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"Andy Serkis will direct a new film adaptation of the 1945 novel Animal Farm, it has been announced.  The novel, written by George Orwell, is an allegorical tale about a group of farm animals who revolt against their human owners and decide to govern themselves.  Serkis, famous for his role as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, plans to use motion-capture technology for the adaptation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The technology is the same Serkis used to capture his performance as Gollum, as well as his performances in King Kong, The Adventures of Tin Tin and, most recently, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, for which many believed he deserved an Oscar. &amp;quot;We are in proof-of-concept stage at the moment, designing characters and experimenting on our stage with the designs,&amp;quot; Serkis has said of the project.  &amp;quot;It is quite a wide canvas as to how much and how far we can take performance capture with quadrupeds and how much we will be using facial [capture]. We are not discounting the use of keyframe animation or puppeteering parts of animals.  &amp;quot;We are in an experimental phase; it&amp;#039;s terribly exciting.&amp;quot; While this will be Serkis&amp;#039;s first time directing a feature on his own, he served as a second unit director on The Hobbit, which he recently described as &amp;quot;a challenge&amp;quot;. Watch a trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a432195/andy-serkis-to-direct-motion-capture-adaptation-of-animal-farm/>