After coming together on last year's stop motion musical Robin Robin, Netflix and Aardman Animations have shared plans to bring some of the studio's beloved claymation characters back to screens.
Today, the streaming giant and the British animation studio detailed a highly-anticipated sequel to 2000's Chicken Run, and announced a new, yet-to-be-titled Wallace & Gromit film.
Production is already underway on the former project, titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Slated to arrive exclusively on Netflix in 2023, the sequel to the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time will star Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi as Ginger and Rocky Rhodes, respectively.
In 2020, Julia Sawalha — who voiced Ginger in the original Chicken Run film — accused the sequel's producers of ageism, alleging she was recast as her voice was "too old." Similarly, Mel Gibson will not reprise his role as Rocky Rhodes, for reasons that should be obvious.
Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman) will direct the film. A synopsis for Dawn of the Nugget reads as follows:
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy's farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger's happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they're breaking in!
As for the untitled Wallace & Gromit film, writing and storyboarding are underway, with the project slated for a 2024 release. The film will first receive an exclusive premiere on Netflix around the world, save for the UK, where it will debut via the BBC.
Creator Nick Park will direct alongside Aardman's creative director of Wallace & Gromit, Merlin Crossingham. He previously helmed the most recent Wallace & Gromit film, 2008's A Matter of Loaf and Death. A synopsis for the project reads as follows:
Gromit's concern that Wallace has become over-dependant on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a "smart gnome" that seems to develop a mind of its own...As events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces - or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
Today, the streaming giant and the British animation studio detailed a highly-anticipated sequel to 2000's Chicken Run, and announced a new, yet-to-be-titled Wallace & Gromit film.
Production is already underway on the former project, titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Slated to arrive exclusively on Netflix in 2023, the sequel to the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time will star Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi as Ginger and Rocky Rhodes, respectively.
In 2020, Julia Sawalha — who voiced Ginger in the original Chicken Run film — accused the sequel's producers of ageism, alleging she was recast as her voice was "too old." Similarly, Mel Gibson will not reprise his role as Rocky Rhodes, for reasons that should be obvious.
Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman) will direct the film. A synopsis for Dawn of the Nugget reads as follows:
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy's farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger's happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they're breaking in!
As for the untitled Wallace & Gromit film, writing and storyboarding are underway, with the project slated for a 2024 release. The film will first receive an exclusive premiere on Netflix around the world, save for the UK, where it will debut via the BBC.
Creator Nick Park will direct alongside Aardman's creative director of Wallace & Gromit, Merlin Crossingham. He previously helmed the most recent Wallace & Gromit film, 2008's A Matter of Loaf and Death. A synopsis for the project reads as follows:
Gromit's concern that Wallace has become over-dependant on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a "smart gnome" that seems to develop a mind of its own...As events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces - or Wallace may never be able to invent again!