| The Angry Birds Movie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Screenplay by | Jon Vitti |
| Story by |
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| Based on | Angry Birds byRovio Entertainment |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Heitor Pereira[1] |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing[3] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 97 minutes[4] |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $73 million[6] |
| Box office | $352.3 million[7] |
The Angry Birds Movie is a 2016 animatedcomedy film based on theAngry Birds video game series. It was directed byClay Kaytis andFergal Reilly, and written byJon Vitti. It features the voices ofJason Sudeikis,Josh Gad,Danny McBride,Maya Rudolph,Kate McKinnon,Sean Penn,Tony Hale,Keegan-Michael Key,Bill Hader, andPeter Dinklage. The film follows Red, an outcast on an island ofanthropomorphic flightless birds, as he suspects a newly arrived crew of pigs, led by Leonard, of plotting an evil plan, and attempts to put a stop to them with the help of his newfound friends Chuck and Bomb.
After the success of theAngry Birds Toons animated series,Rovio Entertainment, the developer of theoriginal video game, began work on a film adaptation. The project was announced in December 2012. The first image from the film was revealed in October 2014, with Sudeikis, Gad, McBride, Hader, Rudolph, and Dinklage revealed to be part of its cast at the same time. Rovio andSony Pictures announced they would spend roughly €100 million on the marketing and distribution ofThe Angry Birds Movie, becoming the most expensive Finnish-produced film up to that point.Sony Pictures Imageworks was responsible for handling animation services for the film.
The Angry Birds Movie was released in the United States on May 20, 2016, bySony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $352 million. A sequel,The Angry Birds Movie 2, was released in 2019, and a third film,The Angry Birds Movie 3, is scheduled for 2026.
Red, a bird with a short temper, is an outcast on Bird Island, an island containing a village inhabited byanthropomorphic, flightless birds. When he accidentally causes apremature hatching of a bird family's egg, he is sentenced toanger management class. Two of Red's classmates—Chuck, who is hyperactive and can move atsupersonic speed, and Bomb, who can cause explosions with his anger and fear—try to befriend him, but he avoids them.
One day, a boat docks at the island's shore, damaging Red's house. The birds greet two green-colored pigs, the captain Leonard and his assistant Ross, who claim to be peaceful explorers bringing offerings of friendship. They introduce the birds to various innovations, including a giantslingshot, but Red becomes suspicious of the pigs' motives and sneaks into Leonard's boat. Chuck and Bomb follow Red, and they find more pigs hidden below deck, contradicting Leonard's claim that he and Ross are alone. When Red returns and shows everyone the other pigs, the birds accept Leonard's explanation that he only lied to see if Bird Island was safe for his simple-minded cousins.
Still suspicious of the pigs, Red recruits Chuck and Bomb to find Mighty Eagle, Bird Island's missing protector and the only bird who can fly. They find Mighty Eagle on top of Eagle Mountain, but they discover that he has become an overweight, self-absorbedslacker who has retired from flying. Red discovers the pigs plantingdynamite around the island and stealing the eggs while the birds are distracted by a party. Mighty Eagle refuses to help them, and Red admonishes him. Red, Chuck, and Bomb attempt to warn the other birds and stop the pigs, but the pigs destroy the village with the dynamite and escape with the eggs. The other birds apologize to Red for not listening to him. Red rallies the islanders to build a boat from the rubble and follow the pigs to Piggy Island.
The birds discover the pigs living in awalled city ruled by Leonard, known as King Mudbeard. Deducing that the eggs are in the castle at the center of the city, the birdsuse the pigs' giant slingshot to launch themselves over the walls and into the city's castle. Most of the birds miss the castle but destroy other buildings; Red, Chuck, and Bomb are the only ones successfully shot into the castle. The pigs lower the eggs into a boiling pot, planning to cook and eat them. Mighty Eagle, having had a change of heart, arrives to retrieve Red, Chuck, Bomb, and the eggs. One egg falls out of the net and Red battles Leonard for it. They fall into a room containing the pigs' reserve of dynamite, which Leonard accidentally ignites. The dynamite explodes, destroying the city, but the boiling pot falls on top of Red and shields him and the egg from the blast.
All the families, except for one, reunite with their eggs. Red emerges with the egg, containing three blue hatchlings,[a] and returns them to their parents. Mighty Eagle approaches Red, Chuck, and Bomb, claiming that he merely appeared lazy so that they could lose faith in him and find faith in themselves, and takes credit for saving the eggs. As Bird Island is rebuilt, Red discovers that the other birds have rebuilt his house in the center of the village and welcomes Chuck and Bomb inside. Meanwhile, the pigs survive their home's destruction, and Leonard plots a new plan.
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Additionally,Hannibal Buress voices Edward the Birthday Dad, Eva's husband and the father of two hatchlings.Tituss Burgess voices Photog, a photographer pig.Ian Hecox voices Bubbles, a small orange bird who possesses the ability to inflate to a massive size.[8]Anthony Padilla voices Hal, a long-beaked emerald green bird who can return like aboomerang when launched.[8]Billy Eichner voices Chef Pig, Leonard'shead chef, and also Phillips Bird.Danielle Brooks andKevin Bigley voice Olive and Greg Blue, the parents of the Blues.Charli XCX voices Willow, an artistic blue bird.[12]
The film's co-producerJohn Cohen voices Johnny Bird. Co-directorsClay Kaytis andFergal Reilly voice Clayton the Waiter Bird and Foreman Pig, respectively.
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The film was officially announced in December 2012, althoughIGN noted that this was "after months of speculation".[13] The success of theAngry Birds Toons series, according to Rovio employee Jami Laes, "validated" the idea of creating a feature film.[14]The first image from the film was revealed in October 2014, withJason Sudeikis,Josh Gad,Danny McBride,Bill Hader,Maya Rudolph, andPeter Dinklage revealed to be part of its cast.[8] Gad at first refused to star in the movie, feeling that it was too similar to his role asOlaf inFrozen (2013) but the directors eventually convinced him to sign through a 30-minute "visual pitch".[15]The film's budget is estimated at $80 million (€75 million).[16] Rovio and Sony Pictures announced that they would spend roughly €100 million for the marketing and distribution of the film,[16] giving it thelargest budget in the film industry in Finland, outvaluingBig Game's (2014) €8.5 million.[16] Despite the massive budget, Rovio CEO Mikael Hed stated that "it is the one that I don't ever lose any sleep over",[17] calling it "tremendously strong as a story".[17] During August 2015, Rovio announced that they were expecting to cut 250 jobs equaling 40% of the company, the only sector spared being personnel working on the movie.[18]
When multiple major studios approached Rovio to discuss the production of the film adaptation in 2010, Hed eventually decided to have Rovio establish its own in-house animation studio and have it work on the film, rather than risk losing creative control in allowing a third-party studio to produce it.David Maisel, the founding chairman ofMarvel Studios, offered to help Hed and Rovio produce the film,[19] as well as John Cohen fromIllumination Entertainment and Catherine Winder fromLucasfilm, who later served as the film's producers.[20] Animation services were handled bySony Pictures Imageworks inVancouver,[21][22] whileSkywalker Sound handled audio post-production services.[23]
TheAngry Birds characters were not depicted in theiranthropomorphized cinematic designs until the film's announcement so as to avoid spoiling it for audiences.[24]
The film's marketing budget was an estimated $400 million, which, along with its production budget of $73 million, was the biggest budget at the time for an animated Sony Pictures film.[6] Tie-ins withMcDonald's,Citroën,Ziploc,Panasonic,[25] and a series of sixLego sets were used to promote the film.[26][27] A balloon themed after Red debuted at the 2015Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.[28] The mobile gameAngry Birds Action! was released during the lead-up to theThe Angry Birds Movie's release. In-game features could be unlocked by seeing the film in theatres on its opening weekend or scanning "BirdCodes" found on tie-in products.[29]
| The Angry Birds Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | May 6, 2016 (2016-05-06)[30] |
| Recorded | 2015–16 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 48:43 |
| Label | Atlantic |
The film's soundtrack, titledThe Angry Birds Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,[31] was released on May 6, 2016.[32]
| No. | Title | Performed by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Friends[33]" | Blake Shelton | 3:04 |
| 2. | "I Will Survive[34]" | Demi Lovato | 4:05 |
| 3. | "Wonderful Life (Mi Oh My)[35]" | Matoma | 3:30 |
| 4. | "On Top of the World" | Imagine Dragons | 3:12 |
| 5. | "Explode[36]" | Charli XCX (as Willow) | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | Rick Astley | 3:34 |
| 7. | "Rock You Like a Hurricane" | Scorpions | 4:16 |
| 8. | "Fight" | Steve Aoki | 3:52 |
| 9. | "Wild Thing" | Tone Lōc | 4:25 |
| 10. | "Sound of da Police" | KRS-One | 4:18 |
| 11. | "Behind Blue Eyes" | Limp Bizkit | 4:31 |
| 12. | "The Mighty Eagle Song[37]" | Peter Dinklage | 2:06 |
| 13. | "The Mighty Red Song[38]" | The Hatchlings and the Blues | 0:47 |
| 14. | "The Angry Birds Movie Score Medley[39]" | Heitor Pereira | 3:18 |
While not featured in the film,Michael Jackson's "Bad" was featured in multiple trailers.[40]
The film was initially scheduled to be released on July 1, 2016,[41] but it was later moved forward to May 20.[42] The film was released in Finland on May 13, 2016, and in the United States on May 20, 2016, inRealD 3D and4DX.[42] An animated short film titledThe Early Hatchling Gets the Worm was shown alongside the film in select theaters.[43]
The Angry Birds Movie was released on digital HD on July 29, 2016, and onBlu-ray,4K/3D Blu-ray, andDVD on August 16, 2016, bySony Pictures Home Entertainment, with four "Hatchlings" shorts included.[44] The film topped the home video sales chart for the week ending on August 21, 2016.[45]
The Angry Birds Movie grossed $107.5 million in the United States and Canada and $244.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $352.3 million.[7] It is the ninth highest-grossing video game film of all-time both worldwide[46] and the sixth highest-grossing domestically,[47] and is also the most successful Finnish-produced film of all time.[48]Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $72 million.[49]
In the United States and Canada, the film opened on May 20, 2016, alongsideNeighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) andThe Nice Guys (2016), and was projected to gross $35–40 million or as high as $45 million from 3,932 theaters in its opening weekend.[25][50][51]Deadline noted that the film had the benefit of being the only animated movie in theaters untilFinding Dory (2016) on June 17.[51]The Angry Birds Movie was the top selling film for the weekend, and grossed $800,000 from Thursday night previews[25] and $11 million on its opening day.[52] In its opening weekend it grossed $38.2 million, finishing first at the box office and marked the third biggest Sony animated opening of all time, behindHotel Transylvania (2012) and its sequelHotel Transylvania 2 (2015).[25][53] It also scored the second-best debut weekend ever for a video game adaptation, behind the $47 million debut ofLara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).[54] It dropped 51% in its second weekend, againstX-Men: Apocalypse (2016) andAlice Through the Looking Glass (2016), grossing $18.7 million.[55]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 44% of 160 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Angry Birds Movie is substantially more entertaining than any film adapted from an app has any right to be—which may or may not be much of an endorsement."[56]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 43 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[57] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[58]
Lindsey Bahr of theAssociated Press gave the film a positive review by writing, "Ultimately,The Angry Birds Movie does a decent job exploring the merits of anger. It's noInside Out, but it has heart and life, which isn't too shabby for any film—app or not."[59]Variety's Guy Lodge called the film: "A fast, fizzy and frenetically entertaining extension of the manic gaming franchise that, at its zenith, had children of all ages glued to their smartphone screens".[60] While Rafer Guzman ofNewsday found the film's plot to be "pretty thin gruel," he thought the script was quite funny and that the animation was brightly colored and appealing.[61] Tara Brady ofThe Irish Times gave the film a three out of five-star rating, stating that "animation veterans Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis ensure thisSkittles-coloured universe is never less than zippy. But it's the cast that makes the movie".[62]
Glenn Kenny ofThe New York Times gave the film a negative review, writing, "The kids of today deserve better. So do I, come to think of it."[63] In his review forTheWrap, Alonso Duralde wrote, "Let's be clear, then:The Angry Birds Movie isn't pointless because it's based on an app. It's pointless because it's pointless."[64] In a two out of five-star review, Radheyan Simonpillai ofNow felt that the film "goes through familiar, harmless and occasionally amusing plot motions to explain why these birds are so angry, and why they're perfectly justified in goingbin Laden on buildings".[65]
| Award | Date | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jussi Awards | March 24, 2017 | Best Film | John Cohen,Catherine Winder, Mikael Hed, David Maisel | Nominated | [66] |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 17, 2016 | Best Original Score – Animated Film | Heitor Pereira | Nominated | [67][68] |
| Kids' Choice Awards | March 11, 2017 | Most Wanted Pet | Jason Sudeikis | Nominated | [69] |
| Teen Choice Awards | July 31, 2016 | Choice Movie: Hissy Fit | Nominated | [70] | |
| Choice Music: Song from a Movie or TV Show | "I Will Survive" byDemi Lovato | Nominated |
In August 2016, Rovio had begun working on a sequel to the film.[73] The sequel, titledThe Angry Birds Movie 2, was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 2, 2019, and later on August 14 in the United States, closely coinciding with the 10th anniversary of theoriginal video game.[74][75] It was directed byThurop Van Orman and John Rice. Cohen returned as producer, withPeter Ackerman,Eyal Podell, and Jonathon E. Stewart as writers. Sudeikis, Gad, Hader, McBride, Dinklage, Rudolph, Hale, and Padilla returned to voice their roles, withNicki Minaj,Rachel Bloom,Sterling K. Brown,Eugenio Derbez,Zach Woods,Awkwafina,Lil Rel Howery,Dove Cameron,Beck Bennett,Tiffany Haddish,Brooklynn Prince, andLeslie Jones joining the cast.[76][77] A second sequel,The Angry Birds Movie 3, is scheduled for release on December 23, 2026.[78]
Hed: "We were first approached in early 2010 by Hollywood studios to discuss making Angry Birds into a feature film...I had in my mind a vision for what the world of Angry Birds was, and I wanted to make sure that we would be in control of what the story of the movie would be. If we had given Angry Birds to another studio to be developed, we would have lost that creative control. So I ultimately decided that we had to try to make the movie ourselves, even if I didn't know how to make that a reality. That is, until I met David."
Maisel: "[W]e also talked about how to make the movie as big as possible. Mikael and I agreed back in 2011 that...we should do certain things to protect the movie...Let's not let the birds have arms and legs until the movie comes out. Let's not have CGI-grade animation until the movie comes out. These were things that, we knew, if we could protect those things, then the movie had a chance to be really special..."
