Andy Serkis' Animal Farm Trailer Gives Us Our Best Look At His Retelling Of The Classic Tale

I don’t know about you, but I’ll never forget reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm in high school. It’s one of those core-memory books I have because of how timeless the allegorical novella from 1945 is. Well, now Animal Farm is among the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations on the 2026 movie schedule, and the new trailer previews Andy Serkis’ approach to it.

Now, Andy Serkis has been working on helming an Animal Farm movie since back in 2012, originally as a performance capture movie. Ultimately, the director/voice actor decided to make it as a traditional 3D animated film geared toward ages 11 and up. While the previous trailer for it showcased the more lighthearted aspects of the film, this new look at Animal Farm (in the video above) offers perhaps a more balanced showcase of how the classic is being handled.

The movie starts with a group of animals thinking they are “going on vacation” before they realize they’re being sent to a slaughterhouse and rebel against their humans. Just like the novella, they decide to take over the farm for themselves, thus calling it “Animal Farm.” Once they do so, they have to decide how the farm will be ruled. Two pigs ultimately assume command and start to adopt rules on the farm that create inequality among the different animals, thus becoming a dictatorship.

While there’s definitely some cute family-friendly elements to this Animal Farm that may seem off-kilter to those who read the novella, this new look seems to skew closer to the source material. About halfway through this trailer, you can see how some of Animal Farm’s residents start to be treated unfairly. Though there is a key difference to note in this Animal Farm, with the protagonist being a new character, a piglet named Lucky, who decides to “rebel” against the dictatorship.

The animated film was initially going to be produced by Netflix back in 2018, but was ultimately made by Cinesite, Aniventure, and Imaginarium Productions. It is being distributed through Angel Studios. The movie boasts a star-studded cast, with Seth Rogen as Napoleon, Gaten Matarazzo as Lucky, along with Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Steve Buscemi, Laverne Cox, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Kathleen Turner, and Iman Vellani among the voice cast.

Per a press release by Angel Studios, the producers of this Animal Farm worked closely with George Orwell’s estate to “intentionally” reimagine “certain roles and character identities to broaden the film’s appeal to younger audiences.” When speaking about his film, Serkis said he wanted this version of the classic to “feel contemporary and genuinely connect with younger audiences”.

Previously, Animal Farm was adapted into movies in 1954 and as a live-action movie in 1999. This new Animal Farm is coming to theaters on May 1.