“I want you back,” the masses cried, and NSYNC has heeded the call. “Trolls Band Together” reveals that Branch, who is now in a relationship with Poppy, was once part of the latter’s favorite childhood boy band BroZone, a group that also includes Branch’s brothers Floyd (Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), Clay (Kid Cudi), and Sneezy (Michael Stuhlbarg). Fine, I made that last one up. Regardless, in an example of life imitating art, Poppy and Branch are forced to reunite the members of BroZone after Floyd is kidnapped by some nefarious types hoping to exploit his musical abilities — much like NYSYNC is reuniting in real life to breathe life into Timberlake’s flailing movie career make musical magic once more.
With the second “Trolls” film having gone straight to VOD, it will be interesting to see how that impacts “Trolls Band Together” at the box office. While Pixar’s “Lightyear” landed with a thud at the box office in 2022 after the studio’s previous three animated films went directly to Disney+, the studio’s “Elemental” overcame a slow start to become one of the feel-good stories of this year’s summer movie season. Animated franchise films, in particular, have become one of the more reliable bets in the post-lockdowns landscape, which bodes well for the “Trolls” threequel.
The real question is whether “Trolls Band Together” can hold its own against Disney Animation’s “Wish,” which will arrive less than a week after it to commemorate the animation powerhouse’s 100th anniversary. Somewhere, Mr. Timberlake is whispering, “It’s gonna be me.”
“Trolls Band Together” opens in theaters on November 17, 2023.
