Strays Footage Reaction: Finally, A Movie Where Will Ferrell Plays A Cursing Dog [CinemaCon 2023]
Most movies about talking animals are sweet, family-friendly fare, but "Strays" is not most movies. This adult, R-rated comedy stars Will Ferrell as the voice of Reggie, a scruffy little terrier whose owner Doug (Will Forte) is an abusive jerk. Doug ends up abandoning Reggie in the big city, and the tenacious pup has to figure out how to survive as a stray. Thankfully, he has the help of some streetwise canines, voiced by Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park, and they help him navigate this strange new world.
The movie was produced by "The LEGO Movie" creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have a great mind for comedy and mixing up animation with live-action, and written by "American Vandal" co-scribe Dan Perrault. If anyone can pull off an R-rated adult comedy about talking dogs, it's probably this crew.
"Strays" isn't exactly "Oliver & Company" — in fact, it probably shares more DNA with the brutal 2014 Hungarian horror film "White God," about a dog uprising where the strays take back the streets, because Reggie's main goal is to get back to Doug so he can bite his genitals off and take away the one thing he loves most. Alright, buddy, that's a bit intense.
The trailer for "Strays" is pretty darn funny, and now at CinemaCon, attended by /Film's Ben Pearson, Universal has revealed new footage from this upcoming tale of raunchy, rude rovers. Check out our reaction to the footage below.
'That's the craziest thing I've ever seen — and I'm Dennis Quaid'
The "Strays" footage at CinemaCon was presented by both of Reggie's actors: Will Ferrell and the Border Terrier who physically played the dog. After some fighting over which star deserved the camera's attention more, Ferrell introduced the film's next trailer.
"Strays" trailer #2 includes footage from the first red band trailer, mostly snippets that establish the characters and premise. The opening of both trailers is the same: Doug tries to abandon Reggie countless times, only for the dog to come back home as part of "the game." When Reggie realizes the truth, he resolves to "bite [Doug's] dick off." Some of the first trailer's jokes are featured in the second one as well: Reggie and his dog pals humping lawn gnomes, them getting high after eating some bad mushrooms, and Bug the Boston Terrier (Jamie Foxx) being scooped up by a hawk.
The second trailer includes another dog stereotype: hatred of postal workers. A Post Office billboard is "The Devil in the Sky," Reggie's new friends claim, while another tells the postman on a billboard, "Burn in hell, you son of a b***h."
Trailer #2 also adds more context to the jokes from the first trailer. When the dogs awaken from their mushroom high, they find they're surrounded by dead rabbits: their psychedelic experience had some violent consequences. Then, while Reggie tries to save Bug from the hawk, there's a surprise cameo: Dennis Quaid, as himself, is in the woods and watching this unfold through binoculars. Stunned, he declares, "That's the craziest thing I've ever seen — and I'm Dennis Quaid. I've seen some s***." Clearly, the celebrity cameo budget of "Strays" wasn't reserved for only voice actors.
"Strays" was originally meant to arrive in June, but now it's hitting theaters on August 18, 2023