Shaun the Sheep has achieved a lot since debuting in the 1995 Wallace & Gromit short A Close Shave. After then having a successful TV show and his own Oscar-nominated movie in 2015, the folks at Aardman are now giving him a sequel! Behold, the new teaser trailer for A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon!
Shaun the Sheep Movie was a masterclass in animated comedy, immensely succeeding in rare dialogue-free storytelling, and the sequel looks to continue that with a loving sci-fi tribute to it. Already in the trailer, we get clever nods to classic science fiction films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Signs. I’ll also include Armageddon if the punny title isn’t enough of an indicator.
Even the premise itself has an E.T. vibe to it, where Shaun and his flock must guide a crash-landed alien back home while avoiding a sinister organization wanting their hands on it. While not entirely original, it’s the cute charm and
The first movie’s directing/writing duo Mark Burton and Richard Starzak will be involved in the sequel as executive producers along with Aardman’s key people Peter Lord, Nick Park, and David Sproxton. Burton will stay on board as co-writer with up-and-coming writer Jon Brown. Two experienced Aardman staff will take over as directors in their feature debut, consisting of animator Will Becher and storyboard artist Richard Phelan.
Funny enough, this isn’t the only sequel that Aardman has in the pipeline. They are also developing a follow-up to their first and most-successful movie Chicken Run, though it remains unknown if DreamWorks will have any involvement since the two studios parted ways in 2006.
Aardman confirmed via Facebook comment the following countries with concrete release dates for Farmageddon so far, all of which are to be handled by StudioCanal:
- Germany: September 26, 2019
- France: October 16, 2019
- United Kingdom: October 18. 2019
- Australia and New Zealand: January 9, 2020
North American distributor Lionsgate has yet to assign a release date for that area, although The Hollywood Reporter indicates it should get released there sometime in either 2019 or 2020. We’ll be sure to add the movie to our frequently-updated Animation Calendar once we have a concrete date.
Are you excited for Shaun and his flock’s next big adventure?
Edited by: Kelly Conley
