Ten years after the first film turned a mobile game into a $352 million box office surprise, the birds are coming home for the holidays. Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for The Angry Birds Movie 3, and the film lands in theaters on December 23, 2026. Seven years after the second installment, Red and the flock are back with the biggest adventure of the franchise, and the timing could not be better.

Red’s toughest challenge yet: fatherhood

The trailer teases what Paramount describes as Red’s toughest challenge yet. Not the pigs. Not a new villain. Fatherhood. Jason Sudeikis returns to voice the famously short-tempered bird, and the idea of Red navigating family life while once again finding himself in the middle of a mission to save the world is the kind of premise that writes its own jokes.

It’s also a smart evolution. The first film was about Red learning to belong. The second was about the flock learning to work with their enemies. A third film about Red learning to be a father completes a genuine character arc, the kind most animated franchises never bother with. When a third installment has something real to say about its lead, it’s usually a sign the filmmakers still care.

The flock expands

The returning cast is the good kind of familiar: Sudeikis, Josh Gad, and Danny McBride are all back, the comic engine that powered the first two films. But the new ensemble is where things get interesting. Emma Myers, Rachel Bloom, Walker Scobell, Marcello Hernández, Tim Robinson, Anna Cathcart, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Nikki Glaser, Sam Richardson, James Austin Johnson, Lily James, and Keke Palmer join the flock.

That’s a genuinely exciting mix. Bloom’s musical-comedy brilliance. Hernández’s breakout energy. Robinson’s deadpan chaos. Palmer’s star power. And yes, MrBeast and Salish Matter join the voice cast too, marking a real crossover between YouTube culture and mainstream Hollywood animation. It’s a shrewd move. The kids who grew up watching MrBeast are exactly the audience that will drag their parents to a Christmas animated film, and their parents will recognize every other name on that list.

John Rice directs from a screenplay by Thurop Van Orman, with producers John Cohen, Dan Chuba, Carla Connor, and Namit Malhotra. Rice and Van Orman are animation veterans, and the franchise has always been at its best when it trusted its artists to be funny first and faithful to the game second.

Why the holiday slot matters

Paramount moved the film up from its original January 29, 2027 date to December 23, 2026. That’s not a small adjustment. That’s a studio deciding its animated sequel deserves the holiday corridor, one of the most competitive and lucrative windows of the year. You don’t move a film into Christmas week unless you believe it can hold its own.

The history supports the confidence. The 2016 original, released by Sony Pictures, earned more than $352 million worldwide against a reported $73 million production budget, despite mixed reviews. The 2019 sequel is widely considered the better film. The franchise has a proven audience, a proven formula, and now a proven holiday slot. Christmas week is where family films become traditions, and Paramount is clearly aiming for exactly that.

The holiday season’s family anchor

Look at the December corridor and The Angry Birds Movie 3 stands out as the pure family play. It’s the film parents can take a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old to and have everyone laughing. The franchise’s secret weapon has always been its layered comedy: slapstick for the kids, sly references for the adults, and just enough heart to make the whole thing stick.

It’s part of a holiday season that’s shaping up to be one of the strongest in years. Our recent coverage of Paramount’s Christmas slate, including the upcoming Ebenezer with Johnny Depp, shows the studio going all-in on holiday moviegoing. And with Warner Bros.’ animated ambitions arriving in November, the family audience will already be in theaters and ready for more.

The verdict: a holiday win in the making

The Angry Birds Movie 3 isn’t trying to reinvent animation. It’s trying to do something harder: deliver a genuinely funny, genuinely warm holiday movie that earns its spot in the Christmas rotation. With Red facing fatherhood, a voice cast that blends comedy royalty with new energy, and a studio confident enough to plant it in the year’s biggest family window, this one looks like a gift.

December 23. The flock is back. Don’t be surprised if this becomes the movie your family quotes all year.