Imagine Entertainment To Re-Imagine George Orwell's 1984
Ron Howard's production shingle teams with Obama's 'Hope' poster street artist for new adaptation of Orwell's seminal novel.
Its been over sixty years since the book was first published and twenty-eight years after its aforementioned prophesied date, but the ideas and themes put forward in George Orwells seminal work 1984 seem more and more relevant with each passing day. So it would make sense that now comes word that Ron Howard and Brian Grazers Imagine Entertainment and Julie Yorn over at LBI Entertainment are teaming up to develop a new adaptation of Orwells work. Set in a dystopian future, the story takes place in a society called Oceania, forever locked in a state of war, overseen by the seemingly omniscient Big Brother who controlled everything via The Party, where individuality is outlawed and propaganda, surveillance, mind control and paranoia are everyday concepts. The story focuses on Winston Smith, a man who works for the Ministry of Truth, where he alters the facts and histories but secretly harbours thoughts and ideas of rebellion and individuality as well as harbouring desires for a secret love affair. Street artist Shepherd Fairey, best known for his Obama Hope poster, was seeking the rights to Orwells work, along with Imagine, for some time before discovering that Yorn was also interested, so instead of fighting over the rights, both parties decided to team up on the project. The property was most notably adapted into a 1984 film directed by Michael Radford and starring John Hurt and Richard Burton, while the books ideas and themes have had major influences throughout the artistic and cultural world including Terry Gilliams Brazil and Alan Moores V for Vendetta. The producers are now on the hunt for writers to take on the material, according to The Hollywood Reporter.