Netflix nabs rights to Chicken Run sequel

Netflix backs distribution of sequel to 2000 animated film Chicken Run

Today, on the 20th anniversary of the release of the 2000 animated film Chicken Run, Netflix and Aardman Animation Studios announced their collaboration on the sequel to the hit film.

Netflix disclosed that they struck a deal with production companies Pathé and StudioCanal, the two studios that typically finance and distribute Aardman Animation productions. The deal stipulates that Netflix has acquired global distribution rights to the film outside of China.

According to Variety, a sequel to the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time has been in the works since 2018. Sam Fell, director of Laika’s ParaNorman and Aardman’s Flushed Away, is set to direct the film, with Chicken Run co-director and Aardman founder Peter Lord as co-executive producer along with Carla Shelley and Karey Kirkpatrick. Chicken Run co-director Nick Park will also serve as consultant to the movie.

Deadline provided a look into the initial synopsis of the upcoming film:

"Chicken Run‘s follow-up finds Rocky and Ginger living in a human-free sanctuary, having hatched a little girl called Molly. But when the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat, they put their hard-won freedom at risk to save their species."

With production on the film beginning sometime next year, this provides viewers plenty of time to rewatch the 2000 Golden Globe-nominated original! Chicken Run certainly made a big impact on me as a kid and is one of the largest reasons I love the cruder visuals of stop-motion animation. It’s also on Hulu right now!

It’ll be great to see how the now-escaped chickens will adjust to their new lives free from pot-pie-obsessed humans, as well as whether members of the original voiceover cast, boasting the talents of Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Tony Haygarth, Timothy Spall and Imelda Staunton will return.

While waiting, check out some of Aardman Animation’s other projects! The sequel to Shaun the Sheep Movie, entitled A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, is on Netflix. In addition, The Pirates! Band of Misfits is on Hulu, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is on HBO Max and (my personal favorite) all the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit original shorts are on Amazon Prime.

Stay tuned for more info on the sequel to Chicken Run, and tell us what you’re most excited for in the comments!