The booming voice of Big Brother, the peals of clocks striking 13, and the squealing rats of Room 101 are coming soon to a pair of earbuds near you.
On Tuesday the Amazon-owned audiobook and podcast company Audible announced that it’s producing a star-studded audio adaptation of George Orwell’s classic 1949 dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Among the actors attached to the project are Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom!) as the novel’s hero, Winston; Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) as his love interest and fellow dissident, Julia; Andrew Scott (Fleabag) as resistance leader O’Brien; and Tom Hardy (Dunkirk) as the voice of totalitarian ruler Big Brother.
The production, which has the approval of Orwell’s estate, will also include a score co-written by Matthew Bellamy, frontman of the band Muse, performed by a 60-piece orchestra, according to a story in the Hollywood Reporter.
Audible says the adaptation will remain loyal to the source novel while taking some liberties with its contents, “going deeper into Winston and Julia’s love story.”
“This is 1984 like you’ve never heard it before,” said Aurelie de Troyer, Audible’s head of regional content, Europe. “Andrew Garfield was born to play Winston—just wait until you hear his performance.”
Director Destiny Ekragha added, “I can’t wait for everyone to hear what the Andrews, Cynthia, and Tom have done with these iconic characters.”
The audio adaptation is scheduled for release on April 4, the 40th anniversary of the first diary entry that Winston writes in the original novel.
Mark Athitakis is a journalist in Phoenix.
