Toy program for The Angry Birds Movie spreads its wings

LEGO Group, Spin Master, more licensees bring historic mobile franchise into new era

Red, Chuck, Bomb and the rest of the flock are coming out to play with the comprehensive licensing program for The Angry Birds Movie, the animated 3D comedy event opening in theaters across the United States on May 20.

The long-awaited film, based on the massively popular mobile game that has been downloaded more than 3 billion times since 2009, has inspired licensees to forge new long-term partnerships with Rovio, building on the brand’s heritage and bringing new and evolved products to a new generation of fans.

Toy licensees include the world-renowned LEGO Group, which is releasing a line of six highly anticipated construction sets in April. Spin Master, a leading global children's entertainment company and one of the most innovative consumer product companies in the world, has also developed a range of action figures, vehicles and play sets that will see feathers fly in stores this spring. Other licensees on board include Hasbro for games and leading party goods designer Amscan. Commonwealth Toy & Novelty is producing plush for the United States, while Spin Master is Rovio’s plush partner for the rest of the world.

The book publishing program for The Angry Birds Movie has also taken flight with HarperCollins developing an extensive program of book tie-ins in the United States and Centum Books creating a program for readers in Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand as well as the United States. IDW are publishing comics set in the movie universe in English globally, while National Geographic is also on board. Roughly 20 language regions altogether are represented in the versatile book program.

“More than 300 licensees globally across all product categories have joined us to help tell the Angry Birds story,” explains Alex Lambeek, Rovio’s Chief Commercial Officer and leader of the company’s consumer product business. “Together with our partners we can bring the Angry Birds storyworld to life in our fans’ imaginations, in a spirit of play and mischief. That is how we will win together and build a sustainable business around an evergreen brand.”

About The Angry Birds Movie

The Angry Birds Movie will be released in theaters by Columbia Pictures globally in May 2016.

In the 3D animated comedy, we'll finally find out why the birds are so angry. The movie takes us to an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds – or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red (Jason Sudeikis, We're the Millers, Horrible Bosses), a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck (Josh Gad in his first animated role since Frozen), and the volatile Bomb (Danny McBride, This Is the End, Eastbound and Down) have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.

Featuring a hilarious, all-star voice cast that includes Bill Hader (Trainwreck, Inside Out), Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids) and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), as well as Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live, this year's Ghostbusters), Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development), Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project, Neighbors), Hannibal Buress (Broad City, Why? With Hannibal Buress), Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street), Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black), Latin music sensation Romeo Santos, and YouTube stars Smosh (Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla), the Columbia Pictures/Rovio Entertainment film is directed by Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis and produced by John Cohen and Catherine Winder. The screenplay is by Jon Vitti, and the film is executive produced by Mikael Hed and David Maisel.

About Rovio

Rovio Entertainment Ltd. is a global entertainment media company. Headquartered in Finland and with studios across the world, Rovio is the creator of Angry Birds, the casual mobile game that changed an industry and became an international phenomenon. Today Angry Birds is not only the most downloaded game of all time, it is a renowned entertainment brand that has branched out into animation, licensing and more. The Angry Birds Movie is slated for release globally in May 2016. www.rovio.com