Angry Birds Movie Set For 2016, 'Despicable Me' Producer On-Board

The Angry Birds movie has finally gotten the go-ahead from Sony for a July 2016 release, with the company announcing on Wednesday (May 15, 2013) that is has acquired the worldwide rights to the ubiquitous game franchise. The 3-D animated movie will be developed and financed by Rovio Entertainment, the hugely successful Finnish gaming company that created Angry Birds. Despicable Me producer John Cohen is also on-board.

Since making its debut in 2009, Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times. There has also been movie tie-ins, including Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Star Wars, which topped the U.S. iPhone chart two hours after its release in November. A kids animated series Angry Birds Toons premiered in March.