Angry Birds turns three; coming to movie theatres in 2016

Angry Birds, the game that started it all, turned three on Tuesday, the makers of the game Rovio Entertainment announced it will be producing and financing an Angry Birds 3D animated movie which is to release in summer 2016.

Rovio confirmed that Despicable Me producer John Cohen has signed on as producer of the upcoming Angry Birds movie. David Maisel, former Chairman of Marvel Studios and executive producer of Iron Man, will be executive producer of the feature film.

"John's an exceptionally talented producer, and we're delighted to have him join the flock," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment. "With John's hands-on producer background and David's expertise in establishing and running his own successful studio, these two are the dream team for making a movie outside the studio system. Both professionals have the ideal skills and vision to achieve incredible things."

"I'm so excited and honored to be working on this film with Mikael, David, and Rovio's incredibly talented game developers and artists," said Cohen.

Rovia also released an update to the original Angry Birds game on Tuesday that includes 30 new levels, a pink bird that first featured in Angry Birds Season and full iPhone 5 support.

Since its debut in 2009, the Angry Birds game has been downloaded more than one billion times across platforms and versions. The most recent venture, Angry Birds Star Wars, soared to the top of the US iPhone charts within 2.5 hours of release.

The Angry Birds franchise has expanded to include a wide variety of Angry Birds-themed goodies including toys, and even a Angry Birds theme park in China.