From being involved in major IPs, including Lord of the Rings, Planet of the Apes, the MCU, and Star Wars to helming on the director’s chair in three films, Andy Serkis has been a very busy man in Hollywood. Having marked his directorial debut with 2017’s Breathe, the acclaimed actor has gone on to direct two more features, one of them being 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
But the Black Panther star refused to return for the Venom threequel in order to bring another one of his projects to life, which was on the sidelines for over a decade following his packed schedule.
Andy Serkis Decided to Get Animal Farm Running After Venom Delayed It
Back in 2011, an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm, was announced, and Andy Serkis was set to be one of the co-writers on the project. However, following Rupert Wyatt’s exit, who was set to serve as its director and wrote the first draft, Andy Serkis took the director’s chair in 2012. But following the Rise of the Planet of the Apes star’s packed schedule over the past decade, the adaptation kept on getting delayed.
But after being delayed once again following his commitment to the Venom sequel, the director decided to step back from Venom 3 to finally get the ball rolling on Animal Farm.
He said (via /Film)
“Look, I had a ball doing [Venom: Let There Be Carnage]. Tom Hardy is such a good friend of mine, and I felt very proud of the work, and we had such fun doing it. To be the custodian of that franchise for a little while was great. I’ve got so many projects that I was just about to [work on], like ‘Animal Farm’ for instance. We were just about to go into production with that, and then we delayed as ‘Venom’ came up. I really have to be very on top of the ones that I’ve been building to do for such a long time.”
Although no release date has been revealed for the adaptation, whose final draft was penned by Nicholas Stolle, the actor told Screen Rant in 2023 that only one year of development was left.
Andy Serkis Is Excited About the Final Inclusion in the Venom Trilogy
While he is not involved with Venom: The Last Dance, which is set to conclude the Venom trilogy, Serkis is excited about Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel’s vision for the threequel. Serkis stressed that he is delighted that Marcel, who was involved with the screenplay for the first two releases, was the one to take over the reins of final inclusion in the trilogy.
He said:
“But I’m really delighted that Kelly’s doing that. She’s so in control of that material with Tom. The pair of them are such a great team to work with. I’m really excited to see what they’re going to come up with.”
With Venom 3 set to be the fifth inclusion in Sony’s cinematic universe, the studio will hope Venom once again salvages their ship after the Madame Web debacle.
Venom: The Last Dance is slated to release on 25 October 2024.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is available to stream on Netflix.
