A new animated adaptation of Animal Farm is currently in the works. Cinesite Studios, whose recent animation credits include The Addams Family and its 2021 sequel, is producing the film from a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller and direction from Andy Serkis. After changing hands several times, including at one point through Netflix, the film is officially entering production after about ten years of discussion.
Based on George Orwell’s satirical allegory of the same name, an average farm is disrupted when the animals decide to overthrow their human owner in an effort to make a liberated, equal place for the animals to live in. Ultimately, one of the animals seizes the opportunity to take over the farm for himself, becoming a dictator over the farm.
Andy Serkis is well-known for his motion-capture performance of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy but has now established himself as a director as well. His directorial debut was the Andrew Garfield-led biopic Breathe, and his recent theatrical release was the Venom sequel.
Stoller is a long-tenured comedy screenplay writer and director, making numerous popular films since co-writing Fun With Dick And Jane with Judd Apatow. His last writer/director credit was for the animated family film Storks, though he has another movie coming out in 2022 called Bros, a romantic comedy starring and co-written by Billy Eichner.
As of now, there is no other information on the release, and with varied times on the production of animated films, it could be a year or more before we hear about an official release date! Check out one other Andy Serkis feature, Mowgli, on Netflix in the meantime.