100,000,000 Big Ones

For Europe, this is a big budget.

The upcoming animated feature Angry Birds is an enormous investment for the game and entertainment studio Rovio.

The budget for the film has been estimated at 80 million United States dollars, equivalent to over 75 million euros. In addition, Rovio and its partner, Sony Entertainment, will splash roughly 100 million euros in the marketing and distribution of the film.

Rovio has declined to disclose its exact share of the marketing and distribution costs but will nevertheless invest a total of over 100 million euros in the animated feature. ...

Rovio has yet to successfully expand its brand catalogue beyond the rabid birds, although a number of ideas are in early development, according to Rantala. “Entertainment companies naturally seek to have a solid brand portfolio rather than a single brand,” he acknowledges.

Will the bird characters be able to maintain their appeal without a background story?

This is precisely the question the animated feature will seek to answer, says Rantala. He believes the brand will be less reliant on the success of the game series after the animation has been released. ...

I hope Rovio has itself a winner in Angry Birds. It's going to NEED to be a winner if it wants to recoup its investment. Most European features about which I've read cost a fraction of AB's cash outlay.

But I guess Rovio (and Sony) have decided to dare greatly. Best of luck to them.