Patrick Stewart lands his crappiest role ever

Scoop up a role

Sony Pictures Animation announced a full slate of upcoming films, but what really caught our eye was this: Patrick “Capt. Picard” Stewart is voicing the poop emoji in “The Emoji Movie.” We should have guessed, considering that the character in the trailer speaks a very proper British and wears a very proper bow tie. In other “Emoji” news, the ice cream cone in the trailer who’s so hot he’s melting? That’s KC celeb Rob Riggle. The movie is due Aug. 4. Not nearly as interesting: Other upcoming Sony animated movies include a Smurfs sequel in April, a “Hotel Transylvania” sequel in September 2018 and an animated Spider-Man in December 2018.

To be Frank

What the world needs now is more rainbows and dolphins and wide-eyed kittens and scampering unicorns. And here comes Lisa Frank to the rescue. Frank, known to millennial girls as the best source for stickers, spiral notebooks and other dreamy school supplies, is turning her world into a movie. “We have so much backstory on our characters and they have been alive in my imagination since the beginning,” Frank told Variety. The plan is for a live-action and animation hybrid, but no date, stars or title yet.

Predicting Oscar

A half dozen movies are pretty much a sure bet to be up for best picture when Academy Award nominations are announced on Tuesday. They are, according to the awards gurus at the Los Angeles Times: “La La Land,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Moonlight,” “Arrival,” “Fences” and “Lion.” But the academy can nominate up to 10 in that category. One possibility: the feel-good “Hidden Figures,” co-starring KCK’s own Janelle Monae. Other maybes: “Hell or High Water,” “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Silence,” says the Times. Look for our coverage on KansasCity.com Tuesday and in Wednesday’s Star.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Patrick Stewart lands his crappiest role ever."