Netflix UK & Ireland has taken to social media to announce a sequel to the classic Aardman Animations film Chicken Run.
The streaming service confirmed the news to fans on Twitter this morning.
The announcement was made exactly 20 years after the day the original film was released and the sequel is expected to enter production next year.
Chicken Run was released back in 2000 and became an instant much-loved family favourite.
POULTRY NEWS: Exactly 20 years to the day since the original was released, we can confirm there will be a Chicken Run sequel coming to Netflix!! Produced by @aardman, production is expected to begin next year. Eggsellent.
The plot centred on a band of chickens at a Yorkshire farm who see a rooster named Rocky as their only hope to escape when their owners prepare to turn them into chicken pies.
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It boasted an all-star cast of voice actors including Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall and Imelda Staunton. Even two decades after the blockbuster first dropped, Chicken Run still remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, taking $225 million at the box office.
The original film is rated an incredible 97% on the ‘Tomatometer’ on film critic website Rotten Tomatoes too.
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Twenty years since the release of Aardman’s first full length feature, Chicken Run, we're excited to confirm the return of Ginger, Rocky and the rest of the coop, in partnership with @netflix.
Giving fans an insight into the plot of the sequel, Aardman Animations said: “Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world.”
“When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete, but back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat.”
“For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk”.
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“This time, they’re breaking in”.
Peter Lord, Aardman Co-Founder and Creative Director, said: “Fans around the world have waited patiently for a sequel idea worthy of Chicken Run so we’re delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we’ve found the perfect story.”
“Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the film-maker, which means we can make the film we want to make – the one we really care about – and share it with a global audience.”
The Chicken Run sequel will be released globally on Netflix in 2021.
Tim Martin is blaming ‘people drinking at home’ for UK Wetherspoons closures
Georgina Pellant
It’s no secret that times are hard for hospitality right now, with pubs and restaurants shutting left, right and centre – but when UK pub giant Wetherspoons starts closing its doors you have to wonder if anyone can survive in this climate.
In September last year, the budget pub chain began listing sites for sale with 32 boozers going up as part of what it described as a “commercial decision”.
Now, it has listed even more – and arch-Brexiteer Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin is apparently blaming people ‘drinking at home’ for the closures.
After the chain suffered a £30 million pound loss, CEO Tim Martin told PA news agency that people ‘have got into the habit of staying in’ ever since Covid and that that was why sales were down on 2019.
He also blamed lockdown restrictions brought in to stop the spread of Covid during the heigh of the pandemic for the pub’s losses,
He said: “The aftermath of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions have been far more difficult than anyone thought.
“That is the picture for the whole pub and restaurant industry. People thought that after lockdown there would be a boom in people suffering from cabin fever but, instead, it has almost become the opposite situation as people have got into the habit of staying in.
“That’s the big thing that means sales are down on 2019. Things are improving now but it’s slow.”
The pub sales are being handled by CBRE and Savills. Toby Hall, senior director at CBRE, said: “The excellent mix of locations in this portfolio is rarely seen in the market.
“With more than half the portfolio located in London and the South East and other strong locations in the South West, Midlands and North we believe the pubs represent an excellent opportunity for existing pub operators and new entrants.”
Which JD Wetherspoon pubs are set for closure?
Pubs which have been sold:
Harvest Moon, Orpington
Alexander Bain, Wick
Chapel an Gansblydhen, Bodmin
Moon on the Square, Basildon
Coal Orchard, Taunton
Running Horse, Airside Doncaster Airport
Wild Rose, Bootle
Edmund Halley, Lee Green
The Willow Grove, Southport
Postal Order, Worcester
North and South Wales Bank, Wrexham
Pubs still up for sale:
The Butlers Bell, Stafford
Worlds Inn, Romford
Silkstone Inn, Barnsley
Wrong ‘Un, Bexleyheath
The Percy Shaw, Halifax
Jolly Sailor, Hanham
The Alfred Herring, Palmers Green
The Moon & Bell, Loughborough
The Widow Frost, Mansfield
Resolution, Middlesbrough
Foxley Hatch, Purley
The Rising Sun, Redditch
Sennockian, Sevenoaks
Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis, Southampton
The Colombia Press, Watford
The Malthouse, Willenhall
The John Masefield, New Ferry
The Crosse Keys, Peebles
Lord Arthur Lee, Fareham
The Saltoun Inn, Fraserburgh
General Sir Redvers Buller, Crediton
Plough & Harrow, Hammersmith
Thomas Leaper, Derby
Cliftonville, Hove
Tollgate, Turnpike Lane
Asparagus, Battersea
Millers Well, East Ham
Hudson Bay, Forest Gate
Angel, Islington
The Billiard Hall, West Bromwich
Capitol, Forest Hill
The Bankers Draft, Eltham
Moon on the Hill, Harrow
The Bank House, Cheltenham
Last Post, Loughton
News
Government refuses to deny reports HS2 may not run from Manchester to central London
Emily Sergeant
The UK government is refusing to deny recent reports that HS2 may not run from Manchester directly through to central London.
The Sun reported this week that HS2 is currently in “shambles” and that rising inflation and construction costs could mean that trains may terminate in the suburbs of west London instead of London Euston, as has always been planned – with the paper saying transport bosses were considering pushing back the service’s Euston terminus to 2038, or even scrapping it all together.
The paper reported that trains would be instead stopping at a new hub at Old Oak Common in west London’s suburbs, which is about 8km (five miles) away from Euston.
Passengers would then have to finish their journeys into central London by using the Elizabeth Line.
On top of all of this, the paper also reported that anywhere between a two to five-year delay to the entire project is also being considered by the government, however ministers are refusing to confirm or deny any of the reports.
Government refuses to deny reports HS2 may not run from Manchester to central London / Credit: HS2
A statement provided by a Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson reads: “The Government remains committed to delivering HS2 to Manchester, as confirmed in the autumn statement, and as well as supporting tens of thousands of jobs, the project will connect regions across the UK, improve capacity on our railways and provide a greener option of travel.”
HS2, which has the full name High Speed 2, was originally intended to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.
The leg to Leeds has since been scrapped in November 2021, but work on the first phase of the project between London and Birmingham is now well under way, with a part of the line due to open by 2033, despite the fact the project has faced delays and mounting concerns over the exact route, and its potential environmental impact.
While a budget of £55.7 billion for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015, this was made before the Leeds leg was cancelled, and the estimated cost of HS2 was therefore set between £72 billion and £98 billion at 2019 prices.
Transport bosses are reportedly considering pushing back the service’s Euston terminus to 2038 / Credit: Network Rail
A report published last October found it was unlikely that the £40.3 billion target for the first section of the line would be met.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd June 2020 
