By Ben Travis | Posted 26 Apr 2018

Some unexpected news has flown the coop and landed online: Aardman is working on a sequel to Chicken Run, the Great-Escape-but-chickens animated comedy that proved a box office smash in 2000. According to The Hollywood Reporter, StudioCanal and Pathe are said to be developing the follow-up, with Sam Fell named as director. Fell previously helmed Aardman’s CG comedy Flushed Away as well as Laika’s stop-motion ParaNorman, so he’s got plenty of feathers in his animation cap.

There’s no word on the plot yet, or whether the likes of Mel Gibson or Julia Sawalha will be back as Rocky the Rooster and Ginger — though the prologue to the original saw the pair coupled up, living blissfully on an island with the rest of their poultry pals. While it’s been nearly two decades since Chicken Run first escaped from Tweedy’s farm, the film remains a huge hit — it’s still the most successful stop-motion animated film of all time, and grossed a global box office haul of $225 million on initial release.

As ever, stop-motion is a long process so it will likely be a few years before Chicken Run 2 flaps into cinemas. In the meantime, Aardman is working on another sequel, Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, which is set for release in 2019.