Home media

''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' was released as a purchase on VOD on July 27, 2021, and was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

on August 24, 2021, by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

Reception

Box office

''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' grossed $40.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $113.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $154 million. In the United States and Canada, ''Peter Rabbit 2'' was released alongside ''

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is a romance as well as a celebration of community, culture, and aspirations. It is set over the course of thr ...

'' and '' The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2'' and was projected to gross $16–20 million from 3,346 theaters in its opening weekend, with Sony predicting a more modest $8–10 million debut. The film made $4 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $10.1 million, finishing fourth behind ''

A Quiet Place Part II ''A Quiet Place Part II'' is a 2020 American post-apocalyptic horror film written, directed and co-produced by John Krasinski. It is the sequel to the 2018 film ''A Quiet Place'', following the family from the first film as they continue to nav ...

'', ''In the Heights'', and '' The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It''. The film fell 39.8% in its second weekend, grossing $6.1 million and finishing in third. In its third weekend, the film fell 21.5% and grossed $4.8 million, finishing in fourth. In Australia, the film debuted to $2.1 million. By its third weekend in the country (where it made $2.5 million), the film had a running total of $9.2 million. In the UK, the film topped the charts in the first three days of cinemas reopening, making $6.4 million.

Critical response

Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

reported 74% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 45% saying they would definitely recommend it. Courtney Howard of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it a "superior sequel" and said the film "serves as both a meta-commentary on his humbling past antics and a pivotal point for the eponymous protagonist." Brian Penn of ''UK Film Review'' called it a "great popcorn movie" and said the "voicing actors are undoubtedly the stars even though the humans on screen are perfectly fine." Ian Freer of ''Empire'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing "It feels a little thin and generic compared to family fare like '' The Mitchells vs. the Machines'', but the Byrne-Gleeson combo is winning and Gluck injects just enough slapstick and smarts to justify the last-gasp gag about a sequel. It's no ''

Paddington 2 ''Paddington 2'' is a 2017 live-action animated comedy film directed by Paul King and written by King and Simon Farnaby, based on the stories of Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond (to whom the film is also dedicated, Bond having died th ...

'', but ''Peter Rabbit 2'' works well thanks to a mocking sense of self and a strong second half." However, he noted that "It 'Peter Rabbit 2''may not be for the

purists and has a scattershot quality", but that it "remains enjoyable for its brisk 93 minutes."

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, remarking that "Unlike ''Paddington'', whose literary source material is genuinely funny, this digital Peter Rabbit is never really humorous. It can sometimes be cute or zany and briefly send itself up, but there is fundamentally something pretty straight in its DNA. And so the film rattles inoffensively on, every line and every image seeming as if it has been test marketed in ways advocated by the wicked Nigel Basil-Jones." Christy Lemire of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, who said "By indulging in the exact same instincts it insists are problematic artistically, “''Peter Rabbit 2''” wants to have its carrot and eat it, too. But maybe that won't bother you. Maybe you'll be grateful for a return to the theater and the opportunity to do so with your kids. In that regard, the sequel hops along in sufficiently bouncy fashion."

Accolades

At the

11th AACTA Awards The 11th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (generally known as the AACTA Awards) is an awards ceremony to celebrate the best of Australian films and television of 2021. The main ceremony occurred on 8 December 2021 at the S ...

, ''Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'' received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

, Best Editing,

Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, and Best Production Design; and won Best Visual Effects or Animation. The film's visual effects received the Asian Academy Creative Award for Best Visual or Special FX in TV Series or Feature Film at the third ceremony.

References

External links

* * {{Sony Pictures Animation 2021 films 2021 comedy films 2021 computer-animated films 2020s American animated films 2020s British films 2020s Australian films 2020s children's adventure films 2020s children's comedy films 2020s children's fantasy films 2020s English-language films 2020s fantasy adventure films 2020s fantasy comedy films 2020s heist films 3D animated films American 3D films American adventure comedy films American computer-animated films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated drama films American children's animated fantasy films American comedy-drama films American fantasy adventure films American heist films American films with live action and animation American sequel films Australian 3D films Australian adventure comedy films Australian children's adventure films Australian children's comedy films Australian children's drama films Australian animated fantasy films Australian comedy-drama films Australian computer-animated films Australian fantasy adventure films Australian heist films Australian sequel films British 3D films British animated comedy films British computer-animated films British children's adventure films British children's comedy films British children's drama films British animated fantasy films British comedy-drama films British adventure comedy films British fantasy adventure films British heist films British sequel films English-language fantasy adventure films English-language fantasy comedy films Animated films about cats Animated films about foxes Animated films about orphans Animated films about rabbits and hares Films about badgers Films about ducks Films about hedgehogs Films about pigs Films about runaways Animated films about siblings Animated films set in England Animated films set in London Animated films set in Scotland Films set in the Lake District Films set in Gloucestershire Films set in Manchester Films set in the Alps Films shot in New South Wales Films shot in Sydney Films shot in England Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Animated films based on children's books Peter Rabbit (film series) Peter Rabbit Films directed by Will Gluck Films scored by Dominic Lewis Columbia Pictures animated films Columbia Pictures films Animal Logic films AACTA Award winners