Why You Can Trust CNET A Chicken Run sequel is coming to Netflix
Two decades later, they still don't want to be a pie.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Chicken Run, the hugely successful clay animation movie, is finally getting a sequel 20 years later. It'll be made by original creator Aardman Animations and released on Netflix, with production starting in 2021.
"We're delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we've found the perfect story," said Peter Lord, Aardman co-founder and creative director. "Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the film-maker, which means we can make the film we want to make."
POULTRY NEWS: Exactly 20 years to the day since the original was released, we can confirm there will be a Chicken Run sequel coming to Netflix!! Produced by @aardman, production is expected to begin next year. Eggsellent.
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) June 23, 2020
Chicken Run, released in 2000, followed the story of chickens Ginger and Rocky as they hatched a plan to escape Tweedy's farm where they were destined to be made into chicken pies. It was directed by Aardman founders Peter Lord and Nick Park, and is still the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film ever. It grossed more than $225 million worldwide, and starred the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall and Imelda Staunton.
The sequel will follow Ginger and Rocky, who are now living happily in a "peaceful island sanctuary" with their flock. When their daughter Molly is born, however, they find out that back on the mainland, chickens are in trouble again.
"The whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat," Aardman Animations detailed. "For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk -- this time, they're breaking in!"
Lord will remain an executive producer on Chicken Run 2, while Park -- who also created Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep -- will have a consulting role.
