2000’s Chicken Run was a global smash for British stop motion geniuses Aardman Animations. The tale of a cocky, uh, cock and a flock of freedom hungry hens proved to be box office gold, grossing $225 million. Nearly two decades have passed since its release but in April 2018, Aardman announced that they were planning on making a Chicken Run 2.
This made sense, as their next film, Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon hits cinemas this week and the studio has to be banking on it being a success. After all, 2018’s Early Man was positively received by critics yet inexplicably failed to make an impact with audiences, earning a paltry $54 million on a $50 million budget. Surely going back to their biggest hit and making a sequel is the kind of safe move the studio needs now, right?
Apparently so, as Will Becher, co-director at Aardman, has confirmed that Chicken Run 2 is now in production, saying the following to Flickering Myth:
“Well, all I can tell you is that there were a lot of chickens being made towards the end of our film [Farmageddon]. We have a model-making team and, at one point, it was just full of sheep, but slowly over the course of the following weeks it became overrun with chickens. So there is definitely an intention there and it was announced they are in pre-production on a sequel.”
So, how might a Chicken Run 2 look? Well, the previous movie ended with our chickens having successfully escaped and setting up a small community on an island. Presumably, that community could come under threat, with the chickens once more having to combine their forces to save the day.
One wrinkle that they’re going to have to work out is what to do with lead character Rocky. He was easily the most popular of Chicken Run, yet was voiced by Mel Gibson. The actor isn’t exactly persona non grata these days, but it’s safe to say there would still be some controversy putting him in a kid’s movie, right?