There are some days in your life that you want to remember. Your sweet sixteen. Your wedding. Having a child. Finally beating your sister at Trivial Pursuit. Well today is the day I get to tell you guys that a movie based on an app has found its director. Blessed be!
App developer Rovio Entertainment put out a press release today stating their game Angry Birds will be the first feature directed by Jon Vitti, an Emmy Award-winning former writer and producer for such comedy powerhouses as King of the Hill, The Larry Sanders Show and The Office, but is best known for his work on The Simpsons and The Simpsons Movie. He also wrote Alvin and the Chipmunks and its squeakquel, but we’re keeping quiet about those.
Let’s spend a second surprisingly happy with this decision rather than hating on the whole thing entirely (as I’m prone to do). Vitti has John Cohen (Despicable Me) and former Marvel exec David Maisel on as producers for the new feature, joined by Catherine Winder. As a Simpsons alum, Vitti is grouped with some great company, including names like Brad Bird, Conan O'Brien and Wreck-It Ralph’s Rich Moore. Incidentally, Moore wanted the Angry Birds characters in the Wreck-It Ralph sequel, but that doesn’t look likely now. The app’s simple dynamic of knocking things over with birds is ripe for story filler, and so long as that story makes a semblance of sense, I’m betting Vitti knows a couple of writers that could add a vast amount of humor to the basic concept.
Now that I’ve found the silver lining in this news, let it be clear that I’m fully on board with the “Fuck an Angry Birds movie” bandwagon. But if I’m going to write about it for the next three years - the film won’t see its release until July 1, 2016- I might as well make peace now.
