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Netflix hatches first look at 'Chicken Run' sequel, announces new 'Wallace & Gromit' film project
Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi are voicing Ginger and Rocky, respectively.
Why did Netflix cross the road? To get to the Chicken Run sequel more than two decades in the making! Officially titled Dawn of the Nugget, the long-awaited stop-motion follow-up (co-produced with Aardman Animations) will peck its way onto the subscription streaming platform sometime in 2023. Production is currently underway, with director Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman) at the helm.
Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) and Zachary Levi (Shazam!) replace Julia Sawalha and Mel Gibson as the voices of Ginger and Rocky, respectively. Game of Thrones breakout Bella Ramsey will play their newly-hatched daughter, Molly, who is described as "a true chick-off-the-old-block." Jane Horrocks (Babs), Imelda Staunton (Bunty) and Lynn Ferguson (Mac) are reprising their characters from the first movie alongside a fresh coop of newcomers: Josie Sedgwick-Davies (Frizzle), David Bradley (Fowler), Romesh Ranganathan (Nick), Daniel Mays (Fetcher) and Nick Mohammed (Dr. Fry).
Having escaped the sinister pot pie plot at Tweedy's farm, Ginger, Rocky, and the rest of the flock now live in a peaceful island sanctuary. They don't want for anything, but when a new threat faces all of chicken-kind back on the mainland, the whole cock-a-doodle community must put its own safety at risk to save their fellow fowl from becoming poultry products.
"This time, they’re breaking in!" promises the release.
Peter Lord and Nick Park — who co-directed the original — Carla Shelley, and Karey Kirkpatrick are executive producers. Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell and Rachel Tunnard wrote the screenplay. Steve Pegram and Leyla Hobart are producers.
Inspired by cinematic touchstones like The Great Escape, Chicken Run, which hit the big screen in June of 2000, is still the highest-grossing stop-motion feature of all time with just over $224 million in global box office returns.
Check out a first look image below:
Netflix and Aardman also announced a brand-new Wallace & Gromit film project from Oscar-winning creator Nick Park. He and Merlin Crossingham (second unit director on Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) are locked in to co-direct the currently-untitled feature, which is slated for release in 2024.
The narrative kicks off when Wallace constructs a "smart gnome" that starts thinking for itself. Hijinks ensue and "as events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces — or Wallace may never be able to invent again!" It's unclear who will voice Wallace after his original voice actor, Peter Sallis, passed away in 2017 at the age of 96.
Mark Burton (Madagascar) penned the screenplay based on a story conceived with Park. Claire Jennings (Coraline) is producing.
In addition to the stop-motion endeavors mentioned above, Netflix and Aardman stated that they are "exploring how we work together on brand new characters and stories to make the classics of tomorrow. We’re excited to share where this journey takes us."
