Oscar Wildes The Selfish Giant to be filmed in 3D

Oscar Wilde to get the three dimensional experience

The Irish Film Board are financing a new version of Oscar Wilde’s much beloved children’s short story, The Selfish Giant. The adaptation will be a mixture of 3D live action, motion capture and animation, and will be directed by Irish filmmaker and artist Catherine Owens.

Catherine, who previously directed one of the first of the current wave of 3D movies, ‘U23D’, has received interest in the project from several studios with whom she has strong relationships, and is currently planning the story development phase, which will take place early next year. Owens’ initial concept is to tell the story on a large visual canvas, working with some of the very best 3D directors of photography, post production and special effects people in the industry, alongside household-name actors. 

Owens commented “I’m delighted to have been awarded development funding from the Irish Film Board for this project, which I have nurtured for quite some time now, and intend to treat with great care during the development and production process. As a much-loved piece of work from one of Ireland’s greatest writers, I will adapt the story appropriately for cinematic treatment, with the added addition of carefully crafted digital 3D production values to enhance the universal themes of the story. With significant experience in the 3D process, I am confident that given time to develop the story and screenplay The Selfish Giant will be a must-see cinema event for all those who love Oscar Wilde’ s fiction, and will also open up his work to a whole new audience.”

Speaking on the 3D process, she continued, “Pairing this Irish literary great’s work to the latest in 3D technology will keep Ireland at the core of a global creative conversation about the future path for 3D film and 3D film makers. I look forward to continuing to work with the Irish Film Board throughout the process, alongside a major Hollywood studio partner.”