New Zealand's Weta to remake 'Thunderbirds'

The classic British sci-fi series "Thunderbirds" will receive a high-tech reboot at the hands of New Zealand's Oscar-winning Weta Workshop, it was announced Tuesday. The special effects company, which has worked on movies such as "The Lord of the Rings" and "Avatar", said Britain's ITV had commissioned 26 episodes of the hit 1960s show, created by the late Gerry Anderson. The series, with the working title "Thunderbirds are Go!", is scheduled to screen in Britain in 2015, 50 years after the original debuted. Weta chief Richard Taylor said he was looking forward to introducing a new generation to the show, which depicts an international rescue organisation that thwarts evil-doers with spacecraft launched from its secret base. "Thunderbirds was a hugely influential television series in my childhood," said Taylor, whose Wellington-based Pukeko Pictures will co-produce the new series. While the original used a form of puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation" to bring characters such as Brains and Lady Penelope to life, the new version will combine live action and computer generated imagery.