- Title: Angry Birds cast gather in Cannes
- Date: 10th May 2016
- Summary: THE ARABIC VOICE OF MATHILDA, RAYA ABIRACHED, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE ARABIC VOICE OF MATHILDA, RAYA ABIRACHED, SAYING: "In Arabic, especially in literary Arabic we have opportunities to be a little bit more dramatic, you know, we're "a la Egyptian", so yes I did exaggerate the over the topness of her, I had a lot of fun doing that and hopefully our audiences will like that too." FRENCH VOICE OF RED, OMAR SY, AND GAD TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOICE OF CHUCK, JOSH GAD, SAYING: "Chuck is this speed demon, been there, seen it, done it all kind of cynical about everything and I loved that energy, I've never played anything quite like that so that was sort of the inspiration for my choices."
- Embargoed: 25th May 2016 18:57
- Keywords: Cannes Angry Birds Josh Gad Birds Pigs
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE /UNKNOWN LOCATION
- City: CANNES, FRANCE /UNKNOWN LOCATION
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA0054H83OT5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The stars and crew from feather-ruffling animation 'The Angry Birds Movie' gathered in Cannes on Tuesday (May 10) ahead of the film's release.
Based on the hugely popular gaming app of the same name, the Sony Pictures offering chronicles the tale of the unpopular Red, voiced by Jason Sudeikis, as he tries to claim back the birds' eggs after they're stolen by green pigs.
Members of the international cast, including Josh Gad, the voice of Chuck, Omar Sy, the French voice of Red, and Raya Abirached, the Arabic voice of Mathilda, posed for photos on the beach.
Gad said he was initially sceptical about the idea of turning the top paid mobile app of all time into a movie.
"You know when I first got told that they were making an Angry Birds movie I sort of rolled my eyes and said why? And that cynicism was quickly put to bed when the producer John Cohen did a five minute presentation and within a minute I was sold because the characters are so rich, the story answers this question that all of us who have played the game have never even stopped to ask: why are the birds so angry? It's subversive, but it's also got enormous heart," he said.
Abirached said she added an Arabic twist to her character.
"In Arabic, especially in literary Arabic we have opportunities to be a little bit more dramatic, you know, we're "a la Egyptian", so yes I did exaggerate the over the topness of her, I had a lot of fun doing that and hopefully our audiences will like that too", she said.
The star-studded English language cast sees Maya Rudolph playing the English voice of Mathilda, while Sean Penn makes an appearance as the growl of menacingly monosyllabic Terrence.
For Gad, the development of his character was all about energy.
"Chuck is this speed demon, been there, seen it, done it all kind of cynical about everything and I loved that energy, I've never played anything quite like that so that was sort of the inspiration for my choices," he said.
Producer John Cohen brushed aside concerns that the movie might have come too late to cash in on the popularity of the game, which was first launched back in 2009, but has since seen earnings for its parent company Rovio slide.
"You know it takes time to make a great movie and we weren't interested in just making a movie, we wanted to make a movie with a story that we believed in, with characters that we loved, and that was the most important, animation takes a number of years and we're very proud of what we have," he said.
The film will hit U.S. screens on May 20. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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