We're in a moment where our greatest pop stars are getting paid big money to lend their names to animated movies for children. The Rihanna Smurfs reboot is set to open in a couple of days, and now Ariana Grande has added to her increasingly busy film slate by playing the lead in a new Dr. Seuss adaptation. Grande recently got an Oscar nomination for her role in Wicked, and she'll soon appear in Wicked: For Good and a Meet The Parents sequel. Now, Grande is confirmed for Oh, The Places You'll Go!, a new cartoon musical based on the 1990 book that unimaginative people buy as gifts for elementary school graduations.
Deadline reports that Ariana Grande is set to join reliable kids'-movie irritant Josh Gad in Oh, The Places You'll Go!, which already has a March 2028 release date. Warner Bros. Animation and JJ Abrams' Bad Robot are co-producing the movie, and it'll have songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the EGOT-winning team most famous for Dear Evan Hansen. Grande's Wicked collaborator Jon M. Chu is co-directing it with Open Season auteur and animation specialist Jill Culton. The script comes from Karate Kids: Legend co-writer Rob Lieber, who will have his work cut out for him, seeing as how Oh, The Places You'll Go! is not a book with a story. Here, look, pictures.
Plenty of Ariana Grande's fans are a little bummed to see her jumping into movieland so forcefully, but she's still going to sing, though that will take different forms. (This year, for instance, she's appeared on songs from Jeff Goldblum and Barbra Streisand.) On Instagram today, Grande sought to reassure those fans and to tease the possibility that she'll some live performances next year. Along with a video of herself singing at last year's Met Gala, Grande writes:
very silly of you all to assume that just because i have my hands full with many things that i plan to abandon singing & music … !!!
it is and has always been my lifeline. there will need to be room made for all of it. 🧚🏼♂️
it may not look exactly like it did before but i much prefer how it looks in my head. i am having fun. i feel grateful and excited and inspired. :) finding a balance, between many projects and endeavors i love, and doing it my own way… so i’m working on a plan to sing for you all next year. even if it’s just for a little.
i love you.
