First Longform ‘Angry Birds’ Series in the Works (EXCLUSIVE)

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – A new “Angry Birds” TV series is being hatched and will take the game-inspired bird-throwing franchise into longform territory for the first time. The new show will be aimed at 6-to-12 year-olds and is slated to launch in 2020.

Finnish firm Rovio, which owns the “” property, has tapped London-based producer and distributor Cake to make the new show. The producers have not said how many episodes there will be or how long each installment will run, but the new series will be the first fully-fledged longform show based on the property. Development is underway.

The deal builds on ’s existing relationship with Cake, which sells its TV shows internationally. The current TV and digital lineup includes the original 2D “Angry Birds Toons” series, and spin-offs “Angry Birds Blues” and “Piggy Tales,” which featured characters from the “ The Angry Birds Movie .” The picture grossed over $352 million at the global box office and a sequel is slated for 2019. Cake also manages the “Angry Birds” YouTube channel.

“Long-form content marks the obvious next step in extending the ‘Angry Birds’ brand on the small screen,” said Tom van Waveren, CEO & creative director at Cake.

Joe Lawson, SVP of Content Licensing for Rovio said the longform project is a major milestone in its plans for the property. “We are thrilled to explore hilarious new ‘Angry Birds’ adventures in this longform animated series,” he said.

The “Angry Birds” games have been downloaded over 4 billion times. Earlier this year Rovio partnered with Big Fish Entertainment to develop a live-action “Angry Birds” gameshow dubbed “ Angry Birds Challenge .” As well as spawning movies and series there is also an Angry Birds World amusement park in Qatar.