Angry Birds is only three years old, but in that time it’s taken over the world of mobile gaming and has been downloaded over a billion time. Now Rovio Entertainment, the company behind the game, has announced that Despicable Me producer John Cohen has signed on to develop a planned Angry Birds movie.
David Maisel, former Chairman of Marvel Studios and executive producer of Iron Man, will be executive producer of the 3D CG-animated feature film, which they hope to get in cinemas Summer 2016. Interestingly, rather than getting a studio to develop the film and put up the budget, Rovio has decided to bet the farm and produce and finance the movie itself.
Rovio CEO Mikael Hed commented, “John is an exceptionally talented producer, and we’re delighted to have him join the flock. With John is an exceptionally talented producer, and we’re delighted to have him join the flock. With John’s hands-on producer background and David’s expertise in establishing and running his own successful studio, these two are the dream team for making a movie outside the studio system. Both professionals have the ideal skills and vision to achieve incredible things.”
Before working on Despicable Me, Cohen was VP of Production at Twentieth Century Fox Animation, working on movies such as Ice Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who. Cohen also had the idea to reimagine Alvin and the Chipmunks. He certainly knows what he’s doing.
He comments, “I’m so excited and honored to be working on this film with Mikael, David, and Rovio’s incredibly talented game developers and artists. From both an entertainment and strategic perspective, Rovio is at the forefront of game innovation and is trailblazing terrific new ways for Angry Birds fans to interact with these characters. I’ve personally spent countless hours playing the Angry Birds games over the last few years, which I can now happily justify as research for the movie.”