Michael Sheen, Matthew Rhys join 'Heart of Darkness' animated adaptation

Joseph Conrad's classic "Heart of Darkness" is getting an animated adaptation with actors Michael Sheen, Matthew Rhys and Andrew Scott attach to feature in the film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the project is set to be presented at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.

Gerald Conn, who won 1998 Welsh BAFTA for animated short "The Comet's Tale", is directing via a animation technique he masters in using sand.

Production is taking place across Wales, Ireland and Belgium.

"Heart of Darkness", first published in 1898, was a brooding exploration of human nature and colonialism, telling the story of Marlow, an idealistic seaman captaining a steamboat up the River Congo then under brutal Belgian rule in search of a mysterious figure named Kurtz who had carved out a kingdom in which he has power of life and death over his native subjects.

The story has inspired films like "Apocalypse Now" and even video games including "Far Cry 2".