The Writer of DIE HARD is Developing a Live-Action/Animated Hybrid WWII Series For Netflix Called THE LIBERATOR
Netflix is set to produce an interesting new four-part World War II drama series called The Liberator. The series is based on a book written by Alex Kershaw, and it’s being adapted by screenwriter Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, The Fugitive).
Kershaw’s book is called The Liberator: One World War II Soldier’s 500-Day Odyssey, and it tells the “riveting true story of the bloodiest and most dramatic march to victory of the Second World War: the battlefield odyssey of maverick U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks and his infantry unit as they fought for over 500 days to liberate Europe.”
The combat drama will follow Sparks and the 157th Infantry Regiment from Oklahoma, “a National Guard unit composed primarily of cowboys, Native Americans and Mexican-Americans from the invasion of Italy to the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.”
This sounds like an incredible story to tell filled with great characters and I can’t wait to see how it turns out, especially with the new technology that has been developed to bring the story to life!
The development of the film will involve a new enhanced hybrid animation technology called Trioscope, which “combines state-of-the-art CGI with live-action performance. It allows creators to tell a visually compelling story with rich detail in a way that conveys the human emotion and drama of the serious subject matter.”
This new technology was created by Grzegorz Jonkajtys (Sin City, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Revenant) and School of Humans’ L.C. Crowley. Jonkajtys is also set to direct all four episodes. Yiou can get a taste of what the series will look like visually in the photos provided above and below.
The series was originally being developed for A+E Studios. They are still involved and this will be their first partnership with Netflix.
Here’s the official description of the story from the book:
The Liberator traces the remarkable battlefield journey of maverick U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks through the Allied liberation of Europe—from the first landing in Italy to the final death throes of the Third Reich.
Over five hundred bloody days, Sparks and his infantry unit battled from the beaches of Sicily through the mountains of Italy and France, ultimately enduring bitter and desperate winter combat against the die-hard SS on the Fatherland's borders. Having miraculously survived the long, bloody march across Europe, Sparks was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria, where he and his men experienced some of the most intense street fighting suffered by Americans in World War II.
And when he finally arrived at the gates of Dachau, Sparks confronted scenes that robbed the mind of reason—and put his humanity to the ultimate test.
Source: Deadline