Angry Birds, the game that glues millions to their phones daily, is to hit the big screen, its makers have confirmed, after appointing the former Marvel Studios chairman as a special advisor.
David Maisel, the executive producer of Iron Man, Hulk and Thor at Marvel, has been hired to work on “future Angry Birds films” and to develop Rovio’s “entertainment strategy”, the Finnish media company said in a statement.
In an interview with Variety magazine, Maisel, who will be the executive producer of the new films, revealed that he had started conversations with screenwriters and directors for the first Angry Birds film project. “There has been so much chatter about an Angry Birds movie, but it’s now real. The process is starting now.”
“People are interacting with these characters six inches from them each time they play, and that creates an emotional connection,” Maisel continued. “This is not an American thing. It’s not even a Finnish thing. It’s a global thing that’s something I’ve never seen before. It will be exciting to expand (this intellectual property) within Hollywood.”
The company has not yet made an official announcement on the arrival of an Angry Birds film, and it is not known when the first film might be released, but Ville Heijari, a spokesperson for the company, said: “We are now open for business for building our Angry Birds film franchise, and the associated production and distribution framework.”
Angry Birds, the touch-screen game for mobile phones in which bulbous birds are flung in sling-shots at armies of green pigs, became a worldwide phenomenon when it was launched in 2009, and has since been download over 250 million times.
Having already expanded the Angry Birds brand to plush toys, other merchandise and a forthcoming book, its makers have also been putting plans in place for its forthcoming film division, last month announcing the acquisition of Kombo, a Finnish animation studio, to “expand in-house animation capabilities”.
Maisel masterminded the relaunch of Marvel’s film studio in 2003, which went on to produce a string of box office blockbusters, and said that he foresees similar opportunities at Rovio. “The business model, intellectual properties, and the franchise potential of Angry Birds give Rovio the most exciting prospects I have seen in the entertainment business since Marvel,” Maisel said.