Power of the Dark Crystal was a planned sequel to The Dark Crystal, which was set for release in the late 2000s to mid 2010s. Production on the film version was suspended indefinitely, though its screenplay would be adapted into a comic book series and elements of its plot and design would find their way into The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Synopsis[]
Many years after the healing of the Crystal of Truth, a girl representing the U-mun race arrives at the Castle of the Crystal to beg Jen and Kira, now king and queen, for a shard of the Crystal to heal her subterranean world's dying sun. After being refused, the girl steals a shard and escapes through the castle catacombs with an outcast Gelfling called Kensho. Meanwhile, the urSkeks once more split into Skeksis and Mystics.
Development[]
Jim Henson had discussed the possibility of making a sequel to The Dark Crystal with David Odell as far back as the preproduction of the original film, prompting Odell and his wife, Annette Duffy, to write a rough outline.[1] In May 2005 The Jim Henson Company first announced plans to produce a sequel to The Dark Crystal, entitled Power of the Dark Crystal.[2]
Genndy Tartakovsky[]
The Jim Henson Company announced in February 2006 that Genndy Tartakovsky had been hired to direct the film, with Brian Froud once again designing the characters and environments. Additionally, Tartakovsky's Orphanage Animation Studios was hired to incorporate CGI elements to the live-action animatronic characters. The film would have been distributed by Odyssey Entertainment and produced by Lisa Henson and Scott Stewart, with Brian Henson, Ralph Kamp and Louise Goodsill acting as executive producers.[3] Tartakovsky, Froud and Henson appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2006, where they presented a promotional video showing conceptual art and storyboards.[4] Tartakovsky stated in a 2012 interview with Indiewire that the film was meant to have been "a [Hayao] Myazaki puppet movie [...] in the spirit of 'The Dark Crystal' but pushing it further and being more modern".[5]
While release was originally anticipated for "spring 2008",[6] Lisa Henson announced at the 2007 Comic-Con that the production had hit a few setbacks causing the projected release to move to 2009.[7] The Jim Henson Company's Vice President of Marketing and Publicity, Nicole Goldman, reassured fans of the film's continued development in the January 14, 2008 installment of the Henson.com podcast.[8]
Michael Gracey[]
Concept art by Matthew Hatton
In 2009, the directorship had been handed to Michael Gracey,[9] who hired artist Matthew Hatton to do further concept art for the film. Hatton's artistic contributions included a fight scene in which the Skeksis would make use of all four of their arms and use the light of the suns to blind their opponents,[10] sporting capes meant to be evocative of a river of blood.[11]
In February 2009, it was reported that development on the project was still underway, with Craig Pearce having completed a rewrite of the screenplay, with the Australian company Omnilab Media set to co-produce.[12] On April 16, 2009, Allyson Smith, the Henson Company's VP of New Media, responded to a question on Twitter about the project's status stating that development was still ongoing and that updates could be found on Henson.com,[13] reiterating the same message on February 24, 2010.[14]
Spierig brothers and cancellation[]
Gracey was replaced in mid-2010 by Peter and Michael Spierig, who revealed that the film would have been projected in stereoscopic 3D, with the special effects company Iloura reportedly having begun work on the CGI effects.[15]
During a panel held at the Museum of the Moving Image on September 18, 2011, Cheryl Henson revealed that the project was yet again on hiatus.[16] In the midst of this, Louis Leterrier was approached by the Henson Company for the project to act as director.[17] In February 2012, it was announced that Omnilab Media and the Spierig brothers had parted ways with the Henson Company due to budgetary concerns, with production on the film having been suspended indefinitely.[18]
Legacy[]
Elements of the cancelled film made their way into the subsequent Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: Brian Froud's designs for the now aged Kira were the inspiration for the look of Mayrin[19] and the character of Deet was based on Thurma, the cancelled film's protagonist.[20]
In late 2016, it was announced that the unused screenplay would be adapted into a 12-issue comic book series published by Boom! Studios.[21]
Concept Art[]
References[]
- ↑ Gaines, C. (2017), The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History, Titan Books, p. 182, ISBN 1-78565-592-2.
- ↑ "Dark sequel crystalizes.", Adam Dawtrey, Variety. May 13, 2005.
- ↑ Jim Henson Compay Press Release: Genndy Tartakovsky to Direct Power of the Dark Crystal, February 1, 2006.
- ↑ "The Jim Henson Presentation at Comic-Con!", Comingsoon.net, Scott Chitwood. July 22, 2006.
- ↑ Taylor, D., ‘Hotel Transylvania’ Director Genndy Tartakovsky On Making The Hit Movie, His Take On The ‘Dark Crystal’ Sequel & More, Indiewire.com (October 3, 2012)
- ↑ Jim Henson Company Promotional Flyer, Powerofthedarkcrystal.blogspot.com, June 15, 2006
- ↑ Fans of The Dark Crystal did detect that we were moving a little slowly, and it’s kind of true - we had a little setback but are back on track. The movie will not be coming out until 2009 so we're not going to be showing anything for a while.
"Henson Podcasts Shares Comic-Con Q&A", The Muppet Newsflash, Greg James. September 10, 2007. - ↑ ...[The film] is deep in development here, and we are as committed to it as ever. We are still planning our original vision of a film, which is a theatrical release... We are anticipating a beautiful blend of puppetry and animatronics with CG animation backgrounds as we've said all along... We're all very excited to see the film come together, and we'll be sure to update the fans to the progress as we have those updates confirmed...
Henson.com Podcast, Episode 21: The 2007 Jim Henson Honors, January 14, 2008. - ↑ Age of Resistance Timeline, DarkCrystal.com
- ↑ Power of the Dark Crystal (defunct), Artstation.com (2019)
- ↑ Power of the Dark Crystal (defunct), Artstation.com (2019)
- ↑ "Dark Crystal Sequel Update", The Muppet Newsflash, Greg James. (February 4, 2009)
- ↑ Development [of the Dark Crystal sequel] moves forward, paying attention to what will serve fans and The Dark Crystal best. No details to announce. Check henson.com for updates.The Jim Henson Company Twitter April 2009
- ↑ Any news regarding Power of the Dark Crystal will go to Henson.com - keep checking for updates.
The Jim Henson Company Twitter (February 24, 2010). - ↑ Omnilab Media and The Jim Henson Company Join Forces to Launch the Australian Feature Production of the Highly Anticipated Power of the Dark Crystal, Prnewswire.com (May 4, 2010)
- ↑ Hill, J., "Jim Henson's Family and Fans Aim to Honor and Extend His Creative Legacy – Part 2". HuffPost Entertainment. New York City, NY: The Huffington Post. (October 12, 2011)
- ↑ Peleg, O., The Dark Crystal’s Epic Journey to Netflix, Vanityfair.com (August 26, 2019)
- ↑ Swift, B., "The Dark Crystal Sequel, The Power of the Dark Crystal, on Hiatus". If Magazine. Glebe, NSW, Australia: The Intermedia Group. (February 8, 2012).
- ↑ Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, p. 70, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2.
- ↑ Wallace, D. (2019), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Inside the Epic Return to Thra, Titan Books, p. 68, ISBN 978-1-78909-387-2.
- ↑ McMillan, G., 'Dark Crystal' Sequel Finally Coming to Life Thanks to Comic Book Series (Exclusive), Hollywoodreporter.com (November 21, 2016)
