Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

[Himmel]

Source: THR

'Chicken Run' Sequel in Works

Almost 20 years after Chicken Run became the most successful stop-motion animated film of all time (a record it still holds to this day), The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Aardman Animations is officially working on a sequel.

Details of the film are scarce at the moment, with the project not yet ready to hit markets. But THR understands that the U.K. animation powerhouse is developing the film alongside StudioCanal, with which it has partnered on its most recent titles, and Pathe, which co-financed the original with DreamWorks Animation and distributed it in Europe.

Sam Fell, who earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations for 2012's ParaNorman and also helmed Aardman's Flushed Away in 2006, is attached to direct, with Paul Kewley (Shaun the Sheep Movie) producing. Original writers Karey Kirkpatrick (Over the Hedge, Smurfs 2, The Spiderwick Chronicles) and John O'Farrell have been reunited to pen the screenplay. Aardman's co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton are executive producing.

The 2000 Chicken Run original – Aardman's first full-length feature and co-directed by Lord and Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park – became a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, grossing $106 million in the U.S. and amassing a global haul of $225 million.

Telling the story of a group of plucky chickens attempting to escape certain death at the hands of their evil farm owner and boasting a voice cast including the likes of Mel Gibson and Timothy Spall, the film was also critically acclaimed, with a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating alongside BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations.