Cool-O-Rama » News On Dark Crystal Sequel

May
05
2010

News On Dark Crystal Sequel

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I hate the Dark Crystal. I understand that it has a cult following and like the Neverending Story has tons of child nostalgia value, but I hate the movie because even as an adult the imagery scares me. I am terrified of puppets and marionettes and this movie bothered me in a different way, so now here’s the good news for you big fans out there. The Henson Company,has saddled the film with new directors, Peter and Michael Spierig of Undead and Daybreakers fame. The news has come on the wings of a new press release with all the info needed for all the FX involved, so looks like this movie is not going to be puppets but is going to be CG much to the chagrin of Henson purists. Here is a piece of the press release regarding some of the involved people and their purposes.

…Screenplay written by Australian Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet) based on an original script by Annette Duffy and David Odell. The legendary fantasy artist Brian Froud will reprise his role as conceptual designer of the film, which will use a stunning mix of live action and traditional puppetry combined with visual and special effects produced entirely in Australia. Omnilab-affiliated Iloura (Where the Wild Things Are, The Pacific, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark) has already begun work on the film’s complex CGI elements.

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.

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.