Eddie Redmayne and tom hiddleston will star together in the upcoming animated film, "Early Man." The stop-motion film is the latest film to come from the iconic Aardman Animations, best known for the "Wallace and Gromit" animated franchise.
What do we know about the upcoming film from the teasers?
Set in a world featuring cavemen living anachronistically alongside dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, Redmayne will play the main character Dug, who is a caveman that goes on an adventure to unite his tribe against their enemies, and is joined by his sidekick named Hognob, a seemingly silent prehistoric warthog, who may be similar in nature to Gromit.
Hiddleston is reportedly set to play the villainous Lord Nooth.
Aardman Animations has released two shorts on their YouTube channel to promote the film. In the first, Dug and Hognob appear to be trying to make a movie, but they get chased off by a dinosaur. The second, which features an introduction from Redmayne himself, features Dug hunting a rabbit while dramatic music plays, only for him to turn around and scold his fellow tribe members who revealed to be playing the music on their instruments. The rabbit turns around, revealing large canine teeth, and chases them off.
What is going on behind the scenes?
The film is reportedly a co-production between Aardman and StudioCanal, and was likely inspired by the success of the 2015 release, “Shaun the Sheep.” With a worldwide release, the film is expected to come out sometime in 2018.
According to the first teaser video, the film was already in production by 2016.
Filmmaker Nick Park praised the casting of Redmayne as Dug in a released statement, saying, in an interview with Empire, that he personifies “the cheeky charm, fun and plucky wit” of the character, and added that he will make a good sidekick to Hognob. In another statement, he referred to Hiddleston as being a “wonderful actor” who would be a good choice for the “comic villain.”
The teaser-trailer featuring Redmayne can be watched below:
