No 'Chicken Run' Sequel Planned
L O N D O N, July 4 -- The animated film Chicken Run has laid another golden egg at theaters, topping the British boxoffice with a take of nearly 4 million pounds ($6 million).
The feathered version of the 1963 classic The GreatEscape opened at number one in Britain after two dazzlingweeks of U.S. screenings where it has already grossed a whopping$41 million.
Chicken Flies
Chicken Run, which features Mel Gibson as plasticinehero Rocky the Rooster, landed as the country’s 14th biggestbox office opening.
The film has slipped from second spot to third in the UnitedStates but still managed a respectable take of $12.8 million atits second weekend.
The film’s British creators, known for their award-winningWallace & Gromit clay animation shorts, are stunned by thefilm’s success.
A spokesman for Bristol-based Aardman Animation said studioco-founder Peter Lord and director Nick Park, now promoting thefilm in Scandinavia, were “flabbergasted.”
But he added that there was little possibility of a sequel.
“I can tell you it is beyond their wildest dreams what hashappened in the United States,” Aardman spokesman ArthurSheriff told Reuters. “But it is playing and succeeding with ahome crowd that has really got them excited.”
Make Way for Tortoise Despite the film’s overwhelming commercial and criticalappeal — it has also made stock market darlings of many firmsassociated with its making — Sheriff said existing productionschedules would preclude a sequel.
“We are not going to consider a ‘Chicken Run II’,” hesaid. “The studio’s next movie will be an Aardman version ofthe Aesop Fable The Tortoise and the Hare; — a Tortoise andthe Hare meets Spinal Tap.
Spinal Tap was an acclaimed rock ‘n roll satire in the1980s.
Sheriff said Aardman also plans a feature version of theWallace & Gromit shorts about a man whose oddball inventionscause trouble for him and his dog.
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