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This article is rated PG, meaning some material may not be suitable for children. |
| General | Trivia | Gallery | Soundtrack | Quotes | Transcript | Trailer transcripts | Credits | Release dates | Home media | Tropes | Box Office Mojo |
| “ | We're reimagining an animated film experience. | „ |
| ~ Roblox Corporation revealing that a film based on a gaming platform is in development |
| “ | The world wasn't always a friendly place. | „ |
| ~ Tagline |
Roblox (known in some countries as The Roblox Movie) is a 2026 American 3D machinima science fiction action-adventure film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, in association with Roblox Corporation, Lord Miller Productions and Perfect World Pictures, and distributed by Universal. It is the first installment in Illumination's Roblox Cinematic Universe. Based on an online gaming platform of the same name, it is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, produced by Chris Meledandri and David Baszucki, from a screenplay written by Derek Connolly, and a story written by Lord, Miller, Robert Smigel, J. David Stem, and David N. Weiss. It stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Chris Evans, Jessica Chastain, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Hader, Ben Schwartz, Steve Carell, David Baszucki, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Sudeikis, Frank Welker, Max Martini and Nick Kroll.
Inspired by Wreck-It Ralph, they were discussing a Roblox film by late 2023, and in February 2024, Roblox Corporation announced that they will produce it alongside Universal Pictures and Illumination, with Lord and Miller attached as directors, producers, and story writers. The duo wanted the film to be enjoyable to both newcomers and old-time fans while also wanting this film to be set as a golden standard for video game movies. Originally planned as a live action/animated hybrid a la Ready Player One style, it was then shifted to a fully animated film that would be "in the same vein as the source material". Illumination Studios Paris, Wētā FX, and Rough Draft Studios are responsible for handling animation and visual effects services for the film. The cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, used a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, including, for the first time in an animated film, scenes in IMAX black-and-white film photography.
Roblox premiered at Universal Studios Hollywood on August 12, 2026 and was theatrically released at the United States on September 1, 2026 in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, IMAX 3D, 4DX, and ScreenX by Universal Pictures. The film gained universal acclaim from critics, audiences, and fans alike, praising its story, screenplay, animation, visuals, voice acting, action sequences, faithfulness to the source material, heart, character appearances, humor, emotional weight, subject matter, entertainment value, Hans Zimmer and Brian Eno's musical score, and the darker and mature tone compared to Illumination's previous projects, with some critics calling it massively superior over previous video game adaptations. With a worldwide gross of $1.57 billion against a budget of $350 million, it became the second highest-grossing film of 2026 and the third highest-grossing animated film of all time. It also broke multiple box-office records, including the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the highest-grossing film based on a video game. Roblox won numerous awards, including Best Animated Feature at the 99th Academy Awards, 54th Annie Awards, and 84th Golden Globe Awards. The film is dedicated to Erik Cassel, co-founder, administrator, and former VP of Engineering on Roblox, who died on February 11, 2013, respectively.
Since its release, it is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential animated movies ever made. Many critics considered the film a "blueprint" for many modern video game movies. It is also a pivotal film in animation and visual effects, particularly its machinima style, as well as being regarded as the most iconic machinima film of all time. The film had a significant effect on popular culture worldwide, paving the way for the growth of machinima in the Western world, as well as influencing numerous works in animation, film, music, television, and video games. Its success formed a multimedia franchise with a theme park at Universal Destinations & Experiences called Robloxia, including multiple upcoming sequels and spin-offs. A sequel, Roblox 2: Revenge of Julien, was released on July 7, 2029 to a similar critical and commercial success. A third and final film in the trilogy Roblox 3: Dimension Wars and spin-off prequels, Chad's Adventure and Builderman: Begins, are in development.
Synopsis[]
- An ordinary robloxian named Jake was always alone and people like to make fun of him. All of a sudden, when a former god Ellernate starts preparing for an attack, he teams up with other robloxians he met such as Melvin, Jesse, Omar, Chad, Builderman, Donny and Noah to save the Roblox universe from its destruction.
Plot[]
Prologue[]
In 2023, a test footage shows humans going inside Roblox as rthro avatars using VR headsets, but was interrupted by Jake, who is sick and tired of bad video game adaptations, starts telling the audience that Universal must be dense. The gang are then seen going to Universal headquarters, with several video game characters, who are seen going on strike, helping them get there, as they angrily lash out at Lord Farquaad and the rest of Universal and Roblox executives, demanding that their movie must be fully animated and that they should give what the fans and the audience wants. Farquaad rudely refuses to do that, because both the metaverse and live-action films based on video games make more money. Sean furiously threatens to attack Farquaad if he doesn't turn the gang's movie to be fully animated. With complete fear, Lord Farquaad quickly and promptly accepts their request to make their movie fully animated. Three years later, Jake and the rest of the gang and video game characters are gathering and sitting down at the movie theater to watch the first screening of Roblox's first movie.
Main story[]
65 million years ago, after the dinosaurs went extinct, the three gods Builderman, Roblox, and Ellernate have created the Dynablocks universe for a new place to stay. One day, in 2006, Builderman and Roblox thought that the universe was lonely, so they created a solar system and the newborn Dynablocksians. However, Ellernate got jealous of the new dynablocksians because they were getting more love and attention, as they were made from blocks, and he was made from fire. He kept telling them that fire is better than blocks but they didn't listen to him. Ellernate tries to attack them and somehow killed Roblox. Builderman, who is upset for his actions, uses a tractor beam to send him to the dark red planet for him to live there. Ellernate swore that one day, he will attack the orange planet and the entire universe. Afterwards, Builderman built a grave for Roblox where all the other gods came to pay respects for. They all agree to make changes such as naming the planets Planet Builder and Planet Dark, and renaming the universe from Dynablocks to Roblox in memory of his death, which also led to the renaming of dynablocksians to robloxians. Builderman creates a baby with a special power inside, names him Jake, and sends him to his parents. He later made a prophecy that one day, Jake will stop Ellernate and save the universe.
15 years later, in 2021, Jake gets made fun of by many people at Robloxia High School. When he comes back home, he tell his parents that he wishes that people will respect him one day. They tell him that it's a blessing from Builderman, according to the Bloxible. At night time, when Jake is about to sleep, he heard an explosion from the distance and uses a telescope to check what's going on. He finds out that in Planet Dark, Ellernate is ordering the avatars to kidnap everyone at Robloxia, just so he can take their energy and give their new one to mind control them. Jake tries to warn everyone in Robloxia about Ellernate's impending attack but no one believed him. His parents however, trusted him and tells him that Ellernate is too powerful for Jake to stop him. The spaceships have landed on Planet Builder where the door opens and the avatars are taking everyone in Robloxia. Jake tries to stop them but they already left, which leaves him sad. He later had a bad dream that Ellernate is coming for him, no matter where he is.
Jake leaves Robloxia and goes to New Blox Village where he meets Melvin and Jesse. They told him that the avatars took everyone in New Blox Village, similar to what happened at Robloxia. They all agreed that it won't be easy and must recruit as many people as possible, including Builderman to stop Ellernate. Meanwhile at Planet Dark, the avatars bring the citizens of Planet Builder to Ellernate. He tells them to put them in cages where he will deal with them later as he move on to the next plan. Jake, Melvin, and Jesse went to the portal that takes them to the Work at a Pizza Place realm and recruited Chad, Omar, Sean, and Laith. They all went to the pizzeria and asks the cashiers for the location of the next portal but they don't understand, so they call their boss. He tells them that they have to work with him first in order to look for the next portal. After the scenery montage, he leads the gang to it that takes them to the Welcome to Bloxburg realm and leaves. At Planet Dark, Ellernate finds out that the avatars lost Jake and orders them to find him. Meanwhile, at the Welcome to Bloxburg realm, the gang recruited Donny despite being suspicious of him. They all went to the staircase to the top of the universe where they meet Builderman in his palace.
Jake tells Builderman that they need his help to stop Ellernate but he believes that the prophecy was a mistake. They beg for his second chance and he later agrees to help them. Builderman tells the story about Ellernate with how he was created and what happened to him now. He later tells them that he might be near Planet Builder in a few days and they have to stop him before it's too late. At Planet Dark, Ellernate is building a giant mech for destruction and makes sure everything goes to his plan. At Planet Builder, Builderman tells the gang that they have to go through couple of realms, starting with the Hyundai Mobility Adventure realm. They went to the next portal but somehow, they accidentally went to the Jailbreak realm at the prison one per each, and they think that the portal is broken.
More coming soon.
Credits scenes[]
In a mid-credit scene, Ellernate and Donny were being sentenced to Prison Punishment, a prison where all the people get punished wherever its from one day to a death sentence. The prisoners noticed Ellernate and Donny as they get closer to them. They make fun of them due to the battle they did. One prisoner crashed a wall so hard that Ellernate gets sucked out to space. Donny waves goodbye to Ellernate as he started to get frozen due to lack of atmosphere and floats away at the outer space, never to be seen again. In a post-credit scene, when the film ends, Jesse insists on watching it again. Chad tells her that they'll watch it again tomorrow until the rest of the video game characters want to watch the movie again as well. Few months later, the gang being cheered by tons of video game characters, due to their movie being a huge success, much to Sora’s dismay as they boo and jeer at him, wanting a movie of his own.
Cast[]
- Oscar Issac as Jake, a lonely robloxian who has live in Robloxia for his whole life and faced hate and abuse from other people. He knew that Ellernate is gonna destroy Planet Builder and the entire universe.
- Chris Evans as Melvin, a smart and playful robloxian who was always ready to have fun. He knows a lot of things with portals, technology and science. He is Jesse's brother.
- Jessica Chastain as Jesse, Melvin's sister. She is determined and ready for long journeys.
- Mark Wahlberg as Ellernate, a cruel and ruthless being who wants to destroy the universe and create his own after being betrayed. He is based off a hacker of the same name, who is the strongest of all in Roblox.
- Bill Hader as Sean, an anti-hero who is always ready to fight criminals. He is Chad and Omar's big cousin, and Laith's brother.
- Ben Schwartz as Laith, a robloxian who thinks he is better than most people but ends up failing all the time. So, he joined with the team to prove that he can actually have skills.
- Steve Carell as Donny, a robloxian who likes to cheer up Jake if he feels negative about Ellernate during his journey. Later, he betrayed Jake and the others and teamed up with Ellernate.
- David Baszucki as Builderman (himself at the end of the film) - The god of the Roblox universe who always make sure everything goes fine.
- Ryan Reynolds as Chad - Omar's brother. He likes to go outside, have some fresh air and loves going on adventures
- Jason Sudeikis as Roblox - The main god of the universe when it was used to be called Dynablocks, but somehow died when Ellernate betrayed Builderman and the other gods, which is the reason why the universe's name was changed to Roblox, in memory of his death.
- Frank Welker as Omar, a robloxian who has autism and is eager to go on big adventures with the others. Welker also voiced the avatars.
- Max Martini as Narrator, an unseen person who goes through the whole story of the film.
- Nick Kroll as Noah, a person who was stuck in prison at the Jailbreak realm for 10 years. He also help Jake and the others along his journey.
- Daniel Middleton as himself, a YouTube celebrity who makes daily videos on the realms. He appears as a cameo in the film.
- Ed Helms as Sheriff, the leader of the Jailbreak realm.
- The cops are an organization.
- Steve Buscemi as Cop #1
- Jack Black as Cop #2
- Seth Green as Cop #3
- Craig Robinson as Cop #4
- Malin Åkerman as Jake's Mom, the mother of Jake.
- Kurt Russell as Jake's Dad, the father of Jake.
- Amy Poehler as Mrs. Block, Jake's teacher in Robloxia High School.
- Mark Hamill as the bus driver of Robloxia High School.
- Tom Hanks as Mr. Lynn, the principal of Robloxia High School.
- Bobby Moynihan as Johnny, a person who wants to get revenge on the cops for killing his friends and sending him to prison.
- Randall Park as Kim Jong-Un, a person who wants to attention on north korea.
- Yonas Kibreab as Francis
Additionally, Channing Tatum, Michael Cera, Jordan Peele, Maurice LaMarche, Matthew McConaughey, John Leguizamo, Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Antonio Banderas, John Lithgow, Kevin Afghani, Roger Craig Smith, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Zach LeBlanc, Makiko Ohmoto, Eric Stuart, Ted Lewis, Mike Pollock, Steve Downes, Francesca Aston, Kyle Hebert, David Matranga, David Hayter, Jack Black, Patricia Summersett, Matthew Mercer, Jacob Tremblay, and the McElroy brothers has been cast to undisclosed roles.
Production[]
Development[]
On November 28, 2023, Roblox Corporation posted an image on X that shows an image that are almost pitch black with an avatar on it. People were confused with what it was, so they start talking about it. When turned up the brightness, it shows 2 movie cameras between a scared avatar with a text saying "We're reimagining an animated film experience". The announcement went viral after people saw this investigation.
Directors, producers, and story writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
On December 12, 2023, Roblox made a blog post on their website about the film, explaining their partnership with Universal Pictures and Illumination, with a release date for September 2026. On March 23, 2024, it was reported that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had signed on to direct, produce, and write the story for Roblox. During the event of RDC 2024, it was stated that the film would be “the golden standard for video game movies, being a film that both fans and casual viewers can enjoy”. Originally, Universal and Roblox was thinking about making it a live action/animated hybrid a la Ready Player One style, but Illumination and the Lord Miller duo disapprove that idea, stating that the metaverse is "bad for the environment". Plans shifted from a live-action/animated hybrid film to a fully animated film that would be "in the same vein as the source material".
The writing began on May 7, 2024. It is announced that Derek Connolly will write the screenplay while Robert Smigel will co-write the film. During an interview with BBC News, Lord and Miller were writing and discussing the first few drafts for a Roblox movie, with Miller saying that the first draft of the script was completed. In an interview with Collider, producer Chris Meledandri confirmed that Lord and Miller were rewriting the script during the production, saying that "while we were working on this film, we've started to notice that most people criticize us for one reason, and that is because we were playing it safe. So for this film, we decided to take criticisms very seriously this time and make the best movie we can possibly think of." On July 2024, it is revealed that Shrek 2 writers J. David Stem and David N. Weiss will be serving and penning the story alongside other writers. Meledandri explained that "we were trying to find someone who can write a wonderful story for us because at the time, we had a issue with it. And right after, we hired J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, and they were the perfect choose for us."
Writing[]
Various story ideas were explored and discarded during the development of the film, the story in the final draft takes inspiration from huge incidents regrading the platform such as the 2012 April Fools Incident and the 2021 Roblox Outage, being the main base for the film’s characters and some plot details. The film's main goal is to be enjoyed by both fans and casuals, meaning they have many references and cameos for fans to look for, and have many in-depth themes and character arcs that people can relate to.
According to Lord and Miller, the film's events are set from mid 2000s to early 2020s in a alternate universe, just as the journey of Jake and his friends begins. Miller explained that “we wanted to tell a story that is more deeper and expansive than The Lego Movie, where we have two different beings going against each other. And part of the fun of the movie is trying to figure out what’s happening and how that's reflected in the Roblox universe." Lord asserted that Roblox involved themselves with every aspect of the production, "from story, to visual development, to the animation, to visual effects". In a manner similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Wreck-It Ralph, Roblox featured cameo appearances by a number of licensed video-game characters. Being influenced by these films and maintaining this movie's tone, their finished script bares more resemblance to a movie genre than a traditional video game adaptation.
The duo wanted Omar to be just as important as Jake by portraying him as "a natural evolution of an autistic person", as well as hiring consultants from Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) as writing assistants and supervisors so that Welker can spend time with them in order to understand the experience. They also wanted to portray how anyone with unusual features can still achieve their dreams despite their limitations, turning that into a character trait for Omar and confirming that he will have some character development as the story progresses. For Ellernate, they described that character as a "scary, ruthless, and somewhat unhinged yet betrayed person".
According to Connolly, the themes of the movie are simple yet effective ones that could provide some complexity, stating “We wanted to have the themes of friendship, teamwork, the struggle of good versus evil, destiny, fulfilment, and the idea where anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it.” Conversely, the themes were to mirror how anyone can play the games in Roblox and can feel all these memories playing it.
Casting[]
Voice actors and actresses, such as Oscar Isaac, Chris Evans, Jessica Chastain, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Hader, Ben Schwartz, Steve Carell, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Sudeikis, Frank Welker, Max Martini, and Nick Kroll have joined the cast. Jacob Tremblay was also cast to voice a Roblox version of himself. It was confirmed that the podcasters, the McElroy Brothers, will make their appearance in the film. It is also announced that David Baszucki, the creator of Roblox, joins the cast to voice his own character Builderman.
Cinematography[]
Hoyte van Hoytema (known for collaborating with Christopher Nolan), who serves as the cinematographer, shoots the film in realistic lighting using a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, with more IMAX footage than previous animated films, including scenes in IMAX black-and-white film photography. Van Hoytema used 50mm and 80mm Hasselblad lenses when filming on virtual IMAX cameras, while scenes shot on virtual Panavision cameras were shot using Panavision Sphero 65 and Panavision System 65 lenses. Said Van Hoytema, "When shooting our close-ups, we didn't want the camera to be six feet away from our subject. We wanted to be much tighter, so that you really feel the perspective and the intimacy. Also, I knew we would be shooting in low-light situations during the Planet Dark segments and would need to shoot at T1.4 rather than a T4."
The film's dialogue made it possible for virtual IMAX cameras to be used as the primary format. Both Panavision and IMAX lenses enabled filming at night. For the first time in an animated film, virtual IMAX cameras were portrayed hand-held, which Lord and Miller advised as the best way to shoot on realms. Van Hoytema said in an interview about the IMAX footage getting more focus, "The quality of the image is second to none. We really try and create the sensation of virtual reality without the headset". He also explained that he helped the filmmakers with the aesthetics of the film and to add a "live-action feel".
Visual effects and animation[]
Both visual effects and animation were provided by Illumination Studios Paris and Wētā FX, who provided animation for almost all of Illumination's previous films, as well as visual effects for all prior Avatar films. with additional animation being provided by Rough Draft Studios. The number eventually grew to 88 animators during production. It became clear that they could not complete the film on time, so the crew was expanded further. The number had reached 177 animators by August 2024 and at one point to 230 animators.
According to Lord and Miller, they wanted the film to feel like the viewer had "walked inside a video game" by making the film's animation to look like machinima compared to a traditional computer animation. To accomplish this, they added a new technology for a video game engine Roblox Studio which allows people to professionally animate 3D character models they made. This was later finalized and released to the public as an update after the film's release. Meledandri stated that "with new technologies used for this new movie, we're happy to say that they have taken the animation to lengths we have never seen before in our history." The animation team explored multiple design styles for each realm that is within Planet Builder, and developed new animation approaches for some of these styles. They have also updated their lighting and render technology further to reach the levels of Wētā, and to improve on-screen detail and depth-of-field.
For the backstories, the duo wanted to do something that was visually different from the rest of the film. They said that it is "a backstory of the main three gods when they created the Roblox universe." The scene is not actually machinima, but rather 2D flash animation that looks 3D. They first did the scene using Roblox Studio, and then the team at Rough Draft recreated it by using flash animation, 24 FPS, CGI for backgrounds, and a lighting technology made by a French company Les Films du Poisson Rouge that was used for the film Klaus, to keep it as close to the reference as possible. James Baxter is the animation director for the flash animation production.
For three hours and three days a week, Lord and Miller met with Wētā, who was in charge of the outer space segments and produced the bulk of the visual effects shots, with 900 in total; Lord remarked that "this is one of the hardest movies we have ever done", as three 3-hour long meetings a week were necessitated to discuss the visual effects, with a total of nearly 3.3 billion thread powers, the same size as Avatar: The Way of Water. During the scenes that were shot in Planet Builder, it shows that the atmosphere was superhabitable compared to Earth in real life; they explained that this would help the audience to understand the feeling inside a video game. Part of the film takes place in Planet Dark that Illumination handled. The planet inside was a visual effect, and every shot of it had to go through the visual effects department, which was time-consuming and expensive. Special effects, including from "smoke or dust," looks distinct in each of the action sequences.
Wētā facilitated pre-visualization, motion capture, and virtual production, and also created 300 visual effects shots for the hospites in the film. The virtual production is powered by the same game engine and were used congruently with the motion-capture process, with visual effect supervisor Johnathan M. Nixon explaining that in real time, Lord and Miller would "put on a video game, scout its virtual production, and make some adjustments."
Post-production[]
Lord and Miller did not want the associated sound design to appear as a studio production. For their response, sound designers Mark Mangini and Theo Green used a "fake documentary realism" approach to capture natural sounds and manipulate them for use in the film, such as recording the sounds of the atmosphere at both planets Planet Builder and Planet Dark, in New York City and Darvaza Gas Crater using a dynamic microphone.
Voice recording began in early 2025 and ended in late 2025, with some scenes re-recorded for re-takes after the San Diego Comic-Con. In June 2026, Ronald Sanders was revealed to be serving as the editor, who previously worked on Coraline during post-production.
More coming soon.
Music[]
The film's original score was composed by Hans Zimmer and Brian Eno, replacing Lord and Miller's frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh. They described the composition as "big", featuring electronic ambient sounds and choirs. They also used minimalist sounds to reflect Jake's loneliness, as well as the darker and scarier sounds for Ellernate. Ludwig Göransson, Brian Tyler, and M83 serves as the executive music producers for the film.
Several artists such as SZA, Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, DJ Khaled, Kesha, Becky G, Jonas Blue, Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow, Lil Uzi Vert, Kid Cudi, and Demi Lovato performed new original songs for the film. The end title song "Unstoppable" was composed by Carpark North and Above & Beyond, with lyrics by Taylor Swift who performed it and also received songwriting credit, alongside Carpark North and Brian Eno.
Roblox - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack[]
- SZA x Megan Thee Stallion x Taylor Swift - TBA
- TBA - TBA
- Becky G - TBA
- TBA - TBA
- Jonas Blue - TBA
- Taylor Swift - Unstoppable
- Kid Cudi - All Together
- Demi Lovato - Never Give Up
More coming soon.
Roblox - Original Motion Picture Score[]
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Prologue
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Universal Opening
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Creation
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Bloxible
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Planet Dark
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Jake's Warning
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Everyone Gets Kidnapped
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Ellernate's Lair
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Getting The Team Together / Work at a Pizza Place
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Top of the Universe
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Builderman Meeting
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Jailbreak
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - We're Breaking Out / Teamwork
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Deadly Chase
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Donny's Betrayal / Ellernate's Vengeance
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Trying To Escape
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Cosmic Destruction
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Opera
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - We Did It
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - The True Hero
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Emergency Newcomer
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Prison Punishment
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - End Credits
- Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno - Success
Marketing[]
The marketing campaign for Roblox reportedly costed $750 million dollars, the most for any Illumination film, and began with the reveal of the teaser poster for the film. A teaser trailer for the film was premiered in the platform with an event based on it. It was then released online on February 7, 2026, a day before the Super Bowl LX. There is also an update based on it on the platform, showing the background of Planet Builder. The teaser received extremely positive reviews from critics, with many pointing out its character designs and backgrounds. The teaser trailer features a hybrid orchestral cover of Rise by Katy Perry.
At the San Diego Comic-Con on April 22, 2026, twenty minutes of footage that was completed was shown to the audiences to even more positive reviews. It was followed by an official trailer on May 2026 to huge praise; in its 5 hours of the trailer being revealed online gained around 70 million views and as of July 2026, it had been viewed nearly 600 million times. The international trailer was released on July 10, 2026. The final trailer was released on August 8, 2026, nearly a month before the world premiere of the film.
A special variant for the IMAX Countdown ident were made for Roblox. In the variant, “PREPARE… TO… BELIEVE” will be changed to “THAT THEY... WILL BE... UNSTOPPABLE” in the traditional film backdrop portion, and at 8, the scene explodes, transitioning into a Roblox background. The numbers and phrases in the countdown are in Gotham font. At the end, as the ring passes over the IMAX logo, it wipes into the normal IMAX logo; as the ring moves off-screen, the background fades out, followed by the IMAX logo itself.
Promotional tie-ins[]
Catalog[]
Roblox released a catalog theme of over 25+ sets and items based on scenes from the film.
Hyundai Sonata[]
Illumination partnered with Hyundai Mobility Company, making Roblox sponsor on their road.
Subway[]
For its Subway sandwich, it comes along with action figures of Jake, Melvin, Jesse, Ellernate, Sean, Laith, Builderman, Chad, Roblox, Noah, and an avatar.
Kraft Mac & Cheese[]
The Kraft Heinz Company produced its mac and cheese products as a promotional tie-in of the film.
Merchandise[]
Illumination have made tons of merchandise inspired by the film such as novelty T-shirts, sandals, shoes, coats, boots, bracelets, hats, caps, glasses, pants, bento boxes, thermos containers, lunch bags, and backpacks.
Jazwares[]
Jazwares, who partnered with Roblox Corporation to create toys based on games, characters, and developers in Roblox such as action figures, partners with Illumination to create toys based on the characters of the film.
Books[]
Bloxible, a 1,281-page book, was released on September 22, 2026.
List of Roblox games appearing in the film[]
- Adopt Me!
- Doors
- Flee the Facility
- Hide and Seek Extreme
- Jailbreak
- Natural Disaster Survival
- Phantom Forces
- Project Lazarus
- Scuba Diving at Quill Lake
- Speed Run 4
- Theme Park Tycoon 2
- Tower of Hell
- Welcome to Bloxburg
- Work at a Pizza Place
- Hyundai Mobility Adventure
Release[]
Theatrical[]
Roblox premiered at Universal Studios Hollywood on August 12, 2026 and was theatrically released at the United States by Universal Pictures on September 1, 2026, in commemoration of the platform's 20th anniversary. Its worldwide theatrical run was preceded by Party at Bowser's Castle, a short film based on The Super Mario Bros. Movie where Bowser Jr. and his siblings throws a secret rave at their castle while their father Bowser is on vacation.
Home media[]
The film streamed on Peacock 45 days afterwards. It was released on digital on November 17, 2026 and released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-Ray Disc, Blu-Ray 3D, Ultra HD Blu-Ray (with IMAX Enhanced), Blu-Ray 4K, and DVD on October 23, 2026. The Blu-Ray and DVD releases include shorts such as Builderman's Quest, Omar's Patience, Melvin and Jesse's Portal Adventure, and Laith's Test, the outtakes, and the behind-the-blox featurette. The film debuted on Netflix on December 25, 2026, and on Apple TV+ on May 17, 2027. It headed to Amazon Prime Video on July 22, 2027, and on Hulu on July 30, 2027.
Rating[]
In the United States, the film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "some intense action, peril, some violence, and some scary sequences".
Some intense action[]
Level: 10/10
- Builderman and Roblox tries to fight back against Ellernate over the creation of dynablocksians (currently robloxians). Unfortunately, Roblox couldn't make it out alive.
- The avatars were having a deadly chase with the gang across the realms in Planet Builder.
- Donny is controlling a giant mech that Ellernate built to destroy Robloxia with multiple avatars backing up for him. Melvin, Jesse, Sean, and Noah were able to defeat him.
- A major final battle between Jake and Ellernate in the outer space. Jake was able to defeat him later on.
Peril[]
Level: 2/10
- Everytime when Ellernate appears (or even mentioned), the sense of danger always fade in much more.
Some violence[]
Level: 6/10
- During the prologue, Sean attacked Lord Farquaad, trying to force him to change his decision. This was shown off-screen with multiple cartoon sounds to not portray gore.
- Ellernate kills Roblox off-screen, much to Builderman's surprise.
- A citizen got crushed by the gang after they fell into the Work at a Pizza Place realm.
- Johnny gets killed by the cops while trying to escape them, he was then being revived back to prison. It is actually a reflection of how players die and respawn in Roblox.
- Body parts are seen flying off as soon as Johnny gets killed by the cops, although gore isn't portrayed.
- Ellernate knocks Jake unconscious as Donny took Laith, Chad, and Omar.
- A giant mech Donny controls explodes in the battle.
- Ellernate shoots a massive fire ball at Jake who shoots it back a him, causing Ellernate's giant demon form to explode.
Some scary sequences[]
Level: 9/10
- The voices of the avatars gets distorted sometimes.
- Ellernate threatens to kill Jake and the rest of the gang after he drained all Builderman's powers, killing him in the process.
- In the outer space, when Ellernate turns into a giant demon, he lets out a huge roar as he starts causing destruction to the Roblox universe. He is without a doubt the most dangerous and darkest Illumination villain ever created.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Roblox had grossed $570 million in the United States and Canada and $1 billion in other territories for a worldwide total of $1.57 billion, against a production budget of $350 million. Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing film of 2026, the highest-grossing animated film of 2026, the second highest-grossing animated film, and the highest-grossing film released by Universal Pictures. It topped the worldwide box office for three consecutive weekends.
More coming soon.
Critical response[]
Oscar Isaac, who voiced Jake in this film, received praise for his performance, earning his Academy Award for Best Actor, with some reviewers calling it one of the best of his career.
Within its first week of release, the film gained universal acclaim from critics, audiences, and long-time fans alike, heavily praising its story, screenplay, animation, visuals, voice acting, action sequences, faithfulness to the source material, heart, character appearances, humor, emotional weight, subject matter, entertainment value, Hans Zimmer and Brian Eno's musical score, and the darker and mature tone compared to Illumination's previous projects. Based on 282 professional critic reviews, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 98% of those reviews were positive, with an average rating of 9.1/10. On the website, the critics' consensus reads, "Beautifully animated, epic storyline, and unforgettably wonderful, Roblox succeds as not only an entertaining video game movie, but a cinematic masterpiece." It became the highest-rated film based on a video game and the highest-rated film from Illumination on both websites, beating both Werewolves Within and Despicable Me respectively. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 100 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars; social media monitor RelishMix noted online responses to the film were "better than what it was".
Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club called it "lovable and entertaining", giving it a grade of A+ and writing "This film is a great way to introduce its new audience into the world of Roblox, and it will definitely entertain those who might be interested in it." TheWrap's Yolanda Machado praised the screenplay and directing and wrote that the film "expands on the entire platform, crafting a story that is timely inventive, hilarious, emotional, and perfect for everyone." The film received a four-star rating from Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com, who described the film as "The Dark Knight of video game movies", believing that it will be an influential film and wrote, "It's really action-packed and full of fun. Roblox had redefined the potential of video game adaptations by combining video game tropes with movie genre-resembling tones." Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly says that it was better than what he expected, saying "They were unstoppable for Roblox fans around the world. Considering that it's the first machinima film, it is a good fit for them."
For The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen wrote "The film brings the characters of the platform together. Everybody will love it, and ultimately that’s all that really matters here." The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and praised its visuals as "one of the most beautiful-looking movies ever made", as well as achieving "a film that will challenge Pixar." The Daily Telegraph's Robbie Collin wrote, "Roblox reaffirms that Illumination, who at their best, are like no other animation studio around." Calum Marsh of The New York Times however, gave a mixed review who praised its new animation style and video game immersion but mildly criticized some of its dark overtones and wrote "The film wasn't great by any means since it can get dark at some points, but still a fun time in some ways."
The film also gained lots of positive feedbacks from many fans of the platform, with an American YouTube celebrity KreekCraft saying "This movie is great. It's actually fun and really entertaining, one of my favorite movies ever.", while another fan of the platform wrote "Illumination and Roblox should continue the adventures of Jake and the gang."
Industry response[]
Chris Pratt, who worked with Lord and Miller on The Lego Movie franchise and voiced Mario on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, described it as "one of the best films he has ever seen”. Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, who worked with Lord and Miller on 22 Jump Street and voiced Remy in Ratatouille, called the film "masterful" and continued "This has been a non-stop year for me and I'm glad I'm ending it in such a cinematic high-note. Not only is it the best video game film ever made, not only is it one of the best animated films ever made, it's flat-out a game-changing (pun intended) MOVIE. Seeing it again tomorrow!"
Geoff Keighley, host of the Game Awards, called the film a huge step forward for video game movies and noted how much it juxtaposed to a normal video game adaptation. Hideo Kojima, most known for their Metal Gear series, called the film “amazing” and continued "It just goes to show you that any character in the right hands can be a transformative and mature experience." Roblox Corporation, despite some initial hesitation and doubts about the film, considered it to be a true success and attributed higher sales of Roblox to the movie’s success and reception.
Autism community response[]
Coming soon.
Accolades[]
| Group | Award | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99th Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Chris Meledandri, David Baszucki & Phil Lord and Christopher Miller | Won |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Derek Connolly | Nominated | |
| Best Actor | Oscar Isaac | Won | |
| Best Cinematography | Hoyte van Hoytema | Won | |
| Best Original Score | Hans Zimmer & Brian Eno | Won | |
| Best Original Song | "Unstoppable" - Music and lyrics by Taylor Swift, Brian Eno, Carpark North, and Above & Beyond | Won | |
| Best Sound | Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, and Ron Bartlett | Won | |
| Best Visual Effects | Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicholas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrián, Alex Nowotny | Won | |
| 54th Annie Awards | Best Animated Feature | Chris Meledandri, David Baszucki & Phil Lord and Christopher Miller | Won |
| 84th Golden Globe Awards | Best Animated Feature Film | Chris Meledandri, David Baszucki & Phil Lord and Christopher Miller | Won |
| MTV Millenial Awards | MIAWudio of the Year | "Unstoppable" | Nominated |
| Killer Series or Movie | Roblox | Won | |
| The Game Awards | Best Adaptation | Roblox | Won |
| Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Animated Movie | Roblox | Nominated |
| Favorite Villain | Mark Wahlberg | Won |
Legacy[]
Since its release, Roblox is widely considered one of the greatest video game adaptations, and one of the greatest and most influential animated movies ever made. Many critics considered the film a "blueprint" for many modern video game movies, particularly for its rejection of a typical video game movie style in favor of a genre-resembling film that features video game characters. Before Roblox, video game movies closely emulated their video game source material, and though it had seen significant successes such as The Angry Birds Movie 2, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, they were often considered disposable entertainment that did not garner much industry respect.
A retrospective by The Hollywood Reporter said that Roblox taught filmmakers that "video game characters are malleable. They are able to be grounded or fantastic, able to be prestigious or pure blockbuster entertainment, to be dark and gritty or light, to be character-driven or action-packed, or any variation in-between." The Atlantic wrote that The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Galactic Chaos' legacy in launching the Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse (NCM) could not have happened without the financial and critical success of Roblox, which made video game adaptations a central focus of film studios. The film has been referenced in a variety of media, including television shows such as Robot Chicken, South Park, and The Simpsons.
More coming soon.
Cultural impact[]
Roblox is regarded by many critics as a landmark of video game adaptations, one that influenced much of the art in the video game world that followed its release, with many citing the film as an important influence. Its visual style influenced numerous works in animation, film, music, television, and video games, utilising its machinima style. It has been cited as a major influence on Hollywood films such as Teenage Robot, Grand Theft Auto: The Movie, Arcadia: Level 2 (the result of Roblox appearing in the film as part of pop culture references), and Ready Player Two. Illumination also reused its machinima style for future video game movies (notably Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse) to make it look more authentic. It has also influenced the work of musicians.
More coming soon.
Videogame[]
Universal Studios created Roblox: The Movie Game that included more than 10 playable characters. It is available on Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Focus (the successor of Nintendo Switch). The game is produced by Roblox Corporation, Universal Studios, and Activision.
Despite following the same plot of Roblox, there are many bonus story elements that relate to the short films of the franchise: the main locations such as Adopt Me!, Brookhaven RP, Doors, Flee the Facility, Hide and Seek Extreme, Jailbreak, Murder Mystery 2, Natural Disaster Survival, Pet Simulator X, Phantom Forces, Project Lazarus, Scuba Diving at Quill Lake, Speed Run 4, Theme Park Tycoon 2, Tower of Hell, Welcome to Bloxburg, Work at a Pizza Place and Hyundai Mobility Adventure. The loading screen depicts a Roblox symbol spinning on the down right corner screen.
A Roblox game, titled Roblox: The Movie World, was created. Players can explore Robloxia and New Blox Village.
Copyright[]
Universal Pictures and Illumination have accepted the rights to use the term Roblox, Powering Imagination, etc. They have also accepted the rights to use the Roblox characters for the film. The characters and terms are owned by Roblox Corporation. The names and the looks of the characters that did not originate from Roblox belongs to its respective owners.
©2026 Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Roblox Corporation. All rights reserved.
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
.jpg "Roblox Movie Concept X Promo (Brightened).jpg (219 KB)")
Concept arts[]
Movie screenshots[]
Trivia[]
- It is the seventh non-Disney/Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, as well as the first Illumination film to win that award.
- It is the most awarded animated film and one of the most awarded films of all time, second only to Everything Everywhere All at Once.
- The opening and end credits texts for Roblox are in Gotham font, similar to what Roblox Corporation uses for their visual content.
- Mark Wahlberg's second animated film after Scoob!.
- It is the first Illumination film to have YouTube celebrities be part of the casting.
- It is also the fifth film to have YouTube celebrities, after Free Guy, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Smosh: The Movie, and The Angry Birds Movie.
- Due to Minecraft getting its own movie, Roblox decided to the same with theirs.
- The avatars are the only characters to have clones. In fact, there are 5,000 avatars as Ellernate's minions.
- The part where Ellernate minds controls people to help him is similar to Minecraft: Story Mode where PAMA does the same.
- The hospites have the same role as the villagers from Minecraft.
- This movie acts like The Lego Movie in some part of ways.
- The name of the hospites are basically guests in Latin, which reflects a former role in Roblox.
- During the production, Illumination hired some of the animators and artists from DreamWorks Animation, to which some of them are hardcore Roblox fans.
- It is the most expensive animated film at the time of its release (until it was surpassed by its successor), as well as one of the most expensive films ever made due to the fact they need to turn Roblox character morphs they made into CGI-looking.
- This film popularized a type of CGI known as machinima.
- It is the third animated film to be shot on IMAX, after Inside Out 2 and Lightyear.
- Not only is it the first animated film to do so but it's also the second film in general to shoot sections on IMAX black-and-white photographic film for flashbacks, which Kodak created and FotoKem developed, after Oppenheimer.
- It is the first Illumination film to not have the Minions appear during the Illumination logo.
- Wētā FX's second animated film after The Adventures of Tintin.
- A scene at the climax where after Jake gets resurrected by Roblox in heaven, he finds himself and activate his power that Builderman gave him long time ago to fight Ellernate reflects how players became moderators in Roblox.
- Some elements in the platform have new names in the film to fit with a science fiction setting:
- Accounts as souls
- Alternate accounts as backup suits
- Noobs as avatars
- Games as realms
- During the post-credit scene, a place called Prison Punishment is a reflection of how players get banned from Roblox wherever it's from one day to account termination.
- Throughout the beginning is a giant middle finger to both the metaverse industry and bad video game adaptations from every video game character protesting Universal to make the gang’s movie fully computer-animated, to Steve and Pac-Man criticizing their upcoming live action movie, Steve chastising Jason Momoa's casting of him, the Flock agreeing to never make a deal with Hollywood to make a live-action adaptation, and Kirby telling everyone that the gang have got the "metaverse treatment".
- Additionally, the film also makes fun of countless Lego Movie ripoffs such as The Emoji Movie and Playmobil: The Movie.
- Roblox is the first time Illumination and Wētā had used Disney's Hyperion renderer.
- With a total of 230 animators, it is the the largest animation crew that Illumination had ever used for a film (until it was surpassed by its successor).
Easter eggs[]
- In a scene where Jake enters the school, a teenage girl opens her locker, which shows a photo of her pet cat who is dressed as Puss in Boots.
- Lord Farquaad from Shrek appears as a chairman of Universal who portrays as a parody of Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company during the prologue.
- During the opening scene where the gods were deciding with the future of the universe, John Doe appears at Roblox's graveyard alongside others.
More coming soon.
Future[]
Sequels[]
Phil Lord confirmed in an interview on June 2027 that a sequel titled Roblox 2, are in development. with the writers returning, and the rest of the cast reprising their roles along with newcomers. Roblox 2: Revenge of Julien was announced by Universal Pictures, and was released on July 7, 2029 to similar critical and commercial success. Oscar Isaac expresses his idea that if a third film was to be made, he would consider seeing the gang "beaming themselves to a different universe". On March 19, 2030, Roblox Corporation stated that there would be more films based on their properties, though they did not directly confirm a third film yet. In April 2030, Meledandri confirmed that a third and final film in the trilogy titled Roblox 3: Dimension Wars is in development, with Miller promising that it's going to be insane.
Follow-up television series[]
A television series based on Roblox titled Roblox: The TV Series, premiered on November 13, 2027, on Netflix. The animation production was handled by Illumination Studios Paris. It is produced by Universal Television, Illumination Television (The result of making the first Illumination TV series), and Roblox Corporation, while being distributed by both NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and Netflix.
The series focuses on Jake and his friends on their adventures to stop more evil around Planet Builder. The series began with the first episode of Season 1 titled "A New Beginning".
Spin-offs[]
Chad's Adventure[]
Phil Lord confirmed in the same interview on June 2027 that a spin-off prequel film titled Chad's Adventure are in development. It was announced by Universal Pictures and was released on August 26, 2029. It's about Chad and his friends as they take on against The Whistleton Brothers who are planning to mind-control people to help them rule the Work at a Pizza Place realm.
Builderman: Begins[]
Phil Lord confirmed in the same interview on June 2027 that another spin-off prequel film titled Builderman: Begins are in development. It was announced by Universal Pictures and was released on May 24, 2031. The film tells the story about Builderman and the other gods on how they were born on Earth and how they find themselves in space to create a new universe.