Nicki Minaj
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Nicki Minaj may have a song called ‘Chun-Li’ based on the ‘Street Fighter II’ character, but her next movie role will drag her into another hit video game.  She has joined the all-star cast of ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ in an undisclosed role.  The sequel will be released on August 16, 2019, in honor of the tenth anniversary of the game.  Since it launched in 2009, ‘Angry Birds’ has been downloaded 400 times.  In 2016, ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ made $107.5 million and $350 million worldwide.

The new film will be directed by Thurop Van Orman (‘The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack’), and co-directed by John Rice (‘Rick & Morty’).  Most of the original cast returns; Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage.  In addition, the cast for the sequel includes Rachel Bloom, Leslie Jones, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Zach Woods, Awkwafina, Lil Rel Howery, Dove Cameron, and Beck Bennett.

One of the most colorful artists around, Nicki Minaj gained fame around the same time as ‘Angry Birds’ did, dropping her first full-length album, ‘Pink Friday’ in 2010.  Among her biggest hits are ‘Super Bass’, ‘Moment 4 Life’, ‘Starships’, ‘Pound the Alarm’, ‘Bang Bang’, and ‘Anaconda’.  She is also a highly in-demand featured artist, collaborating with Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Big Sean, BTS, Mariah Carey, Flo Rida, Ariana Grande, David Guetta, Juicy J, Madonna, Post Malone, Katy Perry, Bebe Rexha, Usher, Kanye West, and more.

In 2012, she provided the voice of Steffie for the animated film ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’.  She has also voiced Sugilite on ‘Steven Universe’.  In live action, she appeared in the movies ‘The Other Woman’ with Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann and ‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’ with Ice Cube, Regina Hall and others.

‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ opens on August 16, 2019.

Source: Variety