Andy Serkis is set to direct an animated remake of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, here’s all we know about the project and the Vemon star.
It was confirmed by Deadline the 58-year-old is directing an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novella for Aniventure and his company The Imaginarium.
Who is Andy Serkis?
The English-born actor is best known for his work in performance capture, animation, and voice acting. Although his face may be unfamiliar to you his performances are renowned and iconic.
He played Gollum in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Cesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, and more recently he starred in The Batman and Venom: Let there be carnage. Serkis is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor, filmmaker and performance capture trailblazer. Now he’s going to tackle the ultimate look at corrupt governmental systems, in Animal Farm.
What is Animal Farm?
You may remember the book from your school days, Orwell’s dystopian fable, published in 1945, follows the story of a group of farm animals rebel against their human owner, in hopes of creating a society where they can be equal, free and happy. The story highly parallels Russia’s fall of the Tsars and rise of Communism in 1917.
Of course, all doesn’t go as smoothly as the animals want and the animals eventually fall the corruption of the more dominant animals in charge who become dictators – ultimately it turns out ‘all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others’.
All We Know About The Animal Farm Remake
Over the 77 years since its creation the novel has had several adaptations including plays and the 1954 animated movie – which is definitely in need of an update for modern audiences and that’s exactly what Serkis hopes to do.
Serkis told the publication: ‘The challenging journey to bring this extraordinary story to the screen has been finally rewarded by the opportunity to partner with the brilliant team at Aniventure and Cinesite.
‘Together we hope to make our version of Orwell’s ever relevant masterpiece, emotionally powerful, humorous, and relatable for all ages. A tale not only for our times, but for generations to come.’
Nicholas Stoller (Storks, Captain Underpants) adapted the screenplay for Serkis’ long-gestating film, previously set up at Netflix, which he will produce with Adam Nagle (Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank), Dave Rosenbaum (Hitpig) and Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish (Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle).
The cast and release date are yet to be announced, but it’s assumed little will be done to the original story for the adaptation.