ESPOO, Finland and CULVER CITY, Calif. USA, October 1, 2014 – Over the past 48 hours, fans of Angry Birds have discovered a reveal within the game: by slinging one billion birds, fans had the chance to unlock the voice cast and get a sneak peek at the new look of the characters of the Angry Birds feature film.

Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses, last year’s comedy hit We're the Millers) will lead the cast as Red, a bird with a temper problem. Josh Gad, in his first animated role since the global smash hit Frozen, plays speedy Chuck, and Danny McBride (This is the End) portrays the volatile Bomb. Bill Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) has joined the pork side, Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) will play Matilda, and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past) will play the legendary Mighty Eagle.

In the supporting roles, Keegan-Michael Key (Comedy Central’s Key & Peele), Kate McKinnon (TV's Saturday Night Live), Tony Hale (Emmy winner for Veep, Arrested Development), Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors), Hannibal Buress (Neighbors), Cristela Alonzo (ABC’s upcoming Cristela), Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street), Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black), Grammy nominee and Latin music sensation Romeo Santos, and YouTube stars Smosh (Ian Andrew Hecox and Anthony Padilla), who have over 30 million YouTube subscribers, will bring an extra kick to this angry flock.

John Cohen, producer of the film said, “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.”

Dwight Caines, president, Theatrical Marketing for Sony Pictures, said, “With two and a half billion gamers around the world, Angry Birds is one of those brands that can drive massive fan engagement. That’s why we wanted to bring this unlock to the fans first. Our filmmakers are cooking up a hilarious movie, and we know these fans can’t wait to see how they’re going to bring the Angry Birds’ story to life on the big screen of movie theaters.”

“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, Chief Marketing Officer of Rovio.

The upcoming movie marks Rovio’s first foray into feature films, although fans have already been introduced to the Angry Birds world with the weekly Angry Birds Toons animated series. Rovio launched the series last year through its Angry Birds game, as well as on select video-on-demand channel providers, Smart TVs, connected devices, and on select TV networks around the world. Paving the way for a full-length feature film, Angry Birds Toons has been a massive success for Rovio and has surpassed more than three billion views in its first 18 months.

Set to debut in the US on July 1, 2016, Angry Birds is directed by Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis, produced by John Cohen and Catherine Winder, and executive produced by Mikael Hed and David Maisel. The film is written by Jon Vitti. The film, which will be distributed globally by Sony Pictures, is produced by Rovio, and the Academy Award®-winning visual effects and animation company Sony Pictures Imageworks, headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., is the animation facility for the production.

Espoo, Finland, October 9, 2013 – Rovio Entertainment announced today that Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis will direct “Angry Birds,” the upcoming 3D CG-animated film based on Rovio’s bestselling app. The film is being produced by John Cohen and Catherine Winder and executive produced by David Maisel; the screenplay is by Jon Vitti. The movie is slated for a July 1, 2016 release and will be distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures (including the Philippines).

Reilly and Kaytis are both animation veterans, making their directorial debuts with “Angry Birds.” Kaytis began his career as an animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. In his 19 years at Disney, he served as animation supervisor of “Tangled” and the follow-up short, “Tangled Ever After.” He also conceived and oversaw the end credits sequence of “Wreck-It Ralph” and animated on that film; in addition, he was the supervising animator of the character Rhino in “Bolt.” Kaytis also animated on the upcoming film “Frozen” and the Oscar®-winning short, “Paperman.”

Reilly joined Sony Pictures Animation in 2003 as a storyboard artist, contributing to the films “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “Hotel Transylvania” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.” He was a director and Head of Story on several development projects at Sony Pictures Animation. Previously, Reilly was a storyboard artist on films including “Spider-Man 2” and “The Iron Giant.”

Commenting on the announcement, Rovio Entertainment CEO Mikael Hed said, “I’m very excited that Fergal and Clay have joined us, bringing with them their vast expertise. They are two of the brightest rising talents in animation, and I’m confident we are building the right team to tell the story of `Angry Birds' and deliver an amazing movie experience to our fans.”

Producer John Cohen commented: “David, Catherine and I are thrilled to welcome Fergal and Clay to the “Angry Birds” filmmaking team. They both have an extraordinary range of talents, and we’re looking forward to working with them to bring the birds and pigs to life on the big screen.”

“Angry Birds” is one of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises, starting in 2009 with the original mobile game that remains the number one paid app of all time. “Angry Birds” has expanded rapidly into entertainment, publishing, and licensing to become a beloved international brand.

The upcoming movie marks Rovio’s first foray into feature films, although fans have already been introduced to the Angry Birds world with the weekly “Angry Birds Toons” animated series. Rovio launched the series in March through its Angry Birds apps, as well as on select video-on-demand channel providers, Smart TVs, connected devices, and on select TV networks around the world. Paving the way for a full-length feature film, “Angry Birds Toons” has been a massive success for Rovio and has surpassed more than 1,000,000,000 views in its first seven months. In addition, Rovio successfully launched a sequel in the “Angry Birds Star Wars” saga in September accompanied with Hasbro’s Telepod toys. The game immediately topped app store charts in over 100 countries.

CULVER CITY, Calif., May 15, 2013 – Sony Pictures Entertainment has won the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the eagerly anticipated Angry Birds animated film, making it one of the most high-profile deals of the year. The 3D film is being developed, produced, and financed by Rovio Entertainment and will be released worldwide by Sony Pictures on July 1, 2016. Several major studios pursued the global film rights in recent weeks, with Sony Pictures Entertainment emerging as the winner.

Michael Lynton, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Amy Pascal, Co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment jointly announced their partnership today. John Cohen and David Maisel – producer of Despicable Me and executive producer of Iron Man, respectively – are both on board for the new Angry Birds feature film. Cohen will serve as producer and Maisel is executive producer.

Commenting on the announcement, Mikael Hed said, “Sony impressed us with their great attitude, determination, and professionalism. They convinced us that we have found the right partners and team to help us market and distribute our first motion picture. Michael, Amy, Jeff Blake, Sony's marketing and distribution head, and their teams will be the best possible collaborators as we get set to take our franchise to the next level.”

Lynton and Pascal said, “Every studio in town would love to add Angry Birds to their slate. There are few titles out there that bring this kind of excitement, brand awareness and built-in audience to the table. We’re thrilled to be distributing this film and we hope this is just the beginning of what will be a long relationship with Rovio as we look for ways to work on future projects together.”

David Maisel and John Cohen said, “We are very excited to join with Sony Pictures in presenting this movie to the world in 2016 and we will have many more announcements as we begin production in the coming months.”

Angry Birds is one of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises, starting in 2009 with the original mobile game that remains the number one paid app of all time. Angry Birds has expanded rapidly into entertainment, publishing, and licensing to become a beloved international brand.

Angry Birds has been praised for its great value and simple, casual gameplay. Players use a slingshot to launch birds at green pigs in an attempt to get their eggs back, with the game setting the model for what is possible in terms of game development and commercial success. To date, the Angry Birds and Bad Piggies games have been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times across platforms and versions.

The upcoming movie marks Rovio Entertainment’s first foray into feature films, although fans have already been introduced to the Angry Birds world with the weekly Angry Birds Toons animated series. Rovio launched the series in March through its Angry Birds apps as well as on select video-on-demand channel providers, Smart TVs, connected devices, and on select TV networks around the world. Paving the way for a full-length feature film, Angry Birds Toons has been a massive success for Rovio clocking in over 150 million views from the Angry Birds apps alone within the first six weeks.

While known for distributing world renowned motion picture franchises such as Spider-Man, Sony Pictures has been building a strong reputation in contemporary animation through its house production unit, Sony Pictures Animation, and hit films including Hotel Transylvania, The Smurfs, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Surf’s Up, Open Season, and Aardman’s Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.