Andy Serkis has finally kicked off production on his adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm, almost 12 years after he first announced that he would be directing the motion-capture animation.
Released in 1945, the dystopian fable follows a group of farm animals as they rebel against their human farmer, and strive to create a society where animals can be equal, free, and happy.
Serkis's company The Imaginarium is teaming up with Aniventure and visual effects studio Cinesite on the film, as they work from a screenplay penned by Captain Underpants writer Nicholas Stoller. The project had previously been set up at Netflix.
"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," Serkis said in a statement (via Deadline). "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."
"Ever since 1945, when George Orwell first published Animal Farm, the story has remained relevant and a key instrument in understanding how the world works," added producer Adam Nagle. "Andy has had a special talent for creating unique and memorable characters during his remarkable career and we're thrilled to be working with him, Jonathan and Cinesite to adapt Animal Farm for modern audiences."
While he's mostly appeared in front of the camera in both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Matt Reeves' Planet of the Apes movies, Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther, and The Batman, Serkis is no stranger to being behind it.
The 58 year old made his directorial debut with Breathe in 2017, before going on to helm Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. While we wait to see what he's cooking up with Animal Farm, check out our roundup of the best movies of the decade, and pad out your to-watch list.
