Far and away the most successful stop-motion animated feature ever, Aardman’sChicken Runis finally get a sequel 20 years later. Animation veteran and director of such films asFlushed Away,ParaNormanandThe Tale of Despereaux,Sam Fellis on board to direct the currently untitled sequel, which the original movie’s writing team ofKarey KirkpatrickandJohn O’Farrellwill script.
THRreports that StudioCanal and Pathe are on board for the Aardman-animated sequel, though details are being kept hush-hush ahead of the project’s release to the markets. A big selling point, beyond the obvious, is the cast; will the original voice actors return? They includedMel Gibson,Julia Sawalha, andMiranda RichardsonwithJane Horrocks,Lynn Ferguson,Imelda Staunton,Timothy SpallandPhil Daniels, as well as the lateBenjamin WhitrowandTony Haygarth.
On the producing side of things arePaul Kewley, with Aardman co-foundersPeter LordandDavid Sproxtonexecutive producing. Animation is expected to commence at Aardman’s Bristol-based studio after wrapping on theShaun the Sheepsequel,Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, which is due in the U.K. on August 15, 2025. Time will tell if any of Aardman’s future films,Chicken Run 2included, can top the original’s record setting run of $225 million worldwide. It’s still the animation studio’s #1 film and has outperformed all of LAIKA’s best, as well.
If you haven’t seen the original film, which I highly recommend and iscurrently streaming on Netflix, you can check out the trailer and synopsis below:
They are prisoners trapped behind barbed wire, fearing for their very lives and dreaming only of the outside world. Every escape attempt is thwarted, and the ringleader tossed into solitary to do hard time. But this is no ordinary prison…and these are no ordinary jailbirds. They’re the inmates at Tweedy’s Egg Farm, where any chicken who doesn’t put breakfast on the table can wind up as dinner. But Ginger and her fellow flock are determined to break out before they meet a “fowl” fate. Time is running out as the greedy owner of the farm, Mrs. Tweedy, finds a new way to feather her own nest turning chickens into chicken pies. Now, with the help of Rocky, “the lone free ranger,” the chickens hatch their most spectacular plan to fly the coop in our story of poultry in motion “Chicken Run”.
Are you excited to see anotherChicken Run? Let us know in the comments!
