The Power Of The Dark Crystal, the follow-up to Jim Henson’s 1982 movie, has been in development for years. In fact it had started to seem like one of those projects that people are going to talk about endlessly but which is never going to get made. However there’s now some forward movement, with Omnilad Media and The Jim Henson Company releasing a statement (via on link on the Henson Company’s twitter) saying they’re teaming up to make the sequel a reality.
While Genndy Tartakovsky was the name previously being bandied about as the director, it’s now been revealed that Michael and Peter Spierig have been hired to helm the flick. They directed Daybreakers, and if you’ve seen that, you’ll know that the idea of them doing a Dark Crystal movie isn’t quite as random as it seems, as they certainly have visual style and get the sort of dark themes at the heart of the puppet movie.
Michael Spierig said, “We feel a tremendous amount of responsibility in telling this story with the same meticulous care that Jim Henson and Frank Oz gave the 1982 original.” Added Peter Spierig, “This is a chance to take the world of puppetry into the modern age by using modern techniques (like motion capture CGI) and the tried and true methods (like puppetry and animatronics) to create a one hundred percent real world that is unique to The Dark Crystal.”
Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom) is on scripting duties, basing his screenplay on one by Anne Duffy and David Odell, while fantasy artist Brian Froud will reprise his role as conceptual designer on the film.
The movie will be a mix of live-action puppets and CG, with all the special effects being produced in Australia (it will be a largely Aussie production). Indeed, they’re already started work on the CGI, suggesting this time the movie really is going to be made. Oh, and inevitably the whole thing will be a 3D production.
If you’re wondering why they need CGI when the original was all puppets, a brief hint at the plot tells us why, “Set hundreds of years after the events of the first movie when the world has once again fallen into darkness, Power of the Dark Crystal follows the adventures of a mysterious girl made of fire who, together with a Gelfling outcast, steals a shard of the legendary Crystal in an attempt to reignite the dying sun that exists at the center of the planet.”
Yep, making people out of fire would be tough with puppets.
If you wanna read the full Henson Company statement (as a PDF), CLICK HERE.