In a press release today, Rovio Entertainment has announced that Despicable Me producer John Cohen will be producing an Angry Birds movie with an eye to release it in the summer tentpole season of 2016. The film will be animated and in 3D.
It’s not the first time we’ve reported on it, and it probably won’t be the last that we question the idea of taking an admittedly popular, completely uncinematic franchise and shoving it into film form. But since it’s happening, they could have done worse than to hire Cohen, especially since he’ll be working alongside executive producer David Maisel — formerly of Marvel Studios and Iron Man. Cohen has a lengthy track record working successfully in big budget animation (alongside Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios), so the expertise is certainly there.
They’ll make a great team to create something visually and (most likely) comically appealing. No doubt it will be aimed at children and their parents, but the challenge remains of taking something addictive because of its simplicity and translating it with any worth into a story worth telling over an hour and a half. If I can’t draw my finger back on the screen, I’m not sure I want to see the fowl fly. Fortunately, they’ve announced it early enough for doubters like me to get out of the way when it hits.