Motion-capture chameleon Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) has spent the better part of a year, all told, directing the second unit of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy; he now plans to use that experience to direct a performance-capture based adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm. His mo-cap studio, The Imaginarium, has secured rights to the property and will produce the film.  The studio also landed the adaptation rights to the Samantha Shannon novel, The Bone Season, which Serkis also plans to adapt.  Hit the jump to hear what he had to say on both projects, as well as commentary on directing the second unit of The Hobbit trilogy.

Screenwriter Noah Oppenheim has been tapped to pen a new adaptation of George Orwell‘s classic dystopian novel 1984.  The terrifying tale centers on a man who falls in love, and attempts to break free of an authoritarian surveillance society “Big Brother” is always watching.  The book was previously adapted in 1984 (couldn’t miss that opportunity!) by Michael Radford and starred John Hurt, Richard Burton, and Suzanna Hamilton.  Deadline reports that the new version of is being produced by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, along with Julie Yorn and Rick Yorn.

Oppenheim is a hot screenwriter who still doesn’t have a produced film to his credit.  His Jacqueline Kennedy biopic Jackie hit the 2010 Black List, and he’s also attached to remakes of Snabba Cash and WarGames along with an adaptation of the young adult novel The Maze Runner.  1984 has always resonated with readers since it was published in 1949, so perhaps it will be Oppenheim’s his first script to get in front of cameras.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of the novel.

Soon, the dystopian novel to which all other dystopian novels are compared will be featured in a new adaptation. George Orwell’s genre-defining 1984 is being put into production via a joint effort of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment along with Julie Yorn’s LBI Entertainment. The now-classic tale of Winston Smith, a company man for the Ministry of Truth who spends his days writing revisionist history for the government only to act on dreams of rebellion and his desire for love, will get a modern interpretation. Street artist Shepard Fairey, best known for his design of the “Hope” poster for President Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election campaign, was reportedly instrumental in bringing the project to the studios; this is interesting in part due to the amount of propaganda and “cult of personality” that 1984 deals with. The producing group is currently on the search for writers to establish a direction on the project before setting it up at a studio. For more on 1984, hit the jump; we’re watching.