Screw the signs!

[salamandre85]

I saw the Simpsons Movie the other night, and before it started there was a trailer for an upcoming movie. This movie was the motion picture adaptation of the awesome book by Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising. This looks like it's going to be the biggest piece of crap since 'You and Your Stupid Mate

Comments

[steepholm]

My understanding is that Cooper sold the film rights a long time ago, not to Walden but to Jim Henson (Walden acquired them later). Perhaps that was foolish, but it's not unusual - and once those rights are gone, so is the author's right of veto. I'm pretty sure she's no happier about what's happening to her book than anyone else. Probably much less happy.

[salamandre85]

I would like to have seen a production by Henson. But, it's sad that nothing can really be done now, except not see the movie. This truly is a terrible thing to have happened to that wonderful series. Particularly when you consider that the screenwriter was the only one to read the books, the director and lead actors never read it, Ian McShane described it as "too dense" he also said that the director didn't focus on the quality of the acting at all.

Thanks for leaving a comment.

What went wrong

[salamandre85]

It is my understanding from reading some interviews with the cast, John Hodge (Screenplay) and David Cunningham (Director - you may remember his "hit" film After... :P), that they made the movie with the assumption that not so many people had read this book, or the series - just because it doesn't get as much hype as Harry Potter, Narnia and Tolkien (maybe because most people who've read it are better read than the average Harry Potter fans). But now, the rumours are that, because of the massive reactions from fans and readers worldwide who are appalled with the movie, from trailers alone so far, the name has now been changed to The Signseeker: The Dark is Rising, which is either to draw attention away from the book, or to try and gain a new audience purely for the movies. This could well be because they know that if they promote the book too much and children read it, see this terrible movie and see it as the basis of quality to be expected, no-one will see the other movies. It could be a bit of both.