A Chicken Run sequel is coming to Netflix 20 years after the original

23 June 2020, 10:15 | Updated: 23 June 2020, 10:22

Netflix has picked up Chicken Run 2, with the sequel set to go into production next year.

No need to panic, but Chicken Run 2 has been confirmed by Netflix, two decades after the original.

A sequel was announced two years ago after fans set up a petition, but Netlfix has now revealed the film will start production next year.

In an incredible Tweet on Tuesday morning, the streaming service said: “POULTRY NEWS: Exactly 20 years to the day since the original was released, we can confirm there will be a Chicken Run sequel coming to Netflix!!”

It added: “Produced by @aardman, production is expected to begin next year. Eggsellent.”

Obviously, it didn’t take long for fans of the movie to get extremely excited, as one joked: “The only good thing to happen since the start of 2020.”

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“Just what we needed in these dark times,” said another, while a third added: “This is the poultry news I needed. One of my childhood favs! Made me dream of a job in @aardman making little clay figures #Chickenrun.”

While we don’t know exactly what will happen in the sequel, it is set to centre on Ginger (originally voiced by Julia Sawalha).

According to Variety, the fan favourite is now living in a human-free chicken paradise with Rocky where the pair hatch their own egg - daughter Molly.

Chicken Run (2000) - Official Trailer

But as Molly gets older, she dreams of a life away from the island. The couple are later forced to face the dangers of the mainland by assembling troops and putting their lives at risk for the good of chicken-kind.

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Twenty years after it first hit our cinema screens, Chicken Run is still the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, making over $224million (£179m).

Directed by Aardman’s Peter Lord and Nick Park, it even won the Best Animated Feature prize at the 2001 Critics' Choice Awards.

The first movie follows a group of chickens as they attempt to escape a farm to avoid the slaughter house and make sure they don’t end up in a chicken pie.

The likes of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson and Timothy Spall all voiced characters in the movie, but so far none have confirmed they are returning for the second.

Speaking about teaming up with Netflix, Aardman co-founder Peter Lord said: “Fans around the world have waited patiently for a sequel idea worthy of Chicken Run so we’re delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we've found the perfect story.

“Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the film-maker, which means we can make the film we want to make – the one we really care about – and share it with a global audience.”

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