The Angry Birds Movie dubbed for Arabic cinema goers

The catapulting Angry Birds continue to rule the roost, with celebrities ranging from actress Angelina Jolie to British prime minister David Cameron confessing to playing the addictive mobile game.

The avians are equally popular in the Middle East, with the region’s first Angry Games Theme Park set to open in Doha Festival City, Qatar, early next year.

And The Angry Birds Movie, which opens in cinemas on Thursday, counts among one of the first Hollywood blockbusters to be dubbed in Arabic. The local version of the animated film – featuring the voice of, among others, Lebanese television presenter Raya Abirached (Scoop with Raya, Arabs Got Talent) – has been made for audiences in the region and Egypt. There's also one change: the bad guys, who are pigs, or "khanazir" in Arabic, still look the same but are now called janazir, which can be loosely interpreted as "squishy".

The movie has been brought to the Middle East by distributors Empire International Gulf. EIG vice president, Mario Jr Haddad, says: "Empire is honoured to bring The Angry Birds Movie to the Middle East in English and Arabic. We have made a strategic decision to invest in Arabic content and we believe that this is just the beginning of a major shift in the way that the local market consumes ­Hollywood-made blockbusters."

Abirached, who is pregnant and had been due to fly into Dubai for the regional premiere of The Angry Birds Movie on Saturday, cancelled at the last minute after being advised by her doctors not to fly.

“Sooo disappointed I couldn’t be there to meet you!” she posted on Instagram. In a statement, she said: “It is hugely important to have these films localised. It happens in every big movie market in the world, like Germany, France and Italy – they always have a localised performance for the local audience. This transformation will give Arab audiences a chance to engage more with the film alongside their English-speaking counterparts.”