On April 15th, 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios will be bringing you the animated film Rio, about a rare bird that gets sent to Rio de Janiero to mate. As a clever cross-promotion, Rovio’s popular Angry Birds game for mobile devices will get a Rio version in March. Watch the commercial for the game, as well as the press release, after the break.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER…
TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX AND ROVIO MOBILE ANNOUNCE
UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP UNITING ANGRY BIRDS WITH
SUMMER ANIMATED FEATURE FILM RIO
In ANGRY BIRDS RIO the Original Angry Birds from the Cultural Sensation and World’s Biggest Smart Phone and Tablet Game, Travel to RIO to Save their Bird Friends Blu and Jewel
HELSINKI & LOS ANGELES – January 31, 2011 – ANGRY BIRDS, Rovio’s blockbuster smart phone and tablet game that has become a global cultural sensation, and RIO, one of the year’s most anticipated motion picture events, are joining forces to create a new game, ANGRY BIRDS RIO – representing a first-of-its-kind game development partnership between Rovio and Twentieth Century Fox. The announcement was made by Mikael Hed, CEO at Rovio Mobile, which created ANGRY BIRDS, and Peter Levinsohn, president of new media and digital distribution for Twentieth Century Fox, which releases RIO in UK theaters 8th April 2011 in 3D.
This unique spin-off of ANGRY BIRDS will take flight around the world in March, coinciding with RIO’s gala world premiere event. To celebrate the partnership and give fans a sneak preview of the story surrounding ANGRY BIRDS RIO, in true Rovio style a video can be viewed at: http://rio.angrybirds.com
“ANGRY BIRDS RIO is a match made in heaven for a mobile application and a major motion picture, and this collaboration with Fox is definitely one the most exciting partnerships we have entered into with the ANGRY BIRDS brand to date,” said Mr. Hed. “In addition to expanding the horizons of two fantastic entertainment brands and creating a great new gaming experience, we have also taken the concept of combining a mobile application and motion picture promotion to an entirely new level.”
“In partnering with Rovio, we are combining the world’s hottest application developer with one of the motion picture industry’s premier creative forces to introduce the millions of fans of ANGRY BIRDS to the exciting world of RIO,” said Mr. Levinsohn. “Our relationship with Rovio is another great example of Fox Digital Entertainment’s continuing work to extend our content to a variety of digital platforms.”
In ANGRY BIRDS RIO, the original Angry Birds are kidnapped and taken to the magical city of Rio, where they eventually escape their captors and set out to save their friends, Blu and Jewel – two rare macaws and the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, RIO. Like the incredibly-popular original edition, ANGRY BIRDS RIO will feature hours of gameplay, physics-based demolition challenges and loads of replay value – all with unique twists based on the highly-anticipated film.
ANGRY BIRDS RIO will launch with 45 dedicated levels and will regularly add new levels via app updates. The game will be available for download on smart phones and tablets worldwide.
About RIO
From the makers of the hit ICE AGE series, RIO is a comedy-adventure about taking a walk on the wild side. Blu is a domesticated Macaw who never learned to fly, living a comfortable life with his owner and best friend Linda in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. Blu and Linda think he’s the last of his kind, but when they learn about another Macaw who lives in Rio de Janeiro, they head to the faraway and exotic land to find Jewel, Blu’s female counterpart. Not long after they arrive, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers. With the help of street smart Jewel, and a group of wise-cracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu escapes. Now, with his new friends by his side, Blu will have to find the courage to learn to fly, thwart the kidnappers who are hot on their trail, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had.
About ANGRY BIRDS
The original ANGRY BIRDS game puts you in charge of a quirky flock of birds, who go on an intense assault on the hungry green pigs who have stolen their eggs. In the game, you use a slingshot to send the Angry Birds smashing into the pigs and their puzzling constructions. The exciting physics-based gameplay combines the special powers of the Angry Birds with skill, logic and brute force. In 2010,ANGRY BIRDS was downloaded over 50 million times on various smart phone platforms, and it is also available for PC and Mac.
About ROVIO MOBILE
Rovio is an award-winning Finnish game developer, and one of the leading independent developers of mobile games worldwide. Since 2003, Rovio has produced over 50 titles for multiple different mobile platforms. To visit Rovio, go to rovio.com.
About Fox Filmed Entertainment
One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Fox International Productions.