Chicken Run 2 is coming to Netflix. The news comes 20 years to the day that the original movie was released. Netflix also announced that Aardman Animations would begin production on the film in 2021.
Chicken Run originally released in 2000 and was instantly met with positive reception from critics and viewers alike. Two decades later, the film remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film and was even nominated for an Oscar the year it released. The film centers around a coop of chickens led by Ginger, who try to escape the farm where they are being held captive with the aid of a rooster named Rocky. The sequel was initially announced in 2018 by Aardman, the geniuses behind other stop-motion films such as Shaun the Sheep.
Netflix announced on Twitter that the sequel would be coming directly to their service. Announcing their partnership on the project, Aardman was also able to finally release some details, including the plot, for the upcoming sequel. The film is set almost immediately after its predecessor, with Ginger and the rest of the flock finally living peacefully on an island sanctuary. She and Rocky have even hatched their first chick, Molly. Though on the mainland, something terrible threatens the rest of chicken-kind. This time, they are breaking in, even if it means risking their freedom. Sam Fell, who's worked on other animated works such as Flushed Away, will be directing the film with the return of Leyla Hobart, Carla Shelley, Peter Lord, and Larey Kirkpatrick as executive producers. Nick Park, director of the first film, will also be returning as a consultant.
The sequel aims to live up to expectations, as those at Aardman have long debated the story for such a movie, and feel that they finally have one that is worthy of moving to screen. With the story revolving around a break-in rather than a break-out, the producers promise that this movie will be even more action-packed than the first, even pulling in some Mission Impossible-style elements.
Many fans have already started voicing their thoughts on the project, pleading Netflix and the producers not to mess it up. With a story that has been in the works for years now, the writers are confident that their upcoming adventure will satisfy the fans. Netflix, as Aardman Animations has acknowledged, is a filmmaker friendly studio, and it is hard to imagine they would make any decisions regarding the film itself. Chicken Run 2 production is set to begin in 2021, and a release date is still unknown, but fans, and newcomers, should be eager to meet these courageous chickens once again.
Source: Twitter/Netflix