I wanted to blame Syria, but I must blame the consumer.Source: The Hollywood Reporter
With Angry Birds continuing to expand into new merchandising and licensing opportunities, including "Angry Birds Star Wars", the video game developer has set its sights on Hollywood.
Rovio Entertainment has enlisted producer John Cohen ("Despicable Me") to produce the Angry Birds 3D computer-generated feature film. The game studio previously hired David Maisel, former chairman of Marvel Studios and executive producer of "Iron Man", as executive producer of the project. The movie will be released in summer 2016. Rovio will produce and finance the movie.
Cohen most recently produced Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures’ "Despicable Me" in 2010 and executive produced Illumination/Universal’s "Hop" in 2011. He also worked closely with Blue Sky Studios on films including "Ice Age", "Robots", "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and "Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who". Cohen had the idea to reimagine "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and developed the 2007 film.
Following Maisel’s Marvel Studios’ example, Rovio will produce and finance the movie outside the studio system and retain full creative control.
The movie marks Rovio’s first foray into feature films, though fans have already gotten an introduction to the Angry Birds world through Rovio’s games, books and consumer products.
When is the giant asteroid gonna hit us? Friday? Cool.
