Justin Timberlake has signed on to voice the lead character in DreamWorks Animation’s musical comedy Trolls.
The singer-actor will star as Branch, a hardcore survivalist who hides his surprising true colors. Timberlake will voice the Scandinavian troll opposite Pitch Perfect star Anna Kendrick, who had already boarded the project as Princess Poppy. The two embark on a hair-raising adventure as the globally popular Trolls make their big-screen debut.
20th Century Fox will release the film on Nov. 4, 2016.
Directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Walt Dohrn, the duo behind Shrek Forever After, the film is produced by Gina Shay, also a Shrek Forever After alum.
The Troll doll phenomenon was born in 1959 when Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam, too poor to afford a Christmas present for his young daughter Lajla, carved a doll for her based on the Scandinavian troll myth. This modern-day Geppetto couldn’t have imagined that the Troll dolls would soon become one of the biggest toy crazes of the 1960s.
The Trolls experienced a resurgence in the 1990s. They are recognizable around the world for their endearing faces and shocks of colorful hair, and they continue to capture the hearts and imaginations of fans around the world.
Timberlake, a nine-time Grammy and four-time Emmy Award winner, also is a busy film actor, with such credits as The Social Network, Runner Runner and Inside Llewyn Davis.
He is repped by WME, LBI Entertainment and Wright Entertainment Group.
