Following the surprise announcement that we will be getting a sequel to the animated hitChicken Run 2decades after the first movie was released, comes the perhaps less surprising news that the movie will be going ahead without Mel Gibson.
Mel Gibsonis a well-known presence in Hollywood, with starring roles in the likes ofMad Max,Braveheartand theLethal Weaponfranchise having thrust him onto the A-list some time ago. Gibson voiced the character of Rocky in the originalChicken Runand was one of the top-billed cast members at a time when he was considered to be one of the most popular actors around.
Since then, Gibson’s standing has largely waned due to various controversial and downright offensive comments that the actor has made in the past. He hit the headlines for the wrong reasons again recently when actress andStranger Thingsstar Winona Ryder revealed that Gibson had made several homophobic andanti-Semitic commentsto her once at a party. According to unnamed sources, this has led to the decision to go ahead with [Chicken Run 2} without Gibson, with the studio instead looking to recast the role.
Theannouncement that a sequel was being madecame during the Annecy Making Of panel on the festival’s digital platform. Several details have already been revealed, including Sam Fell, whose previous credits includeParaNormanandFlushed Away, jumping aboard as director. Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell are returning to pen the screenplay, with Rachel Tunnard joining them.Chicken Rundirector Peter Lord spoke about the sequel, saying that they had “discussed it so many times over the years and come up with various ideas but never quite found one we loved enough.
But it was always in the back of our minds.” Continuing, Lord said that after so many years they have “the perfect story, and the relationship withNetflixis kind of perfect as well because they celebrate the filmmaker and are so filmmaker friendly. I feel now we can make the ‘Chicken Run’ sequel we want to, the one we really care about.”
Chicken Run 2will reintroduce audiences to the first movie’s hero, Ginger, who is now living in a human-free chicken paradise. Ginger and Rocky have had a daughter together named Molly, who is growing up quickly and begins to outgrow the island. Meanwhile, rumors begin to surface of a new threat that forces Ginger to rally her troops.
They will have to risk their freedom for the good of chicken-kind. Director Sam Fell has described the sequel as “an almost-tribute to Mission: Impossible with elements of heist.”
With Rocky clearly set to play an integral part in the story, it remains to be seen who will be cast in place of Mel Gibson, and whether they will attempt to bring someone in who sounds like him, or whether they will distance themselves from Gibson entirely. With Tom Hardy having taken over from Gibson in a very different franchise, that ofMad Max, perhaps it’s time to bring him into the claymation world ofChicken Runand simply make Hardy Gibson’s go-to replacement for the foreseeable future. This comes to us fromNewsweek.
