Published May 1, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT The director discusses why his career has focused on re-imagining beloved stories, including rewriting Animal Farm's ending Andy Serkis on the 15-year journey to get Animal Farm made, and why Netflix dropped it Serkis on a soundstage, recapturing his Gollum performance for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Photo: Alamy Stock Photo Animal Farm has been a longtime passion project for Serkis, the pioneering mo-cap superstar of the Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes franchises, now a producer and director ( Venom: Let There Be Carnage ; Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle ). He’s been developing this movie since 2011, across several studios, including Netflix. Polygon spoke to Serkis about why he felt such a burning need to make this movie, why its anti-propaganda, anti-authoriarian, anti-consumer messages aren’t aimed at any one current administration, and what happened to the movie at Netflix. This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.…