Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham have joined the voice cast of Zack Snyder‘s next film, the 3D animated feature Guardians of Ga’hoole, according to a report from Heat Vision. The fantasy film, which is currently in production in Sidney, will also feature the voices of Australian actors Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Emilie de Ravin, Ryan Kwanten and Jay Laga’aia, as well as English actors Miriam Margolyes, Helen Mirren and Jim Sturgess.

The story follows Soren, a young owl enthralled by his father’s epic stories of the Guardians, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. It is based on a series of children’s books written by Kathryn Lasky and illustrated by Richard Chowder.

This is a highly anticipated project for Snyder, who is currently at work on both this and Sucker Punch, his all-girl actioner. Last year, producer Donald De Line told Collider that the project would be Lord of the Rings in scope. And now that we see this very big, very awesome voice cast, there’s no reason for anyone out there to be anything but excited. So be excited, people…