Columbia Pictures has put together a cast packed with comedic talent for Angry Birds, its upcoming movie based on Rovio Entertainment's avian/porcine video game franchise, the two companies announced today.
The film will center on a furious flock of three: Red (Jason Sudeikis, Horrible Bosses), the swift Chuck (Josh Gad, Jobs) and their explosive friend Bomb (Danny McBride, Eastbound & Down). You can see Chuck, Red and Bomb, in that order, in the still from Angry Birds above. Players of the mobile game unlocked the reveal of the cast by reaching a milestone within the past 48 hours: flinging 1 billion birds.
Matilda, the white bird who lays egg bombs, will be voiced by Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids). Peter Dinklage, who earned little praise for his role as Ghost in Destiny, will play the massive Mighty Eagle. On the swine side, Angry Birds will feature Bill Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). The movie's supporting cast will include funny people such as Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Tony Hale (Veep), Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project) and Hannibal Buress (Broad City).
"I'm extremely proud of this cast. Not only do we have Jason, Josh, Danny, Bill, Maya and Peter bringing these characters to life, but they're surrounded by an all-star ensemble of emerging comedic talent — these are some of the funniest people out there today, and we're thrilled to have them all on board," said John Cohen, producer of the film, in a press release today.
"We heard limbs and dialogue were all the rage in modern animation so we went all in. Not just one, but all of our characters have legs and wings! Except for the pigs, that is," added Blanca Juti, Rovio's chief marketing officer.
Angry Birds is the first foray into the feature film field for the Angry Birds franchise. Rovio's existing multimedia extensions of the series include the animated television series Angry Birds Toons.
Animation veterans Clay Katis (Wreck-It Ralph) and Fergal Reilly (The Smurfs) are co-directing Angry Birds, which is set to hit U.S. theaters on July 1, 2016. The film is being written by Jon Vitti (The Simpsons).