My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games

My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games, also simply titled The Friendship Games, is the third installment in the Equestria Girls spin-off film franchise, following My Little Pony Equestria Girls and My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks.

Development and production
A forest clearing, used both for the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic episode Bloom & Gloom and for this film, was previewed in a background image shown online back in November 2014.

The third installment was first teased by Rainbow Rocks co-director, Ishi Rudell. Brony Donald "Dusty Katt" Rhoades tweeted wondering about Rudell's silence on Twitter, and Rudell announced that he was "too busy working on #3". On Twitter in late February 2015, Jayson Thiessen was asked, "Is the Friendship Games movie actually going to be about the Friendship Games?", and joked in reply, "it's actually an extensive lecture on quantum physics and M theory... For kids."

On January 29, 2015, Australian home media distributor Beyond Home Entertainment stated via Facebook that they had obtained distribution rights for seasons 4 and 5 of the show, in addition to Rainbow Rocks and the "third Equestria Girls [movie]". Further confirmation was given during Hasbro's investor presentation at the 2015 New York Toy Fair.

Cast

 * Tara Strong: Twilight Sparkle
 * Rebecca Shoichet: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle's singing voice
 * Ashleigh Ball: Rainbow Dash and Applejack
 * Andrea Libman: Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie
 * Tabitha St. Germain: Rarity and Vice Principal Luna
 * Cathy Weseluck: Spike
 * Iris Quinn: Principal Abacus Cinch
 * Nicole Oliver: Principal Celestia
 * Britt McKillip: Dean Cadance
 * Vincent Tong: Flash Sentry
 * Andrew Francis: Shining Armor
 * Shannon Chan-Kent: Lemon Tart and Pinkie Pie's singing voice
 * Kazumi Evans: Rarity's singing voice

Previews
On July 1, 2015, USA Today published an article about the film which included the first 90-second preview. The same preview was uploaded to the Hasbro Studios Shorts YouTube channel on July 6, 2015. A second trailer was shown at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con and released on Facebook on July 16, 2015.

On August 29, 2015, a ten-minute preview of the film aired on Discovery Family along with the first four Friendship Games animated shorts.

Theatrical
The film received a theatrical debut exclusively at the Angelika Film Center in New York City on September 17, 2015. Cathy Weseluck, William Anderson, Daniel Ingram, Rebecca Shoichet, Andrea Libman, Ashleigh Ball, Ishi Rudell, Josh Haber, and G.M. Berrow were among those in attendance. Also in attendance were Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, comedian Jim Gaffigan, Real Housewives of New York star Kristen Taekman, Top Chef ' s Padma Lakshmi, America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon, former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, fashion photographer Nigel Barker, Sons of Anarchy ' s Drea de Matteo, and fitness guru Tracy Anderson.

Television
The film made its Canadian and American television debut on the Family Channel and Discovery Family Channel, respectively, on September 26, 2015.On September 24, 2015, it was revealed that the film will be televised on Pop in the United Kingdom sometime in Spring 2016.

The original Discovery Family showing of this film began with a recapitulation of the first two movies narrated by Rebecca Shoichet in character as Sunset Shimmer.

Home media
Friendship Games will be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital on October 13, 2015. According to Animation Magazine, bonus features will include a deleted musical performance, audio commentary, sing-alongs and animated shorts. Primal Screen will release a Region 2 DVD on November 2, 2015, and will include identical content to the Region 1 counterpart, plus additional languages.

Alongside Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks, this film will be released in a box set on October 13, 2015 in Region 1.

Book
A book adaptation by Perdita Finn, titled My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: The Friendship Games, has been displayed at the 2015 New York Toy Fair and is set for an October 6, 2015.

Live-action music video
On August 14, 2015, Hasbro released a live-action music video on its official website depicting the Equestria Girls in a sporting competition against Crystal Prep's Twilight Sparkle.

Soundtrack
On June 12, 2015, Daniel Ingram teased the film's soundtrack via his Twitter page. The film's soundtrack was released on September 17, 2015 on i-Tunes and on Amazon.com on September 18, 2015.

Toys
On January 20, 2015, at London's 2015 Toy Fair, some merchandise was unveiled labeled My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games. According to a visitor at the 2015 London Toy Fair, the film will see the Wondercolts face off against the Crystal Prep Academy Shadow Colts [sic] in all kinds of sporting events. Some vectors for the merchandise include Applejack and Fluttershy in archery outfits, Twilight Sparkle's human world counterpart, and new character Sour Sweet. Toys also appeared on Amazon with the character names of Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, and Sunny Flare.

Wondercolts and Shadowbolts dolls were released in June 2015 in two varieties: "School Spirit" classic and "Sporty Style" deluxe. In the Sporty Style assortment, the Wondercolts' Fluttershy and Applejack and the Shadowbolts' Sour Sweet and Twilight Sparkle come with a bow and a quiver of arrows. The Wondercolts' Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer and the Shadowbolts' Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat come with motorcycle helmets and goggles. The Wondercolts' Pinkie Pie and Rarity and the Shadowbolts' Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare come with roller skates. A motocross bike is set to be released in 2015.

Quotes

 * Sunset Shimmer: I got your text, Rainbow Dash! Did something come through the portal? Is Equestrian magic on the loose? Did Twilight come back with a problem that only we can solve?!
 * Pinkie Pie: Has a giant cake monster covered all the cakes in the world in cake?!


 * Rainbow Dash: Well, you don't have to. Because I've totally figured out who it was!
 * Pinkie Pie: Ooh, ooh! A nighttime statue cleaner? A magical portal maintenance maintainer? A gardener?!


 * Rainbow Dash: I know a lot of you might think that there's no way we can beat a fancy school like Crystal Prep at anything.
 * Pinkie Pie: Unless it's a "losing to Crystal Prep" competition! 'Cause we're really good at that!


 * Rainbow Dash: Anybody have any guesses on what the events are gonna be?
 * Pinkie Pie: Pie eating? Cake eating? [gasps] Pie-cake eating?!


 * Indigo Zap: Are we gonna win?!?!
 * Sci-Twi: I...I don't know.
 * Indigo Zap: Wrong answer!! Try again! Are we gonna win?!?!
 * Sci-Twi: Um...I guess? I-It's just...I mean...I heard that CHS is doing well now. With their reputation. And, I mean, it's not better than ours, of course. But we can't let them do it, you know? Win, I mean? Right?


 * Sci-Twi: Hi, Sugarcoat.
 * Sugarcoat: That was a really bad speech. You should consider not speaking in public.


 * Sci-Twi: Hi. I'm Twilight.
 * Pinkie Pie: I know. You look just like my friend. Her name is Twilight too.


 * Rarity: And while Sunset works on keeping the magic out of the games, I've been working on what to put in! [giggles]
 * Applejack: Rarity, what'd you go an' do?
 * Rarity: Well, I have a lot of time on my hands, and since we don't know what the Friendship Games' events are, I made a few options for uniforms!
 * Rainbow Dash: You really didn't have to do that.
 * Rarity: I know.
 * Applejack: No. You really didn't have to.
 * Rarity: I know! [giggles]


 * Principal Celestia: I didn't know Twilight had a twin sister.
 * Pinkie Pie: She doesn't! That Twilight is obviously the Twilight from this world since it couldn't possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn't go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses.
 * Principal Celestia: Nevermind.