So this one came out of nowhere, and I mean completely out of nowhere. Timothée Chalamet is fresh off finishing an intergalactic holy war in Dune. And is going straight from that into an animated alien comedy with Selena Gomez. One minute he’s fighting for the fate of the universe in Dune, the next he’s voicing a shy rocket mechanic. The man’s range is absurd.
Variety reports that, Illumination, the studio that brought us Despicable Me, the yellow gibberish-speaking Minions, and the genuinely unstoppable Super Mario Bros movie, has officially announced Not Alone. An original that includes aliens, rockets, romance, and two of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Chalamet and Gomez take centre stage as the film’s leads. The announcement came out of the Annecy Animation Festival. Where Chalamet teased it the night before with an Instagram story of a cloudy sky, a little rocket emoji, and the caption “new movie announcement tmrw :)”. Very chill and definitely very understated for a man about to do his first ever animated film.
The biggest thing here, is that this will be Chalamet’s first feature-length animated role, ever. Yes, that’s right! He has done Wonka, Dune, and he’s about to do Dune again. But he has never done a fully animated film. And now he’s doing it as Joe. According to the synopsis, Joe is an introverted rocket mechanic who prefers keeping to himself. Gomez plays Fran, a brilliant astro-botanist who has built the world’s first plant-fuelled rocket. Naturally, preparing the world’s first plant-fuelled rocket brings them into each other’s orbit. And what do you know, sparks start flying. Except neither of them are good at the romance stuff and well…….things get complicated.
To add to this complication, three aliens fugitives known as Dunk, Welly, and Shirm, suddenly show up and take refuge in Joe’s home.They’re adorable, chaotic, and desperately trying to get back home. All this while avoiding an overzealous space officer named Zandro, who is apparently not particularly good at his job. So what are they doing at Joe’s? Their only way out is Fran’s rocket. So now you’ve got a rocket mechanic, a botanist, an inept space cop, and three tiny aliens crashing in someone’s house. Sounds like a laugh a minute.
Talk about a stacked supporting cast. We have Rob Brydon, Diane Morgan, and Jamie Demetriou voice the three aliens. While Brett Goldstein — yes, Roy Kent himself — is playing Officer Zandro. Allison Janney and Lamorne Morris round out the supporting cast. The film is being co-directed by Eric Guillon, Claire Dodgson, and Jonathan Del Val. All of whom have Illumination pedigree going back to Despicable Me, the Minions movies, and The Secret Life of Pets.
Not Alone lands in cinemas April 16, 2027. This takes the date that was originally reserved for an untitled Illumination event film. This tells you one thing, and one thing only. Illumination is confident enough in this one to put a name and two A-list voices behind. There’s no mystery here. Another thing that’s interesting is the timing. Illumination has always revolved around the big franchise stuff. Their original, non-franchise output has been a bit of a hit or miss. The last one was Migration in 2023. And before that in 2016 for The Secret Life of Pets and Sing, both of which immediately spawned their own franchises.
So Not Alone comes in with some pressure. Can Illumination actually pull off something original again? or does this one also turn into Not Alone 2 within three years? Personally, I think pairing an Oscar-nominated actor doing his first animated role with Selena Gomez plus a trio of aliens who sound like they’re going to steal every scene is a recipe for success. And it’s hard not to be at least a little curious.
We’ll find out in April 2027. Until then, I’m just going to enjoy the mental image of Timothée Chalamet voicing a rocket mechanic.
