thedriveintheatre

‘Ice’ knowing you.

Well, 20th Century Fox has just announced the cast for Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. [b]Minor spoilers[/b] about new characters ahead, although they’ll probably be revealed in the next trailer.

Jeremy Renner plays Gutt, “a master of the high seas determined to make Manny, Sid and Diego part of his crew,” pirate Wanda Sykes Sid’s stowaway granny, and Keke Palmer plays Peaches, the now adolescent offspring of Manny and Ellie, Aubrey “Drake” Graham as Ethan, a “handsome young mammoth who has eyes for Peaches”, and Jennifer Lopez as Shira, a “sabretooth tigress who melts Diego’s heart”.

But the most intriguing newcomer is Aziz Ansari, “a prehistoric rabbit who fancies himself a tough guy.” Coincidentally, he’s the co-star of Jesse Eisenberg (from Rio, another Blue Sky film), in the action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less, which opens today!

Plenty of promising newbies, along with the principal cast returning, and a lot of character development and interaction potential in store. And yes, Chris Wedge is back as the unstoppable and indestructible Scrat, although it remains to be seen whether his love interest Scratte (Karen Disher) will return too. I was quite bitter with Blue Sky over how they ruined the Scrat x Scratte romance which I was looking forward to in the third movie, so hopefully they don’t mess up the two romances they have in the next one. If they can repeat the cuteness of Manny and Ellie’s courtship in the second movie, or the ‘bromance’ camaraderie of the first, then we might have a winner next year. If not… then I guess we get something along the lines of Lethal Weapon 4 - fun, but forgettable.

What do you guys think of the lineup? Getting warmer? Or still frigid?

‘Ice Age 4: Continental Drift’ Gets All-Star Cast”

30 Minutes or Less trailer