After earning more than $360 million at the box office worldwide last year, the singing rodents are making their way back to the big screen. Fox 2000 and Regency have tapped Betty Thomas (Doctor Dolittle, The Brady Bunch Movie) to direct Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
My Name is Earl star Jason Lee, who took some critical guff for his performance in the first film, isn’t confirmed to be returning to the role of Dave Seville. The chipmunks will be voiced again by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney, and a trio of actresses will be cast as the voices of the Chipettes, female chipmunks being introduced in the sequel.
The followup is being produced by Ross Bagdasarian Jr., whose father created The Chipmunks, and Janice Karman. Erin Siminoff is overseeing production for Fox 2000.
Introduced in 1958, Alvin, Simon and Theodore quickly became popular recording stars, churning out 16 studio records, selling more than 43 million albums and snagging five Grammy Awards. The animated Alvin and the Chipmunks TV series debuted in 1983 and was broadcast in more than 100 countries. An animated feature and various TV specials followed.
