The most downloaded mobile game of all time (three billion including the game extensions, if you wanted to know) - Angry Birds, created by Rovio, will take their anger to the big screen on May 20. Now we will finally learn why the birds are so angry!
The movie takes place on an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds - almost. Red (Jason Sudeikis) is a bird with a temper problem, Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride) have always been outisders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it's up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.
According to the film's producer John Cohen (Despicable Me), the classic game was a great starting point for the movie. "Inside the game's core concept were the seeds of what we believed could grow into a fantastic animated comedy," he says. "We had a chance to expand on the game characters, developing the birds into fully fleshed out characters with distinct personalities and fun, unique powers. But there's also a strong, emotional idea at the centre of the movie: at the heart of the games is a story of angry birds who have had their eggs - their children - taken by these green piggies. And the birds must launch a search-and-rescue operation to get their kids back."
Working with the Rovio team, the filmmakers developed and expanded the basic ideas from the game. "The question Rovio gets asked more often than anything else is, 'Why are the birds so angry?'" says Cohen. "This movie is the origin story of how that conflict came to exist between flightless birds and green piggies. It was an incredibly fun opportunity to create a mythology for the Angry Birds universe. Billions of people have a close personal connection to the games, but the games didn't really have a backstory that was set in stone. Our playing field was wide open - as if we were starting from scratch with an original idea. Of course, there were certain important elements that fans know and love from the games - angry flightless birds, with special powers that people will recognize, fighting green piggies, who have stolen their eggs, using a slingshot - but beyond those ideas, we were able to create an original story.
Clay Kaytis, who directs the film with Fergal Reilly, says that the built-in audience of the game allowed them to subtly subvert audiences' expectations. "People assume they know what the movie is going to be because they've played the game," he says, "but the truth is, we're creating something that is going to surprise people when they see it. As filmmakers, we're making a movie that we would want to go see."
Out of the basic premise of the game, the filmmakers created a new story - a character-based comedy. Red is on a mission to manage his anger and it's a theme that everyone can relate to. "Every parent and every kid learns to find a way to work through those tough moments in their lives," says Cohen "I think a lot of kids will identify with Red as he finds a way to channel that energy in a positive direction."
CONTEST GIVEAWAY:
We're excited to offer one very lucky reader with an official theatrical movie poster autographed by Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Maya Rudolph.
To enter: Follow us on Twitter and retweet this contest, "I'd love to win an autographed Angry Birds poster from @Creviewer and @Rovio for#AngryBirdsMovie!" We will select a winner by May 31, 2016. Good Luck to all who join!