Andy Serkis is currently in New Zealand, taking on orcs, wizards, elves and fingerbone enthusiasts in one of the most high-profile films currently in production, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
Serkis’ grand return to the series (scheduled for release by Warner Bros. in late 2027) comes 25 years after Peter Jackson concluded his masterful LOTR trilogy with The Return of the King (and Gollum’s death on Mount Doom), and marks the first time a multi-hyphenate has stepped into the director’s chair in Middle-earth (he directed the second part of all three Hobbit films). At the same time, of course, he still covers himself with small points to play Smeagol.
But while Serkis steps into Jackson’s illustrious shoes and juggles motion-capture work alongside returners (Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood) and newcomers (Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan, Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall), his previous work as a director is about to land in his home country.
“Animal Farm,” the long-in-the-making animated version of George Orwell’s classic novel and featuring an all-star voice cast including Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin and Woody Harrelson, will be released in theaters in the UK and Ireland on July 24, nearly three months after its US release. Serkis acknowledged that the film didn’t get the expected North American release, sparked “outrage” over what people perceived as its political leanings (“not being anti-capitalist” or “not anti-communism enough” were some of the criticisms, Serkis said) and struggled at the box office.
But he hopes Animal Farm will do better in Orwell’s home country, where there is “a real love for the book and it’s really cherished.”
talk to variety Serkis, who came from New Zealand after a day of filming, talks about his return to The Lord of the Rings and the decade-long process it took to get Animal Farm off the ground.
Having worked for years on the cutting edge of technology, he also delves into AI and the minimal ways he plans to use it in The Hunt for Gollum. “AI, if taught well, can be useful in many industries,” he says. But he points out that AI can’t recreate the kind of “created performance” that goes into motion capture, at least not yet. With this in mind, he argues that it’s a long way off before motion capture work becomes as accepted for creating characters as other forms of acting. This includes earning her first Oscar nomination in a major performance category.
What about “The Hunt for Gollum”?
We literally just finished a week. It’s finally up and running, which is great. I’m really looking forward to it.
How does it feel to be back in New Zealand with Peter (Jackson), Fran (Walsh), Philippa (Boys) and the gang?
It doesn’t get any better than this. And obviously not just the guys that I admire and love and have worked with for many years, but virtually the entire staff from 25 years ago. That’s wonderful. And then there are the generations of their children. So it’s a big family affair.
Returning and new characters join Middle-earth, and even new characters step into the shoes of old characters, like Jamie Dornan playing Aragorn. Is it weird to see someone else play the movie’s most iconic role?
I have to say that Jamie is doing very well. he’s great
I hope Peter makes another cameo appearance.
Well, we’ll have to see about that.
Your “Animal Farm” will be released in the UK following its US premiere. I remember writing about this movie 10 years ago when it was slated to be one of your first Imaginarium Productions releases. I know animated movies take a long time to make, but this one really took a long time.
You’re a good age. I feel like I’ve been making this movie my whole life. Of course I took time off from work and did other things along the way, but it was truly a passion. And that was behind the making of the first Planet of the Apes. There was a moment where Caesar breaks out of the facility where he is being held with this different group of apes and leads them to freedom. Then I suddenly remembered that 1) no one had created a version of Animal Farm for the screen in a while, and 2) that’s the technique we can use now to anthropomorphize characters. My producing partner Jonathan Cavendish and I had just recently founded Imaginarium and thought this would be our first film. However, I never expected that it would be such a difficult and difficult film to get people interested in making.
“Animal Farm”
Provided by Aniventure
Why was that?
Contains obvious political content. The considerations were whether it would be too dark and whether it would be suitable for family viewing. The original plan was to use performance capture, but that would have been too dark. There will be live action, and it will inevitably be a dark movie. But Jonathan and I very much wanted this to be a version of the story that could be told to a broader audience, especially young, inquisitive people who could discuss the story with their parents and grandparents. We worked closely with Orwell House and said that if we wanted to make it more relevant to today’s generation, the younger generation, it would be more contemporary, rather than the totalitarian Russia of the 1930s and 40s. So I came up with the idea of adding this young piglet as a central character who, after the rebellion, thinks he’s equal to other animals. This piglet becomes morally corrupted by the power and bravado of this particular leader, who is more populist than fascist dictator.
As you say, the original book was talking about a completely different time than today. How do you think its central message and what Orwell was trying to convey applies to today’s world?
Well, I think if this movie were shown in any country in the world, people would come to their own conclusions. But we didn’t want to be politically partisan. We’re not saying it’s an attack from the left or the right. It’s a question of power. It is absolute corruption of power, misinformation and disinformation, and the value of truth has been completely torn to shreds. So, thematically, I don’t think we’re deviating from Orwell’s original intentions. We’ve created a range of characters that are more relatable. The only thing I think we changed thematically is not creating a dark ending. This allows younger viewers to think, “How can I do better next time?”
Talking about power and truth — feels especially timely given what’s happening in the United States
Again, not to be partisan and not level at any particular leader, but it’s happening all over the world. And it comes from wrong leadership. If parents teach their children to be mean and cruel, they will become mean and cruel. So America plays a big role in it, but it’s not the only regime around the world. For example, we weren’t just directing it at Donald Trump. It was exactly the same as being oppressed no matter what country you live in. At the end, the film is dedicated to the oppressed and there is a message in the credits that your time will come. That’s the message of this movie.
Published by Angel Studios in the United States. Their films are generally considered to be very conservative, with many having Christian elements. Obviously, they are best known for “Sound of Freedom.” Were you surprised that they were the ones who picked it up?
They just showed that much interest. I think they’re changing their message a little bit and supporting movies that bring light to the world. I think that’s why they like to talk about this movie, or any movie that hopes to affect some kind of change. And they really loved it.
But we wanted to have a debate, and was there ever a debate held in America? It was from both the left and the right, and they each had their own reasons to condemn it. It was criticized for being anti-capitalist. It was criticized for not being sufficiently anti-communist. It seemed like we were doing what we wanted to do, which caused some controversy, but what we weren’t able to do was encourage parents to bring their kids to see it. The first trailer had literally 60 million hits and outrage. It was a very, very strange outing.
How do you think this book will be received in the UK, given that it is written by Orwell and that even if children haven’t read it yet, their parents have probably taught it to them? Do you think there would be a different reaction?
I think so. i will do it. I think there is a real love for this book and that it is very well cared for. I sincerely hope that parents will take their children there. I don’t think there’s anything so dark that a 6-year-old wouldn’t be able to watch it. I had a vision that my family would really enjoy it, and when I tested it on my kids, they really loved it. But, of course, they are not the ones buying movie tickets.
Coincidentally, you’re currently starring in another Angel movie, Young Washington. It has been reported that the director used AI to enhance many shots in the film. You mentioned the use of AI, and I was wondering how you feel about that.
I think AI as a creative tool has value as long as it’s not exploitative and doesn’t hurt, defame, or misrepresent anyone. For example, if you were looking for reference material, you used to get a reference image of something. Okay, now you can request something and get a result. There’s nothing wrong with that. If it becomes exploitative and people don’t get paid for the work they do, or it’s used in a nefarious, mean-spirited, or pornographic way, then of course that’s terrible, and we’re just inviting that on ourselves. I’ve said this before, and I mean it. We are the parents of AI, and we have to be good parents and teach it well. And if taught well, AI can be useful in many industries.
Peter Jackson said something similar at Cannes. Are there any plans to use AI in the production of The Hunt for Gollum?
Except for some anti-aging, none at the moment. Some characters have been de-aged a bit, and machine learning is part of that process. If you think about it, in the original Lord of the Rings movies, Peter created MASSIVE, a program that allowed thousands of orcs to each have their own way of thinking. This is an incredible use of AI. However, we are not creating AI shots in the film, all shots are created in a traditional manner. One of the things I really wanted to do with this movie was to bring back all of my great filmmaking skills, from miniatures to prosthetics, and fuse them together. Because that’s what I like. I like to combine different filmmaking techniques.
Who is deaging?
I didn’t say that!
Do you think AI will ever replace motion capture performances like Gollum?
If you look at TikTok, you’ll see thousands of images of every character from The Lord of the Rings and many more. And then I see something unusual. That is, “yes” is a version of the truth, but not one created by performance. So there are elements to the character that could work, but at the end of the day, we’re talking about storytelling. Storytelling and drama are what happens between actors, and performance capture is clearly an actor-created technology. So I don’t think performance can be replaced…not yet. I think that with a little chance, it will take off. But the whole concept of a screenplay, from A to Z, page 1 to 120, and the minutiae of the actors’ decisions to create the characters, I don’t believe it can completely replace it.
Do you think there is a chance that the Academy will adopt performance capture initiatives in that regard?
I’ve never seen performance capture as anything other than an actor’s performance. Because you’re doing all the things that you would do to create a regular character on screen. Even when I act with someone wearing dots rather than corrective makeup, that person is still creating a character.
Up until now, it hasn’t received much recognition at the Oscars.
I don’t think there is any need to give any special awards.
But do you think it’s time for someone to be nominated in the acting category?
Yes, absolutely. I really think so. I know it’s been a long time, but I’ve never thought differently.
