Baku, April 22, AZERTAC

“The Batman” star Andy Serkis is set to direct an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel “Animal Farm.”, according to Variety.

Serkis is directing the feature at animation and VFX studio Cinesite (“Riverdance: The Animated Adventure”) from a screenplay by Nick Stoller (“Storks,” “Captain Underpants”).

“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. “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.”

Connie Thompson (“Frankenweenie,” “Despicable Me 2”) will produce alongside Adam Nagle (“Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” “HITPIG”), Dave Rosenbaum (“Secret Life of Pets,”) and Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish (“Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Mowgli:Legend of the Jungle”) and Serkis.

Nagle added: “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. 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.”

“Animal Farm” has had a number of adaptations in the 77 years since it was published, including a hybrid live-action CGI version in 1999, starring the voices of Kelsey Grammer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patrick Stewart. There was also an animated version of the book that was released in 1954 as an anti-Communist propaganda film.