Aardman hatches plan for Chicken Run sequel

The British stop-motion animation giant is teaming up with longtime collaborators StudioCanal and Pathe, which co-financed the original 2000 film with DreamWorks Animation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Chicken Run was Aardman's first full-length feature, and it still holds the title for the most successful stop-motion animated feature of all time, grossing a collective total haul of $225 million from across the globe, while garnering BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.

The original film, directed by Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and the Oscar-winning creator of Wallace & Gromit, Nick Park, told the story of a group of brave chickens, headed up by leader Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha), who plot to escape from the Yorkshire farm where they're kept by Mr and Mrs Tweedy. The film featured a roll call of famous names, including Mel Gibson as Rocky Rhodes, an American rooster, and Timothy Spall as an entrepreneurial rat.

The sequel will be directed by Sam Fell, who directed the animation house's 2006 film Flushed Away, while Paul Kewley (of 2015's Shaun the Sheep Movie) is producing. The film's original writers, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, are currently attached to write the screenplay.

Earlier this year Aardman released Early Man, a critically acclaimed feature film about a group of Stone Age folk who attempt to settle a land dispute with a football match.