Dinosaurs set to hit the big screen in 3D deal

THE TV hit Walking With Dinosaurs is to leave cinema audiences quaking - after BBC bosses yesterday struck a deal to turn it into a 3D film.

It marks the corporation's first move into the 3D movie market and is part of a new three-film deal with Indian entertainment giant Reliance Big Entertainment.

The 40 million film is inspired by the hit series which became a global sensation a decade ago. The teams behind screen hits Happy Feet and Finding Nemo will be involved in the production.

The two other films under the deal are Africa 3D - a documentary to be filmed alongside a landmark new series Africa - and Life, which looks at the life cycles of the animal world.

BBC Earth, the natural history arm of BBC Worldwide, will partner Reliance for the projects. A previous BBC Earth film, Earth, has taken almost 75m at cinemas around the world since it was released in 2007.

Walking With Dinosaurs was an enormous TV success when first screened in 1999 using state-of-the-art techniques to bring to life a prehistoric world for more than 700 million viewers.

The 3D film follows a migrating family of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period, 70 million years ago, which is torn apart and then reunited.

Film-makers will use groundbreaking trickery to blend live-action footage of scenery and locations with CGI creatures.

The picture will be co-directed by Pierre De Lespinois of Los Angeles and Alaska-based 3D studio Evergreen Films and BBC Earth's Neil Nightingale, formerly headof the BBC Natural History Unit.

Marcus Arthur, BBC Worldwide's managing director of global brands, said: "Earth demonstrated the huge appetite of audiences for quality natural history filmmaking and the 3D experience of Walking With Dinosaurs and Africa will allow audiences to immerse themselves in our incredible content as never before."