Angry Birds Movie To Be Produced By Despicable Me's John Cohen, Will Release In 2016

Today, Rovio announced that Despicable Me producer John Cohen has signed on to produce the forthcoming Angry Birds movie that's set to release sometime in the summer of 2016. Furthermore, former Marvel Studios chairman and Iron Man producer David Maisel will serve as the executive producer of the film, and Rovio will finance and retain full creative control during production.

John Cohen isn't a huge name in the movie business, but he did have an executive role in several animated movies, including two Ice Age films and the 2007 remake of Alvin and the Chipmunks. He also served as vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox Animation, and he also contributed to Horton Hears a Who and Robots.

Cohen says that the "countless hours playing the Angry Birds games over the last few years" has served as his "research for the movie." While the games are certainly a huge chunk of the Angry Birds concept, we're sure that Cohen will do more than just play the games in order to get an expert feel for the Angry Birds vibe.

The Angry Birds film first came to light last year when Maisel joined Rovio. The company has said it will retain "full creative control" over the project by working outside the studio system, but we're left without any details as far as what the movie will be like, and how the levels of Angry Birds will tie into a full-length film exactly.