Click photo to enlarge
A mannequin of the Lonely Dog made by Weta Workshop. Photo
by henrietta Kjaer.
A dog and its fictional hometown of Alveridge are heading
for Hollywood, but artist and creator Ivan Clarke will still
have creative input as executive producer for an upcoming
Hollywood movie based on his paintings of the Lonely Dog.
Queenstown-based Mr Clarke, who is internationally renowned
for his landscape paintings, was inspired by his dachshund to
paint a picture of a sad-looking dog in a human suit back in
2002.
This painting evolved into a series, which quickly gained
popularity.
It did not take long before Hollywood came calling, with
production companies interested in turning the elaborate
world of Alveridge from Mr Clarke's paintings into a
big-screen production.
The film rights were sold to Warner Bros in February 2009,
and Mr Clarke said the film would be produced by
award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman.
Weta Workshop founder and five-times Oscar winner Richard
Taylor is also on board, and has been creating bronze models
and lifelike mannequins of the Lonely Dog and other
inhabitants of Alveridge.
But Mr Clarke said the film could still be years away.
"Pre-production has started, but it is still at the concept
stage.
"They are talking about live action with actors, but with
digital replacement of the heads of the characters - a bit
like in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
"But I am still not sure exactly how they will end up
creating the movie version of this adults' fairy tale," he
said.
Mr Clarke still makes four to six new paintings of his
Alveridge characters every year, and said he got new ideas
for the story all the time.
After spending years on developing the fictional world, which
has also been portrayed in text through special edition
books, he is not completely losing the creative control of
his characters.
"At some stage one has to `hand the baby over' and let the
story and characters evolve.
"But I will still be involved in the process through the role
of executive producer," Mr Clarke said.
