That Angry Bird shrouded in Jedi garb and wielding a light saber you might have seen on the Tumblr of Finnish startup Rovio? It’s a tease to a forthcoming mashup between the two universes.
Fast Company can confirm, via Lucasfilm, the production company behind the Star Wars franchise, that on Monday morning at the Toys R Us store in New York’s Times Square, Lucasfilm will announce a toy line to accompany Angry Birds Star Wars. The game, slated to be released for download on Nov. 8, casts the furious fowl as icons from the movies. And yes, Red Bird will be Luke Skywalker.
“As casual games grow as a category and mobile devices grow as an interface, it’s going to become more important for us in the future,” says Paul Southern, vice president of licensing and consumer products marketing at LucasFilm. (Rovio also just launched Bad Piggies). “Our partnership with Rovio helped us to understand a little bit more about how they achieved that success.”
The announcement at Toys R Us will also serve as the launch of a retail campaign to market a vast line of merchandise that will promote the Angry Birds Star Wars game. According to Southern, both Rovio and Lucasfilm have worked with 50 licensees in more than 100 countries to develop items from toys to apparel and bedding–not unlike the other products Rovio has pumped out to help build the Angry Birds empire. “We’re hoping to have some of the hottest toys for the holidays,” says Derryl DePriest, vice president of global brand management for toy-maker Hasbro, whose Angry Birds Star Wars products will include collectible action figures and a re-imagined version of the classic board game Jenga, in which players will launch the birds to take down a Deathstar-shaped tower.
Stay tuned for Fast Company’s exclusive look at Angry Birds Star Wars and other details on the marriage of these two global brands.
[Ed. Note: This story has been modified from an earlier version to clarify launch dates. A launch date of Nov. 8, first reported by USA Today, was added to this story on Monday, Oct. 8.]
