An adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm is headed to Netflix. Deadline reports that Netflix has acquired the rights to the novel, and has recruited Andy Serkis to direct a performance-capture film based on the source material. The film will be produced by Matt Reeves, Rafi Crohn and Adam Kassan, alongside The Imaginarium’s Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish.
Serkis and Cavendish have been hoping to adapt the iconic 1945 novella for years, first landing a rights deal in 2012.
“We are incredibly excited to have finally found the perfect creative home in Netflix for this extraordinarily zeitgeist work by George Orwell,” Serkis said in a statement. “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.”
According to Cavendish, the two plan to bring “Animal Farm to the screen in a thoroughly contemporary fashion, which will highlight the staggering relevance today of the satirical and dramatic power of Orwell’s re-imagined classic.”
There is no release date set for the film at this time. Animal Farm was most recently adapted in a TV live-action version in 1999. Prior to that, an animated film was released in 1954.