UPDATED: ‘Chicken Run 2’ Lands At Netflix, A New ‘Mission: Impossible’-Style Heist Is Teased
UPDATE: According toNewsweek,Mel Gibsonwill not be reprising his role as the chicken Rocky. Our original story from July 20, 2025 follows below.
Today marks the exact 20th anniversary of Aardman Animation’s stop-motion animated comedyChicken Runhitting theaters, a movie that still holds the honor of being the highest grossing stop-motion animated movie of all time. To celebrate, Aardman has announced that Netflix has come on board to finance and distributeChicken Run 2.
We first heard aboutChicken Run 2a couple years ago, but at the time it was only just starting development. Now that it’s been officially announced by Aardman Animation Studios during anAnnecy International Animated Film Festival virtual panel, we know the story has been cracked, and you can find out what the sequel will be about below.
Varietyreported news ofChicken Run 2heading to Netflix, which shouldn’t be surprising since the streaming service backed and distributedAShaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddonin 2019. Pathé and Studio Canal, who were behind the originalChicken Run, have closed their deal to transfer sequel rights to Netflix, and now Aardman Animation is ready to go.
OriginalChicken Runco-directorPeter Lordwas on hand for the announcement, and he said:
“We’ve got the perfect story, and the relationship with Netflix is kind of perfect as well because they celebrate the filmmaker and are so filmmaker friendly. I feel now we can make the Chicken Run sequel we want to, the one we really care about.”
Sam Fell(ParaNorman, Flushed Away)will directChicken Run 2, and he was hooked by a certain pitch that came up in a brainstorming session with co-writersKarey KirkpatrickandJohn O’Farrell. Instead of breaking out of a chicken coop, this time the chickens are trying to break in somewhere. However, specifics of the heist at the center of the movie has not been revealed. Instead, Fell teased it by saying:
Thankfully, the filmmakers did reveal some more details on the story. Rocky and Ginger (voiced by Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha in the original movie, though they’re not confirmed to return for the sequel yet) are living in a human-free paradise on the island they escaped to at the end of the first movie. They’ve hatched an egg that gave them a daughter named Molly, and she grows up all too quickly, yearning to leave her island home. Meanwhile, rumors of a deadly threat on the mainland have reached the island, and it’s up to Ginger to rally the troops and risk their feathers for the good of all chicken-kind.
It’s a rather vague description of the story, but I’m curious to see what this new threat is. Plus, I’m wondering if Rocky’s presence in the sequel will be minimal since it’s said to mostly focus on Ginger this time. Could Rocky be caught up in whatever this new threat turns out to be? Will the original voice cast return to reprise their roles? These are probably questions that will be answered down the road once we start getting a first look at the movie.
However, those eagerly anticipatingChicken Run 2will be waiting awhile. Production isn’t slated to begin until next year, and stop-motion animated movies take an especially long time to make due to the nature of the animation process itself. So weprobablywon’t see this for at least three years.
Chicken Run 2will be executive produced by Peter Lord,Carla Shelleyand Karey Kirkpatrick, withSteve Pegramon board as producer.Chicken Runco-directorNick Parkwill also return, but only in a consulting role this time. The script comes fromRachel Tunnard(Adult Life Skills, Military Wives), working with Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell.
