The Boss Baby

Plot

Tim Templeton (Tobey Maguire as an adult and Miles Christopher Bakshi as a child) is an adventurous and imaginative seven-year old boy who lives his days having fun with his parents, Ted (Jimmy Kimmel) and Janice (Lisa Kudrow) and wishes it to be just the three of them forever. However, one day, Tim is surprised when a business suit-wearing infant shows up at his house and Ted and Janice proudly call him Tim's little brother. Tim is jealous of attention the baby is receiving, not to mention suspicious when the infant acts odd around him, but his parents try to convince him that they will grow to love each other.

Soon, Tim learn that the baby can talk like an adult (Alec Baldwin) and he introduces himself as 'The Boss'. Seeing an opportunity to be rid of him, Tim records a conversation between him and other toddlers who are over at Tim's house for a meeting (under the guise of a play-date by the parents) to do something about how puppies are receiving more love than babies. The Boss Baby and the other infants catch Tim with the recording and after a chase scene throughout the backyard and the house, the tape is terminated after The Boss Baby threatens to tear up Tim's favorite stuffed animal, Lamb-Lamb. With no evidence to support him, Tim is subsequently grounded by his parents for his actions during the chase between him and the infants.

The Boss Baby comes to Tim and forces him to suck on a pacifier that transports them to Baby Corp, a place where infants with adult-like minds work to preserve infant love everywhere, but they are virtual, so therefore can not be seen or heard. The Boss Baby explains to Tim that he was sent on a mission to see why puppies are getting more love than infants and he has infiltrated Tim's residence because his parents work for Puppy Co., which is unleashing a new puppy soon on the day that employees take their children to work. He also explains that he stays mature due to drinking a substance called 'Secret Baby Formula', which enables a baby to act like an adult but if a baby doesn't drink it at a period of time, he/she becomes a regular baby. He hopes to receive a promotion after dealing with Puppy Co.'s new puppy.

Cast

Production

On June 12, 2014, DreamWorks Animation announced plans to release the film on March 18, 2016, with the film being directed by Tom McGrath. On September 30, 2014, Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey joined the film, Baldwin would play a baby and Spacey would play the villainous role. Ramsey Naito and Denise Cascino would produce the film based on a script by Michael McCullers. On December 11, 2014, it was announced that The Boss Baby had been removed from the schedule and replaced with Kung Fu Panda 3, with a new release date yet to be announced. On January 22, 2015, the film's release date was pushed back to January 13, 2017, and in September 2015, further back to March 10, 2017, taking over the Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie date. In June 2016, more casting was announced, including Steve Buscemi replacing Spacey, and the release date was pushed back again to March 31, 2017.

Release

The film premiered at the Miami Film Festival on March 12, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 31, 2017, by 20th Century Fox.

Box office

In the United States and Canada, The Boss Baby opened alongside Ghost in the Shell, and is projected to gross around $30 million from 3,773 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.5 million from Thursday night previews.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Boss Baby has an approval rating of 48% based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Boss Baby's talented cast, glimmers of wit, and flashes of visual inventiveness can't make up for a thin premise and a disappointing willingness to settle for doody jokes." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".