Netflix at Annecy: ‘Nimona’ Debuts; ‘Chicken Run 2’ Gets Release Date

As part of Netflix’s appearance this week at the Annecy International Animation Festival, the streaming service hosted a sneak peek at upcoming work and the world premiere of Nimona, the anticipated adaptation of ND Stevenson’s graphic novel coming to the platform on June 30. Additionally, the studio announced that Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Aardman Animations’ anticipated sequel to 2000’s Chicken Run — will get a Dec. 15 release.

In a new clip from the sequel to Chicken Run — from the Oscar-winning studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shawn the Sheep — the Annecy audience was introduced to Molly (Bella Ramsey), the daughter of Chicken Run‘s Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi). Molly is among those captured and placed in a truck carting chickens to a new fortress-like farm. After a classic Aardman chase — with Ginger, Rocky and others in hot pursuit of the truck — they begin to devise a rescue plan. Director Sam Fell (Flushed Away), producer Leyla Hobart and exec producer and Aardman co-founder Peter Lord led the presentation.

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Netflix’s string of upcoming projects includes fall release Leo, described as a coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school through the eyes of Leo, a 74-year-old lizard (and class pet) voiced by Adam Sandler. In the clip, a surprised girl hears her pet Leo talk for the first time. The story was written by Robert Smigel (who directed with Robert Marianetti and David Wachtenheim), Adam Sandler and Paul Sado.

Not yet dated is upcoming series Blue Eye Samurai. At Annecy, supervising director/producer Jane Wu introduced a clip of the titular mixed-race master of the sword in battle on a cliff in Edo-period Japan. Also not yet dated is Exploding Kittens, an adult animated comedy series starring Tom Ellis and Lucy Liu. In the story, both God and the Devil are sent to Earth, in the bodies of chunky house cats.

The Netflix presentation also teased The Monkey King, a family comedy that follows a monkey with his magical fighting stick on an epic quest. It’s directed by Anthony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls) and premieres Aug. 18 on Netflix.

On hand at Annecy for Nimona‘s premiere and a Thursday session are graphic novel creator Stevenson, directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, producers Karen Ryan and Julie Zachary, and production designer Aidan Sugano.

In the story, Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), a knight in a futuristic medieval world, is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz), a mischievous teen and the shapeshifting creature Ballister has been trained to destroy.

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