Chicken Run 2 is in the works – but no news on a release date just yet (Picture: Aardman Animations)

If you loved Chicken Run as a child, you’re definitely in for a treat in the not-so-distant future as the sequel is officially in pre-production.

Chicken Run 2 was confirmed in April last year by Aardman Animations, following on from the 2000 original, and work has officially begun on the sequel.

The 2000 original saw Rocky the rooster attempt to save a group of chickens from ending up in a pie machine, and although they did make it out in the end, that’s not where their story ends.

Aardman Animations tweeted last year: ‘Rocky & Ginger are coming home to roost! We’re delighted to announce we’re working with @StudiocanalUK & @PatheUK on early development of a Chicken Run sequel!




‘#ChickenRun2 will be our next movie release following Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon in Autumn 2019 with STUDIOCANAL’.

And now that the Shaun the Sheep movie is done, the team have been hard at work on Chicken Run 2, with co-director Will Becher telling Flickering Myth: ‘Well all I can tell you is that there were a lot of chickens being made towards the end of our film.

‘We have a model-making team and, at one point, it was just full of sheep, but slowly over the course of the following weeks it became overrun with chickens.

Rocky & Ginger are coming home to roost! We’re delighted to announce we're working with @StudiocanalUK & @PatheUK on early development of a Chicken Run sequel! #ChickenRun2 will be our next movie release following Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon in Autumn 2019 with STUDIOCANAL pic.twitter.com/Cdof0e7qbl — Aardman Animations (@aardman) April 26, 2018

‘So there is definitely an intention there and it was announced they are in pre-production on a sequel.’

He added: ‘It’s the first film I ever worked on at Aardman. It has affected so many people. Just talking to journalists around the world, everyone is very excited by the prospect of a follow-up. Watch this space. That’s all I’ll say.’

The original movie had a stellar cast of voice actors including Mel Gibson and Imelda Staunton, but it’s not clear whether any or all of the originals will be back for the second movie.

One thing that is staying the same are the writers, as Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell have both signed on to write the sequel’s screenplay.

No pressure on them, then, as the original was the highest-grossing stop motion film in history, banking over $224 million (£175 million).

There’s no news yet on when it will be finished and in cinemas, but we’re expecting it will be worth the wait if the original is anything to go by.

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