On Wednesday, Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Television, and Annapurna Television unveiled a Sausage Party animated series titled Sausage Party: Foodtopia that is expected to debut on Prime Video next year.
The announcement included the return of original voice cast members Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton, Michael Cera, and David Krumholtz, as well as the addition of newcomers Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Natasha Rothwell, and Yassir Lester.
Now, the first question that came to mind, if only because I’ve been writing online for half of my life, was whether Krumholtz would reprise his role as Kareem Abdul Lavash, a Middle Eastern lavash who has an on-and-off rivalry with Norton’s Sammy Bagel Jr. Lavash is also implied to be Muslim as he desires 72 bottles of extra virgin olive oil. Yes, these are anthropomorphic foods we’re talking about here, but given how sensitive Hollywood folks are about cultural appropriation, I wondered whether Krumholtz (who is white) had handed off the role to Lester, who is of Palestinian descent.
But that’s not the case at all.
In fact, a well-placed source involved in the production of Foodtopia tells Above the Line that Lavash does not appear in the series and that Krumholtz will be voicing a new character.
It’s unclear why Lavash didn’t make the cut for the follow-up series, but his absence strikes me as a bummer, as Lavash was absolutely hilarious in the Sausage Party movie, in which I relished the odd couple dynamic between Lavash and the nebbish Sammy Bagel Jr., whose interplay yields some of the best jokes in the film. Alas, Sammy will have to find a new sparring partner in Foodtopia, though I’m glad Krumholtz will be back in a new capacity, and I look forward to learning which foods he and Lester will be voicing.
Sausage Party: Foodtopia is an eight-episode series that will no doubt venture into R-rated territory once again. The show is currently in production and plot details remain under wraps. Ariel Shaffir and Kyle Hunter, who co-wrote the movie with Rogen and Evan Goldberg, will serve as co-showrunners and executive produce alongside those guys, as well as Point Grey’s James Weaver and Alex McAtee, Annapurna’s Megan Ellison and Patrick Chu, as well as Andrew Millstein.
Conrad Vernon, who co-directed Sausage Party with Rogen and Goldberg, will also executive produce as well as serve as supervising director on the series. The original movie grossed $140 million worldwide on a reported production budget of just $19 million — far cheaper than many animated movies.
A representative for Amazon Studios declined to comment, while Rogen did not respond to a request for comment.
