'Traumatizing' Rabbit Classic Getting a Remake

Ben Kingsley has played Gandhi, Sweeney Todd, and now … a rabbit? The esteemed English actor will team up with John Boyega (Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to star in an animated remake of what Indiewire calls "everyone's favorite traumatizing book for children": Richard Adams' 1972 Watership Down. The Verge reports that the four-part series, a joint effort by Netflix and the BBC, will air on BBC One in the UK and via Netflix for international audiences. It tells the story of rabbits on the hunt for a new home.

An executive producer says the new adaptation won't be as frightening or violent as the 1978 animated version of the book, which the Verge notes "scarred countless younger viewers at the time with its brutal depictions of crazed rabbits, terrifying dogs, and cruel, callous humans." (Speaking of horrific rabbit stories: A German rabbit farmer suspects Kim Jong Il ate 12 of his giant bunnies.)