Get out of the hen house and get ready to celebrate: Aardman Animations is planning a sequel to its 2000 critical and commercial hit Chicken Run.
Almost 20 years after its release, the longstanding most successful stop-motion film of all time is finally getting a sequel. No details are known at this early stage, but we do know that Aardman will be developing the film with StudioCanal, which worked with Aardman on its recent features, and Pathe, which helped finance Chicken Run and distributed it in Europe.
Sam Fell (ParaNorman, Flushed Away) will direct, with Paul Kewley (2015’s Shaun the Sheep Movie) set to produce. Original Chicken Run writers Karey Kirkpatrick (Over the Hedge, Smurfs 2, The Spiderwick Chronicles) and John O’Farrell will write the screenplay, and Aardman cofounders Peter Lord and David Sproxton will executive produce.
It’s likely that Chicken Run 2 will officially begin development once Aardman finishes production on Shaun the Sheep sequel Farmageddon, slated for release in 2019.
The original Chicken Run told the story of a group of chickens on a mission to fly the coop so their evil farm owner doesn’t turn them into chicken potpies. It garnered an impressive $106 million in the U.S. and $225 million globally, scored a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations. No word yet on whether or how many original voice actors will return for the sequel, with several of them having passed since 2000.
