MrBeast, Salish Matter, Anthony Padilla, and Ian Hecox soar into ‘Angry Birds 3’

Maybe there’s something in the American Dream mall air…Two creators who held shutout events there are now set with roles in The Angry Birds Movie 3.

MrBeast and Salish Matter have joined the cast, and they aren’t the only YouTubers present: Smosh founders Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox are reprising their roles from previous Angry Birds films as Hal and Bubbles, respectively.

They’ll join a roster of Hollywood names, include Jason Sudeikis, Keke Palmer, Josh Gad, Rachel Bloom, and Danny McBride.

It’s not a surprise these two were chosen: Both MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) and Matter have had minor voice roles in previous productions. Donaldson picked up small bits in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Under the Boardwalk, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Love, Death & Robots, while Matter was “Kraken Kid” in 2023’s Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken.

We don’t know yet what parts they’ll play in the Angry Birds threequel, but considering studio Paramount Pictures made a special announcement about them alongside Padilla and Hecox, we’ll bet it’s more than bit roles.

Here at Tubefilter, we’ve written copiously about the hows and whys of Hollywood increasingly looking to online platforms like YouTube and TikTok for fresh injections of talent at all levels of filmmaking. MrBeast is the top-watched YouTuber in the entire world, and Matter proved with her recent skincare debut that she commands attention from thousands of preteens and teenagers. Paramount might be hoping their digital star power can pull Angry Birds 3‘s numbers up from the previous sequel, which box officed at $152 million globally compared to the original film’s $352 million.

Will people turn up at theaters just to hear their favorite creators? Probably. And Paramount might get a glimpse of Donaldson’s animated power in the months between now and The Angry Birds 3‘s Dec. 23 release date, thanks to the cartoon series MrBeast Lab: The Descent. It’s a production partnership between Donaldson’s team and Moose Toys, the toy company behind MrBeast’s Swarms figures, and will premiere on YouTube Shorts in October.