13/04/2015 - Rovio Entertainment is in production with the most costly film in Finnish history, the feature based on its mobile-phone game characters

“You can accuse us of many things, but not of lack of courage,” Pekka Rantala, CEO of Finnish entertainment company Rovio Entertainment, told Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat, as he announced Angry Birds [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the 3D CG-animated production based on its mobile-phone game characters.

Scheduled for a May 2016 release by Sony Pictures, US directors Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly’s feature will have a budget of €75 million, accompanied by a marketing and distribution budget of approximately €100 million, making it the most expensive film made in Finland – ten times bigger than the current record holder, Finnish director Jalmari Helander’s Big Game [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (2014), starring Samuel L Jackson, Onni Tommila and Ray Stevenson.

“The film is getting very positive reactions from major retail and licensing partners, as well as from consumer focus groups, which will have a positive impact on licensing in the coming years. We expect some major announcements of partnerships,” added Rantala, whose stated goal is to become the Disney of the 21st century. The cast of Angry Birds includes Jason Sudeikis (We’re the Millers), Josh Gad (Frozen) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones).

One of the world’s biggest entertainment franchises, Angry Birds began in 2009 with the mobile game, which is still the number-one paid app of all time, exceeding one billion downloads over the last seven months. The sequel, the Angry Birds Star Wars saga, topped app-store charts in over 100 countries. Angry Birds has over 27.5 million Facebook followers, 170 million active monthly players, a YouTube channel with 1.6 billion views, and a ToonsTV channel soon to reach five billion views.