New Zealand’s WETA Digital, the company behind the effects in Lord of the Rings, will collaborate with Beijing’s Forbidden City Films on an adaptation of Wolf Totem, the best-seller from 2004 that everyone has been reading on their subway commutes to work. Peter Jackson may produce.
The nearly plotless book is driven by many scenes involving wolves, both alone and in groups. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the movie company will use Russian wolves for close-up shots, but will avoid the difficulties of filming wolf-packs by relying on special effects for long-range tableaus. The Beijing News quotes a Forbidden City representative:
“We were concious that this movie would not be filmable if we relied solely on Chinese talent, so we began to scope out partners for collaboration. Hollywood studios like Columbia and Paramount even sent representatives over to discuss cooperation, but in the end we decided on New Zealand’s WETA because special effects are critical to the success of this movie. And WETA’s SFX work on Lord of the Rings is without question the best in the world.”
The film’s budget is forecast to be higher than that of Hero. It’s tentatively scheduled to hit the screen before the Olympics in 2008.