Netflix and BBC release Watership Down teaser photos, add to all-star cast

Netflix, in partnership with the BBC, is making an animated movie based on Richard Adam’s beloved 1972 children’s book Watership Down, about a group of rabbits who flee their home after one of them has a dire vision. It’s a children’s story, but it’s somber, and has more in common with Game of Thrones than Sesame Street. Themes include epic battles, the struggle to survive and mass murder. It’s all pretty metal for a kid’s book, although it remains to be seen how closely Netflix and the BBC will stick to the source material. Just look at the trailer for the 1978 animated version:

Blood field!

Anyway, the new Watership Down will drop this holiday season, animated with computers this time. The BBC will air the adaptation as two feature-length movies, while Netflix will stream it as a miniseries. The BBC has released the first images from the movie, below, and Variety reports that Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi has joined an all-star cast that also includes James McAvoy, John Boyega and Ben Kingsley. This is a well-cast creepy rabbit movie.

Variety also reports that Grammy Award winner Sam Smith has written and performed a new song for the movie: “Fire on Fire.” Smith is psyched about it. “I am so excited and honored to be a part of this new adaptation of ‘Watership Down,'” he said. “This story is so powerful and timeless.” Art Garfunkel, lately of Simon & Garfunkel at the time, wrote the song “Bright Eyes” for the 1978 movie, and it went on to be a big hit in the UK.

Perhaps the Smith song will follow suit.

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