Rex to get his teeth into the big screen

Rex – a miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex – has spent the summer terrorising people across the UK after arriving on a boat from China in March.

The £6,000 lifelike machine, which is thankfully a little less fierce than a real dino, is now set to star in an as yet unnamed flick.

Erica Crompton, from Big Foot Events in Red Bank Road, Bispham, said she has only been advised of potential shooting dates so far, but said business has literally been a roaring success.

She said: “We’ve been all over the UK appearing in shopping centres, at festivals, university balls, children’s parties, holiday centres, and museums.

“With the combined release of Jurassic World and the recent dinosaur fossil discoveries, we’ve been inundated with enquiries.

“We have even appeared with Jamie Oliver at Jimmy’s Farm [from the Channel Four show of the same name].”

Rex is 15ft long, 7ft tall, 3ft wide and is completely animatronic.

His head moves, his eyes blink, his tail moves from side to side and his mouth opens wide and roars.

An operator can go inside the robot and, wearing a harness, control its movements, including moving Rex’s legs, pushing buttons to make him roar and make his eyes blink.

Because the legs are hollow, it’s impossible to see the operator from outside the machine.

Erica added: “The impact he has when he arrives on the scene is incredible. Children screaming with excitement, running away from him and towards him! They love his ‘roar’ and all want to stroke him and walk him on his rope-lead. He is a huge attraction.

“We’ve also been invited to some filming in Germany for a feature film. We don’t have all the details as yet; we’ve only been advised of potential shooting dates.”

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