The Power of the Dark Crystal
It seems that the Jim Henson Company is working on a sequel to their fantasy film from 1982, The Dark Crystal. The new film will be called The Power of the Dark Crystal and will be written by David Odell (who as well as working on the original film also wrote for The Muppet Show) and Annette Duffy. So far there’s no director attached to the project.
The Power of the Dark Crystal will start shooting later this year for a planned release in early 2007. This time round they plan to combine live-action animatronic characters with computer animation. The story of the new film is set many years after the original. Jen and Kira are now King and Queen and must fight to save their kingdom when the crystal is split once more.
I’m guessing that the recent upsurge in popular fantasy films (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter etc.) is what has caused the sudden enthusiasm for a sequel to a film thats over 20 years old. Still, the Jim Henson Company can do some really impressive things with animatronics and if handled correctly the use of CG can make the world even more realistic.
Of course the story of the The Dark Crystal really wasn’t anything to write home about, but we will see.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
pete
What do you mean it was nothing to write home about?! The story was great, and the
philosophy behind it was really cool too. And above all it pushed the use of animatronics
to an extent to which no-one else had never acheived!
Dec 15th, 2005
Eoghann
You’re entitled to your opinion, but I found the story to be pretty simplistic and cliched even the first time I saw the movie.
Dec 16th, 2005
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