Okay, serves us right, I suppose, for listening to those clowns over at AICN.
A week or two ago they were reporting a rumor that the Silver Surfer in the upcoming Fantastic Four sequel would be done using practical effects, including a guy in a costume with reflective silvery paint. I know, I know... looking back now, you think "no way." But at the time, we thought "no way!" See... the difference there is the period vs. the exclamation point, which changes the meaning completely.
Anyway, REPUTABLE sources (i.e. Hollywood Reporter) now say that Weta Digital has been hired by 20th Century Fox to bring the Surfer to life, using their unique combination of digital motion capture technology and artistry, the likes of which gave us Gollum and King Kong.
According to the story, Weta has developed an advanced computer-generated animation process that employs motion-capture techniques updated to add further dimensionality to the liquid-metal hero.
Although the voice casting for the Surfer has not been settled, actor Doug Jones will indeed don the mo-cap suit to create the live reference for the animators to work with. This is perfect "casting" as anyone who saw Jones bring Abe Sapien to life in Hellboy can attest. The man is grace personified. And we'll get to see him again in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army which starts production in April.
When asked for comment, former Weta-Darling Andy Serkis said "enh, that punter's not so great... and I peed in the mo-cap suit hahaha!"
