72nd Cannes Film Festival - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Angry Birds mascots are seen near the festival palace. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
CANNES, France (Reuters) - The parade of glammed-up movie stars at the Cannes Film Festival got off to an unorthodox start on Monday with a crowd of enormous, fluffy birds hogging the limelight on the Croisette boulevard to mark the launch of the "Angry Birds" sequel.
On the eve of the 72nd Cannes filmfest - set to kick off officially with the premiere of Jim Jarmusch's zombie film "The Dead Don't Die" on Tuesday - producers of the animated movie celebrated its planned release in early August.
"The Angry Birds Movie 2", like the first installment in the franchise, is based on a Rovio video game where players use a slingshot to attack pigs who steal the birds' eggs.
72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Sergey Burunov, Enzo Knol, Irma Knol , Sonia Plakidyuk pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
The first Angry Birds, released in 2016, earned about $350 million at the box office and gave a boost to Rovio's game sales, helping the company swing to an annual profit after years of falling earnings, job cuts and divestments.
The sequel - in which the birds join forces with their green pig rivals to defeat a common foe - features Jason Sudeikis lending his voice to Red, the main protagonist, with Bill Hader, Josh Gad and Danny McBride also voicing characters.
"We have an amazing crew that we have been working with, and together, we played around, we experimented, we found really funny moments," said director Thurop Van Orman, as people wearing oversized Angry Bird costumes entertained onlookers.
72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Sergey Burunov, Enzo Knol, Irma Knol , Sonia Plakidyuk pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Producer John Cohen said he hoped there would be a third movie to follow.
(Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Sonia Plakidyuk poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Director Thurop Van Orman, Josh Gad, and film producer John Cohen pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Enzo Knol poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Sergey Burunov, Enzo Knol, Irma Knol , Sonia Plakidyuk pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Sergey Burunov poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Josh Gad poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Enzo Knol poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Voice characters Sergey Burunov, Enzo Knol, Irma Knol , Sonia Plakidyuk and Josh Gad, film producer John Cohen, and director Thurop Van Orman pose. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Photocall for the film "The Angry Birds Movie 2" - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. Angry Birds mascots are seen during a photocall. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe72nd Cannes Film Festival - Cannes, France, May 13, 2019. People take pictures of Angry Birds mascots near the festival palace. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
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