There are many childhoods that were marked by a viewing of "Watership Down," whether it was Martin Rosen‘s more harrowing 1978 film, or the softer TV series from the late ’90s. Well, a whole new generation of children are going to get their own version of Richard Adams‘ novel, as yet another adaptation is in the works.
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James McAvoy, John Boyega, Nicholas Hoult and Ben Kingsley have signed on to voice a miniseries take on the material for Netflix and BBC. Noam Murro ("300: Rise of the Empire") is the surprising choice to direct the four-part allegorical tale about rabbits fleeing from human intrusion, and aiming to find a new home, that will see McAvoy as Hazel, Hoult as Fiver, Kingsley as General Woundwort, and Boyega as Bigwig.
Rounding out the ensemble is Gemma Arterton playing Clover, Miles Jupp taking the role of Blackberry, Freddie Fox voicing Captain Holly, Olivia Colman as Strawberry, and Anne-Marie Duff taking the part of Hyzenthlay. Meanwhile, the animation team also helped bring to life "Fantastic Mr Fox" and "Frankenweenie," are creating the visuals, so this should look pretty damn good. And it’ll be interesting to see if this production rounds down the edges, or remains faithful to the source material.
Production is expected to be completed by next year, so look for it on Netflix then. [Variety]
