Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses) has a temper problem in the first full-length trailer for Sony’s upcoming Angry Birds animation, which seeds the origins story behind the seemingly never-ending conflict between those dastardly pigs and the titular avians that has captured the imagination of an entire generation.
Leaping from touch screen to silver screen in May of this year, animation newcomers Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis are the directors tasked with lending personality to those temperamental – and, crucially, flightless – birds, who have grown into an undisputed global phenomenon with close to 2 billion downloads of the title game across numerous platforms.
But success in one medium doesn’t necessarily guarantee a sure-fire hit in another; outside of the relatively popular Angry Birds Toons, this is the first time that Rovio’s mobile juggernaut will be moulded into a tangible story, replete with narrative and an impressive voice cast. Situated on the lush rolling hills of Bird Island, Sudeikis’ crimson avian Red headlines the animation as a character down on his luck.
There’s a mystery crippling the citizens of Bird Island, though, with a precious stash of eggs abruptly vanishing, and it’s Red who believes he’s pinpointed the main culprit: those pesky piggies. Cue toilet humor and actual shots of Red and Co. being flung through the blue sky in the spirit of the original game.
Sony Pictures and Rovio’s Angry Birds movie will take flight on May 20 in the States, featuring a voice cast that also includes Bill Hader, Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph, Keegan-Michael Key and Game of Thrones fan favorite Peter Dinklage.
The movie takes us to an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds – or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red (Jason Sudeikis, We’re the Millers, Horrible Bosses), a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck (Josh Gad in his first animated role since Frozen), and the volatile Bomb (Danny McBride, This is the End, Eastbound and Down) have always been outsiders. 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.