Apr 26, 2018

Aardman hatched the sequel to Chicken Run

Aardman Animations is working on a sequel to Chicken Run, its 2000 film about runaway chickens that is not only the studio's most successful feature but still remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all-time.

The original film, which grossed $224.8 million globally, was co-financed by Dreamworks, which released it in the United States. The sequel will be produced with Studiocanal, Aardman's backer on recent efforts like Early Man and Shaun the Sheep Movie, as well as Pathe, which co-financed the original Chicken Run and distributed the film throughout Europe.

Sam Fell, who co-directed Aardman's cg feature Flushed Away and Laika's Paranorman is set to direct from a screenplay by the film's original writers Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell. (Kirkpatrick is currently wrapping up his own feature, Warner Bros.' Smallfoot.)

Paul Kewley (Shaun the Sheep Movie) will produce, and Aardman co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton will executive produce.

No release date is set, but the earliest possible date would be 2020 given that the studio's next film, Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, will be released in 2019.

News about the sequel was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.