New York, NY (December 21, 2016) – The official music video for Stevie Wonder’s “Faith”[feat. Ariana Grande] premieres today. Watch BELOW! The music video was executive produced by MPC content studio arm MPC Creative, a division with a global reach which merges art and commerce, technology and craft. “Faith” is the first single from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ SING Official Motion Picture Soundtrack available now HERE.
“Faith” recently garnered a 2017 Golden Globe nomination for a “Best Original Song – Motion Picture”, while the film was also nominated for “Best Animated Motion Picture”. SING is in theaters now.
“With this video for ‘Faith,’ the legendary Stevie Wonder's incomparable music and timeless lyrics celebrate Sing’s message of spreading joy and inspiring transformation,” said Gail Harrison, Illumination's President of Marketing and Branding. “There are few performers who embody inspiration the way Stevie does, and he and Ariana join Sing’s characters in a collective celebration of the power of song.”
ABOUT SING
Illumination has captivated audiences all over the world with the beloved hits Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Despicable Me 2 and Minions, now the second-highest-grossing animated movie in history. Following the release of this summer’s comedy blockbuster The Secret Life of Pets, Illumination presents Sing this holiday season.
With its highly relatable characters, heart and humor, the first collaboration between writer/director Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri marks the sixth fully animated feature from the studio.
The event film stars Academy Award® winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award-nominated Tori Kelly.
Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (McConaughey), a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal—some might even say delusional—optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now faced with the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition.
Five lead contestants emerge: Mike (MacFarlane), a mouse who croons as smoothly as he cons; Meena (Kelly), a timid teenage elephant with an enormous case of stage fright; Rosita (Witherspoon), an overtaxed mother run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets; Johnny (Egerton), a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family’s felonies; and Ash (Johansson), a punk-rock porcupine struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo.
Each arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn’t the only thing that is in need of saving.
Featuring more than 65 hit songs, Sing is produced by Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy. Together, they have produced all of Illumination’s films since the studio’s inception. Released by Universal Pictures, Sing is in theaters now. www.singmovie.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Beau Benton
Republic Records
Beau.Benton@umusic.com
Bryan Kehn
Republic Records
Bryan.Kehn@umusic.com
ABOUT ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT
Illumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of event animated films. Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions—the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time—as well as Despicable Me 2, an Academy Award® nominee for Best Animated Feature of 2013. In all, Illumination’s films, which also include 2016’s record-breaking The Secret Life of Pets, 2011’s Hop and 2012’s Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, have grossed more than $4 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world’s most renowned talent.
Upcoming films include Despicable Me 3, starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker, which is set for June 2017; The Secret Life of Pets 2, written by Brian Lynch and directed by Chris Renaud, which arrives in theaters in July 2018; and a newly imagined version of Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of The Grinch, which is set for release in November 2018. In addition, “Despicable Me: Minion Rush” (more than 750 million downloads) has become one of the world’s most popular apps, and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attracts huge crowds at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.
ABOUT REPUBLIC RECORDS
A division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, Republic is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, Florence + the Machine, Godsmack, Gotye, James Blake, James Bay, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Of Monsters and Men, Seth MacFarlane, Zendaya, among many others. Founded by brothers and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman, it is also comprised of innovative business ventures including American Recordings (The Avett Brothers), Brushfire (Jack Johnson), Cash Money (Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj), John Varvatos Records (Zac Brown Band), Lava Records (Jessie J, Lorde), Monkeywrench (Pearl Jam), Casablanca Records (Tïesto), NBC's The Voice, XO (The Weeknd), School Boy Records (PSY, Sheppard), among others. In addition, Republic maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with country powerhouse Big Machine Label Group which is comprised of Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, The Band Perry, Florida Georgia Line, The Eli Young Band) and Dot Records (Maddie + Tae).
