Hollywood Film About Dartmoor Zoo

Hollywood A-listers Matt Damon & Ben Stiller're making a movie about a Dartmoor Zoo!

20th Century Fox has bought the film rights to the memoirs of the zoo's owner Benjamin Mee.

The film will be directed by Cameron Crowe - who was responsible for Titanic and Avatar. It follows Mee's decision to buy the zoo after seeing it advertised for the same price as his house and charts his journey towards saving the attraction, despite the death of his wife during the process.

With a combination of the recession and several wet summers Benjamin Mee told Heart the future of the zoo was in doubt but the film could be what saves it - although the banks don't seem to understand that: "we are still struggling and it's hard to even make them understand that the fact that there is a Hollywood film being made means that there will be interest in this business and people will come and see the animals"

But if the zoo manages to stay open for long enough Mee reckons the future will be bright once the movie is in cinemas: "last time they released a christmas movie it was Marley and Me which grossed I think it was 240 million dollars worldwide, and the zoo stands to get around 5% of the profits"

To hear the full interview CLICK HERE

You can find out more about the zoo here