According to the film’s website, Geoff Murphy, who recently worked as a second-unit director for all three Lord of the Rings films, has signed on to direct the live-action adaptation of The Last Unicorn, a popular fantasy novel-turned Rankin/Bass animated film in 1982. The film’s two previous chiefs, Michael Pakleppa and Monty Python cohort Julián Doyle, are now on as producer and special effects unit director, respectively. The film also has been pushed back from a Christmas 2005 release to a winter 2006 date, with filming beginning late this year. It’s probably for the best for this little project, since winter 2005 is already crowded with major studio releases in an oncoming fantasy flood – The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will both be competing, as well as Fox’s version of another bestselling young adult fantasy, Eragon.