Having already proven itself itself to be incredibly successful video game franchise, the Angry Birds property transitioned to the big screen in May 2016 with the simply, yet appropriately-named The Angry Birds Movie. Making over $352 million worldwide off a $73 million budget, that was enough incentive for Sony Pictures to order a sequel. Now the first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie 2 has finally arrived, and assures us that it’s going to be a chillier event than its predecessor.
The majority of The Angry Birds Movie 2 trailer focuses on new character Zeta, voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Leslie Jones. Unlike the main characters from the last Angry Birds Movie, who live in tropical surroundings, Zeta lives on an island of ice, snow and whatever other cold material you can think of. Clearly it’s getting to her, from her dog and dinner being encased in ice cubes to the trees being too brittle for her to enjoy time in the hammock. Sick of living on this frozen, seal-infested island, Zeta proceeds to shoot “another” giant ice ball at Bird Island. Those inhabitants getting a bigger slingshot is definitely a good call.
When Leslie Jones was cast in The Angry Birds Movie 2 in April of last year, she was said to be playing a “new villain,” and now that we have this trailer for context, it seems that Zeta will be launching an assault on Bird Island so she can finally leave her frigid environment and set up shop somewhere brighter where she doesn’t need to worry about seals stealing her meals. It’s already been confirmed that the villain from The Angry Birds Movie, Bill Hader’s King Mudbeard, will be back for the sequel, but it’s unclear if he’ll somehow ally himself with Zeta or be causing his own trouble on the side.
Leslie Jones is far from the only new voice you’ll hear in The Angry Birds Movie 2. Along with Brooklyn Prince joining as Zoe, Rachel Bloom, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Zach Woods, Awkwafina, Lil Rel Howery, Dove Cameron, Beck Bennett, and Nicki Minaj have all been cast in undisclosed roles, and ideally we’ll find out who some, if not all, of these characters are before the movie arrives. I suspect that one of the actresses will be voicing the servant shown at the beginning of The Angry Birds Movie 2 trailer who tries to deliver Zeta her drink, only to slip on the frozen pool. Yeah, this ice island really isn’t the most hospitable place.
As for familiar faces, The Angry Birds Movie 2 will also see the return of Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as Chuck, Danny McBride as Bomb and Peter Dinklage as Mighty Eagle. Thurop van Orman directed the sequel and Peter Ackerman wrote the script.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 will be released in theaters on August 16. Be sure to also look through our 2019 release schedule to find out what other movies open this year.
