Doubtlessly surprising no one, The Power Of The Dark Crystal, the long-in-the-making sequel to 1982’s The Dark Crystal will be shot in 3D, according to a just-released announcement from The Jim Henson Company and co-producers Omnilab Media, and will be directed by brothers Peter and Michael Spierig—best known for their recent work on Daybreakers—who have replaced formerly assigned director, Genndy Tartakovsky. And while Daybreakers proved that the Spierig Bros. have a flair for creating stylized visuals that should lend themselves well to 3D, there’s a natural, post-Episode I inclination to hear an announcement about a film like this—as there is with any modern remake of a loveably creaky, sticks-and-felt childhood favorite—and start worrying about an overabundance of soul-sucking CGI.
Reassuringly, fantasy artist Brian Froud will return as the film’s conceptual advisor, overseeing a mix of “live action and traditional puppetry,” and even the Spierigs themselves have been quoted as saying that they intend to use a mix of modern techniques like motion-capture CGI and “tried and true” methods like animatronics to create a “100 percent real world,” so there’s actual reason to believe The Power Of The Dark Crystal will retain some of that same tactile, Jim Henson magic. As to the storyline, it’s set 100 years after the events of the first movie, “following the adventures of a mysterious girl made of fire who, together with a Gelfling outcast, steals a shard of the legendary Crystal in an attempt to reignite the dying sun that exists at the center of the planet”—a plot that's based on notes Henson himself made for a possible follow-up, dusted off in a new screenplay from Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom), who obviously knows how to write for huge setpieces. Whether any of this will be enough to overcome the stigma of the "years-too-late sequel" and the gimmickry of 3D remains to be seen, but hey, at least they’re trying, right?