Animation studio Aardman has announced a second publishing deal with Macmillan Children's Books as the global master publishing partner for "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget." 

The feature-length film, directed by Sam Fell, is currently in production at the Aardman studios in Bristol and is due to launch on Netflix in 2023 with the voices of actors Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, David Bradley, Romesh Ranganathan, Daniel Mays and Nick Mohammed. 

Macmillan Children's Books has acquired world rights in all languages for three years. The publishing will launch on the film's release with a picture book of the film, a novelization, a sticker activity book and a handbook. 

The new agreement follows a previous publishing program between the companies for Aardman's animated musical special, "Robin Robin," which saw a range of picture books and novelty books published. 

"We've built a great partnership with Macmillan Children's Books through its brilliant publishing program for 'Robin Robin,'" says Robert Goodchild, commercial director, Aardman. "We're pleased to be building on this relationship further by releasing these exciting product lines together for 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.' The books will be the perfect film accompaniment for young fans, and we can't wait to get started on bringing them to life." 

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"I am thrilled that we will continue our creative collaboration with Aardman on the 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget' publishing in this exciting acquisition," says Nicole Pearson, publishing director, brands and media, Macmillan Children's Books. "We are looking forward to exploring this new story of the exploits of Ginger, Rocky and the rest of the gang for the first time in over 20 years in this range of tie-in titles." 

"Following the success of the 'Robin Robin' range of publishing, we are delighted to be continuing our publishing partnership with creative powerhouse Aardman to bring 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget' books to life," says Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, managing director, Macmillan Children's Books. "The original 'Chicken Run' film was the highest-grossing stop motion animation ever and is one of the jewels in the crown of Aardman's many achievements; we could not be more excited to be collaborating with them on this range of tie-in books for this much-anticipated sequel."