"Angry Birds" is one of the most successful mobile games and has been downloaded over 3 billion times across numerous platforms. Sony Pictures has acquired the rights for the film adaptation, which is scheduled for 2016, and a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly finally reveals the basic plot of the film as well as a few early images.
The film is being produced by John Cohen who previously worked on "Despicable Me," and is being directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly based on a script penned by "The Simpsons" veteran John Vitti. "Angry Birds" will also feature the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage, Maya Rudolph, and Bill Hader.
Cohen stated that a part of the film's story is to tell why the titular birds are so angry. He explained that the film will serve as an origin story that focuses on how the Angry Birds began a war with the invading Green Pigs.
The report also explains that the film follows Red (voiced by Sudeikis) who lives on an island populated by birds. Red is accompanied by his friends Chuck (Gad) and Bomb (McBride), all of whom have difficulties controlling their rage. They have to use this anger to defend their island when it gets invaded by a band of Green Pigs that will attempt to take over their home.
One of the challenges of making the film is that "Angry Birds" doesn't really have any characters and this was pointed out by co-director Reilly.
"These are icons in a game that appear to be characters, but really they're just icons," he explained. "So it's up to us to flesh them out ... It's an advantage that we have such a huge brand. A lot of iconic movies come from branded entertainment. But you have to quickly forget about that when you're working on the movie because you still have to, you know, make the movie."
"The Angry Birds Movie" will be released in theaters on May 20, 2016.
