OH NO THEY DIDN'T
Today I found on ohnotheydidnt that Christopher Eccleston (Nine on Doctor Who, InvisiClaude on Heroes) is in Romania filming the movie version of The Dark is Rising, in which he plays the Black Rider.
Now, some background. The Dark is Rising is the second in a series of young adult fantasy books by Susan Cooper, and also the name of the series. The books alternately center around two sets of children, linked by the mysterious old man Merriman Lyon. He is the adopted great-uncle (known as "Gumerry") to Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, three ordinary English children who discover an ancient cup. And Merriman also is the oldest of the Old Ones, a group of immortal magicians who serve the Light: in this role he serves as mentor to the youngest and last Old One, 11-year-old Will Stanton. Eventually the two groups of children meet, along with Will's Welsh friend, the orphan Bran (who is of higher parentage than he knows), and a final confrontation between the forces of Light and Dark ensue in the final book. It's full of English and Welsh mythology, and centers around the Arthurian mythos especially.
This series of books was one of my absolute favorites when I was a kid. I still reread them regularly. As you can imagine, the news that they were making a movie, that it was coming out in October, and that it featured Chris Eccleston as the Black Rider (the most visible emissary of the Dark, at least at first) made me gleeful as a kitten. I was a little sad that they weren't starting the series with the first book (Over Sea, Under Stone, which features the Drew chidlren discovering the Holy Grail), but I figured it kind of made sense to start with the most well-known one, so I was okay with it.
Then I looked up more info, and my heart sank.
IGN had a set visit that contained some worrying news; I've discovered more via IMDb's message boards, taken from the casting call that was posted for the film. Not only are they adding needless action scenes - for example, the security guard/rook scene they describe, if it takes place when I think it does, makes no sense unless they make drastic changes - but Will is now American, and 13 (both of which piss me off, but I guess I can see why, though I fail to see how making the hero an American boy instead of a British boy makes the film more commercial; you'd think Harry Potter would have taught Hollywood that yes, Americans can identify with English characters, zomg!). But some of the stuff truly makes me go WTF. For example, Will's dad is now a physics professor rather than a jeweller; this may seem minor, but several major plot points revolved around him being a jeweler. Also, all the Old Ones now apparently carry weapons; so the frail Miss Greythorne is now apparently hacking away with a sword-cane, and Merriman fights with a mace. They've added Vikings, which weren't in the book per se, though this addition at least kind of makes sense, since one of the Signs of Power (Water) shows up in a Viking funeral boat.
But the things that most worry me? Apparently Will's family now is indifferent to/bullies him, which is COMPLETELY UNTRUE to the book; Will's family may not always understand him, but they love him, and in fact their love for each other plays a HUGE part in the book (after all, most of the bad guys' strategies involve somehow putting members of his family at risk). And most importantly, the screenwriter has said THEY'VE CUT ALL THE ARTHURIAN ELEMENTS.
...BOTH THE BOOK AND THE SERIES ARE BUILT AROUND THE FUCKING ARTHURIAN MYTHOS. Let me put this in perspective. It would be like if Peter Jackson had said when planning the Lord of the Rings, "Hmmm, I don't know...I like it, but maybe we could do it without all the magic? And let's lose the whole 'hobbit' thing; I want a heartthrob for Frodo (and we've got to do something about that name!), and teen girls don't want their heartthrob to be short or have hairy feet."
RAGE BUILDING, WANT TO KILL...I swear, if they mess up this movie, I will hunt down the producers and rip out their tracheas (tracheae?). T_T
Now, some background. The Dark is Rising is the second in a series of young adult fantasy books by Susan Cooper, and also the name of the series. The books alternately center around two sets of children, linked by the mysterious old man Merriman Lyon. He is the adopted great-uncle (known as "Gumerry") to Simon, Jane, and Barney Drew, three ordinary English children who discover an ancient cup. And Merriman also is the oldest of the Old Ones, a group of immortal magicians who serve the Light: in this role he serves as mentor to the youngest and last Old One, 11-year-old Will Stanton. Eventually the two groups of children meet, along with Will's Welsh friend, the orphan Bran (who is of higher parentage than he knows), and a final confrontation between the forces of Light and Dark ensue in the final book. It's full of English and Welsh mythology, and centers around the Arthurian mythos especially.
This series of books was one of my absolute favorites when I was a kid. I still reread them regularly. As you can imagine, the news that they were making a movie, that it was coming out in October, and that it featured Chris Eccleston as the Black Rider (the most visible emissary of the Dark, at least at first) made me gleeful as a kitten. I was a little sad that they weren't starting the series with the first book (Over Sea, Under Stone, which features the Drew chidlren discovering the Holy Grail), but I figured it kind of made sense to start with the most well-known one, so I was okay with it.
Then I looked up more info, and my heart sank.
IGN had a set visit that contained some worrying news; I've discovered more via IMDb's message boards, taken from the casting call that was posted for the film. Not only are they adding needless action scenes - for example, the security guard/rook scene they describe, if it takes place when I think it does, makes no sense unless they make drastic changes - but Will is now American, and 13 (both of which piss me off, but I guess I can see why, though I fail to see how making the hero an American boy instead of a British boy makes the film more commercial; you'd think Harry Potter would have taught Hollywood that yes, Americans can identify with English characters, zomg!). But some of the stuff truly makes me go WTF. For example, Will's dad is now a physics professor rather than a jeweller; this may seem minor, but several major plot points revolved around him being a jeweler. Also, all the Old Ones now apparently carry weapons; so the frail Miss Greythorne is now apparently hacking away with a sword-cane, and Merriman fights with a mace. They've added Vikings, which weren't in the book per se, though this addition at least kind of makes sense, since one of the Signs of Power (Water) shows up in a Viking funeral boat.
But the things that most worry me? Apparently Will's family now is indifferent to/bullies him, which is COMPLETELY UNTRUE to the book; Will's family may not always understand him, but they love him, and in fact their love for each other plays a HUGE part in the book (after all, most of the bad guys' strategies involve somehow putting members of his family at risk). And most importantly, the screenwriter has said THEY'VE CUT ALL THE ARTHURIAN ELEMENTS.
...BOTH THE BOOK AND THE SERIES ARE BUILT AROUND THE FUCKING ARTHURIAN MYTHOS. Let me put this in perspective. It would be like if Peter Jackson had said when planning the Lord of the Rings, "Hmmm, I don't know...I like it, but maybe we could do it without all the magic? And let's lose the whole 'hobbit' thing; I want a heartthrob for Frodo (and we've got to do something about that name!), and teen girls don't want their heartthrob to be short or have hairy feet."
RAGE BUILDING, WANT TO KILL...I swear, if they mess up this movie, I will hunt down the producers and rip out their tracheas (tracheae?). T_T