The team behind the hit Shaun The Sheep film have announced a new big-screen prehistoric-era adventure about inept cavemen.

Early Man will mark Oscar-winning animator Nick Park’s first movie as director since Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, in 2005.

“Set at the dawn of time, when dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roamed the Earth, Early Man tells the story of how one plucky caveman unites his tribe against a mighty enemy and saves the day,” its filmmakers said.

Nick Park and Shaun the Sheep
Nick Park and Shaun the Sheep (Fiona Hanson/PA)

The stop-frame film is being made by Aardman, the creators of Shaun The Sheep and Wallace And Gromit, and co-financed and distributed by StudioCanal.

Earlier this year Aardman and StudioCanal brought the story of Shaun The Sheep to the big screen.

The character made its debut in the 1995 Wallace and Gromit film before being given his own animated TV series in 2007.

Despite having no dialogue, Shaun The Sheep The Movie has been an international success, while Shaun recently topped a poll of favourite children’s characters over the last 70 years.

Nick, who also co-directed Chicken Run in 2000, said of Early Man: “I’m very excited to be making this film with such great partners – StudioCanal and BFI. And with the support of the incredible team at Aardman – bringing this inept bunch of cavemen to life is going to be a hilarious adventure!”