Just days after acquiring the distribution rights to his Jungle Book adaptation Mowgli, Netflix has announced that it will be teaming up with Andy Serkis once again, this time to bring George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm to life.
Deadline reports that Serkis will direct the film, as well as producing with his Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves. The movie will employ performance capture to tell the story of a group of animals who revolt against their human farm owners and win their independence, only for their utopian society to turn into a dictatorship.
“We are incredibly excited to have finally found the perfect creative home in Netflix for this extraordinarily zeitgeist work by George Orwell,” said Serkis. “On top of that, to be re-united with my great friend Matt Reeves — with his acute sensitivity, storytelling intelligence and honesty and command in this realm — is to have the very best scenario for our long-held passion to bring this fable alive.”
“Andy is such an incredible artist — he is truly a force of nature and a beautiful soul,” added Reeves. “To be able to work with him again and with Jonathan and Netflix to see Orwell’s classic tale brought to life in a totally new and exciting way is an absolute dream.”
Orwell’s novel, published in 1945, is an allegorical tale reflecting the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinism. It has twice been adapted as a film, with a 1954 animated version and a live-action TV movie in 1999, although. Serkis and his The Imaginarium production company first acquired the rights back in 2012.
Via Deadline
