Gnomeo & Juliet is a 2011 British-American 3D computer-animated fantasy romantic comedy family film based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Financed by Disney and released through its Touchstone Pictures banner, the film was independently produced by Rocket Pictures and animated by Starz Animation. It was written and directed by Kelly Asbury, and the two titular characters are voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt. The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on 23 January 2011. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 February 2011. Despite mixed reviews, the film earned $194 million on a $36 million budget and a sequel titled Gnomeo and Juliet: Sherlock Gnomes is scheduled for release on 12 January 2018 by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer under the direction of John Stevenson, the director of Kung Fu Panda.