While it’s somewhat depressing to hear that the Aardman Animations classic Chicken Run turns TWENTY YEARS OLD this month, the pill is very much sweetened with the news that a sequel is coming.
Netflix UK announced the film on Twitter, stating that it’ll go into production next year (plasticine chickens don’t need to social distance, but the people who make them move definitely do):
POULTRY NEWS: Exactly 20 years to the day since the original was released, we can confirm there will be a Chicken Run sequel coming to Netflix!! Produced by @aardman, production is expected to begin next year. Eggsellent.
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) June 23, 2020
After all this time, the original is still the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film ever made, and even got an Oscar nomination. Surprising, then, that it’s taken this long for a second outing – film companies like money, especially in these cinema-depleted times.
Aardman Animations’ Peter Lord explains that while the company has “been working on the script for some time, years in truth,” it was a case of hatching the right plot:
“Fans around the world have waited patiently for a sequel idea worthy of Chicken Run so we’re delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we’ve found the perfect story.
Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the film-maker, which means we can make the film we want to make – the one we really care about – and share it with a global audience.”
The slogan for the new film is ‘And this time, they’re breaking in!’ and it’ll be directed by Sam Norman, best known for Paranorman and Flushed Away.
Lord said in a panel discussion that the plot will revolve around Ginger, Rocky and their baby chick Molly, living in humanless chicken paradise on an island. Then, something bad happens on the mainland, and the feathery flock fly in to save the day.
We. Can’t. Wait. [Variety]