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Angry Birds iPhone/iPad Game is Migrating to the Big Screen?

by Ethan Anderton
August 24, 2010
Source: Variety

Since a big chunk of action figures and board games have already been snagged by studios in Hollywood, it looks like games on the iPhone and iPad might be the next source of inspiration for the big screen. Variety reports that the insanely popular game Angry Birds, which has sold more than 6.5 million downloads, is meeting with studios and talent agencies to turn the game into a multi-platform franchise. While the deals include toys, comic books and TV shows, the most significant bit for our purposes includes a movie deal. In the game, a slingshot fires birds into the fortresses of green pigs who have stolen the fowl's eggs. Read on!

If you're unfamiliar with the video game, you can check out the simple in-game introduction trailer which introduces us to the avian army. As the player progresses through levels of increasing difficulty with birds of different firing power and abilities, the pigs keep using different methods to escape and protect themselves in their fortresses made of glass, wood, and bricks. The story that runs through the game is pretty weak, and I can't imagine a movie being groundbreaking (or making any sense at all?!) unless you get someone like Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who did wonders with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, to adapt and direct it.

This is the first time a mobile game has attempted to make a splash in Hollywood and Rovio, the creators of the game, are hoping they can make a fairly unknown property into a household name in the same way as Pixar. It's certainly ambitious, but Rovio will have to spread their mobile game for use on Google's Android software, other devices from Blackberry and Palm and maybe straight-up gaming units like the Nintendo DS or consoles like the Playstation 3. Apparently the onslaught of Angry Birds will start in the form of cartoons preferably in the style of Aardman Animation's claymation that could play in theaters or on television.

It sounds like the movie deal is pretty far away, so maybe that will give them some time to realize that if no one has made an awesome video game movie yet, crafting a mobile game adaptation isn't going to be a walk in the park. As much as I love the Angry Birds (I've already beaten all the levels, and I'm eagerly awaiting for updates to keep playing) I just don't need to see the property flocking to theaters. What about you?

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