'Chicken Run' Sequel in the Works

In some very surprising movie news, it's been reported that a sequel to the beloved claymation-style film Chicken Run is currently officially in the works. According to Flickering Myth, the company who created the original film, Aardman, is currently busy on pre-production for the purported new movie. The sequel was originally announced more than a year ago, but not much has been reported on its development until now.

"Well all I can tell you is that there were a lot of chickens being made towards the end of our film," Aardman animator Will Becher told the outlet, during in a promotional interview for a new Shaun the Sheep project, which is another character Aardman is well-known for.

"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," he added. "So there is definitely an intention there and it was announced they are in pre-production on a sequel."

Becher worked on the nearly-20-year-old film, before later going on to do other Aardman films such as The Pirates! Band of Misfits and Early Man. "It's the first film I ever worked on at Aardman," he went on to say, then adding, "It has affected so many people. Just talking to journalists around the world, everyone is very excited by the prospect of a follow-up.Watch this space. That's all I'll say."

The plot of Chicken Run is based around a group of chickens who plead with a rooster named Rocky to help them escape the farm, after they discover that their owners are planning to turn them into chicken pies.

Among the actors and actresses in the film's voice cast are Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Tony Haygarth, Miranda Richardson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, and Benjamin Whitrow.

Chicken Run was a massively successful film, bringing in $225 million at the box office, on a budget of $45 million, when it was released in 2000. To this day it is considered to be the highest-grossing stop motion animated film in history.

The first film was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park, from a story they wrote themselves and a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick. The Chicken Run sequel, however, will be directed by Sam Fell (ParaNorman, Flushed Away).

No story information is currently available, but it is said that Kirkpatrick will return, alongside John O'Farrell, wo work on the screenplay.

Photo Credit: Aardman Animation / DreamWorks Pictures