What is it about “Angry Birds” that could sustain a feature-length film? Film adaptations get handed out like party favors to endless video game franchises, but most of those franchises have stories and characters and conflicts and all sorts of other goodies. There may be a conflict inherent in “Angry Birds,” but oddly spherical fowl launching themselves via slingshot at their mortal enemies isn’t really enough to build an entire screenplay around. Sure, there’s an endless stream of Angry Birds cartoons being pumped out, but A: those cartoons are only about three minutes a pop, and B: they have no dialogue. So unless Angry Birds is going the silent film route a la The Triplets of Belleville or The Illusionist (and who’s to say it won’t), it may be a case of butter scraped over too much bread.
At least now we know (thanks to Deadline) the two men tasked with bringing the Angry Birds movie to life: Clay Katis and Fergal Reilly. You may not have heard of these two before now, and they may never have directed a feature film before now, but at least there’s a heap of experience between the two. Katis, despite being only 19 years old, was animation supervisor on the upcoming Frozen. Reilly was a storyboard artist for a long list of films (ranging from Space Jam to Hotel Transylvania), and was head of story for Sony Pictures Animation. At the barest of minimums, these two are likely as nervous about directing Angry Birds as we are about watching it.
