One question is, how would they handle the Athan Miere and their toplessness. Cause If I don't get at least one scene with a topless Seafolk woman on board a ship and Nynaeve blushing to her roots and tugging her braid.... It doesn't have to last long, like three seconds or so.. If I don't get that. I will be one upset WOT nerd.
Probably have beads instead of shirts. Like...lots of necklaces. Which manage to miraculously always cover them up when there's a shot with one in it.
That is sooooo cheating.
Also, as far as Narnia goes...
Dawn Treader would be the last of the books that would be even close to easy to make. And even then, it's tricky. Because you lose Peter and Susan, and you pick up with Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin whatshisface. And the story gets a bit twisty and turny.
And the story is just a bit... It's even more out there.
I could see them doing Magician's nephew, possibly Horse and his Boy.... But there's no way they can do the full series. The books just don't lend themselves to it.
You know what I love about Brandon Sanderson? He has a progress bar on his site. And every time I visit it, I see that A Memory of Light has moved another few notches towards completion. The man has fantastic work ethics.
The bar is currently on 104%. According to his website, 100% equals 400k words; since he estimates that the book will finish at 700k words, this means he's past the midway point on his first draft. Of course, he writes a fuck load of drafts before he calls it a day, so the final product is still ways off. He also sends chunks of writing to Harriet, Jordan's editor and widow, for approval. I'm not sure how discerning an editor she is, though, considering how some of the WoT books turned out.
Presumably, she'll be harsher on Sanderson, who is not her husband.
Anyone else think that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell would make a fantastic movie?
There's a film in the works, which is very disappointing as it would make for a much better television series. A large part of the enjoyment of the book (certainly in the first half) is its mundaneness - exemplified by Mr Norrell; the interest is in seeing the fantastical elements set against the Victoriana. It would make a good BBC series, I think.
One question is, how would they handle the Athan Miere and their toplessness. Cause If I don't get at least one scene with a topless Seafolk woman on board a ship and Nynaeve blushing to her roots and tugging her braid.... It doesn't have to last long, like three seconds or so.. If I don't get that. I will be one upset WOT nerd.
Probably have beads instead of shirts. Like...lots of necklaces. Which manage to miraculously always cover them up when there's a shot with one in it.
That is sooooo cheating.
Also, as far as Narnia goes...
Dawn Treader would be the last of the books that would be even close to easy to make. And even then, it's tricky. Because you lose Peter and Susan, and you pick up with Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin whatshisface. And the story gets a bit twisty and turny.
And the story is just a bit... It's even more out there.
Eustace. And actually, The Silver Chair would still be relatively easy to do. Has Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace, as well as a slightly old Caspien.
I could see them doing Magician's nephew, possibly Horse and his Boy.... But there's no way they can do the full series. The books just don't lend themselves to it.
Magician's Nephew and The Horse and his Boy are both pretty much solo casts, so they can be done however. You just need to have the Witch from the first movie come back, and The Horse and his Boy takes place during the reign of the siblings, so you just use different actors.
Done quickly enough between films, The Last Battle could be done right when the kids from the first film hit the appropriate age.
The issue is that the last three movies would be boring compared to the rest. The Magician's Nephew is cool, but not a good movie. The Horse and his Boy is a nice story, but not an interesting movie. The Last Battle was neat - but all the action took place before they arrived and they're looking at the aftermath.
The Wheel of Time is actually pretty easy to adapt to movie format compared to LotR or Narnia or even His Dark Materials. LotR, you spend god knows how much time just walking from place. Narnia and HDM have all kinds of crazy metaphysical stuff that goes on and symbolism and crap.
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
The Last Battle is horrible. It'd make an even worse movie.
Plus, it's not all 4 kids. It's 3. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy.
Susan wasn't able to come back to Narnia because she grew too interested in worldly things. Like lipstick. And boys.
I think you could get Tilda Swinton to come back and play Jadis.. but still.... Boring.
Shit, I read that book at the age of like 9 and even I figured out it was a stupid allegory. Something I hadn't picked up on in any of the other books.
The Wheel of Time is actually pretty easy to adapt to movie format compared to LotR or Narnia or even His Dark Materials. LotR, you spend god knows how much time just walking from place. Narnia and HDM have all kinds of crazy metaphysical stuff that goes on and symbolism and crap.
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
The magic will actually get problamatic. You'll need some serious SFX for it and quite a few pivotal scenes involve fights with the power that don't actually look like anything.
The Wheel of Time is actually pretty easy to adapt to movie format compared to LotR or Narnia or even His Dark Materials. LotR, you spend god knows how much time just walking from place. Narnia and HDM have all kinds of crazy metaphysical stuff that goes on and symbolism and crap.
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
The magic will actually get problamatic. You'll need some serious SFX for it and quite a few pivotal scenes involve fights with the power that don't actually look like anything.
SFX like that are really not that hard to do now-a-days. Basically you just animate the weaves even though in reality they would be invisible.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
Dawn Treader is the best of the Narnia books, though. You'd think they could at least have a crack at it. The BBC TV version of it is really great, and that was with about £1.50 for props.
The Wheel of Time is actually pretty easy to adapt to movie format compared to LotR or Narnia or even His Dark Materials. LotR, you spend god knows how much time just walking from place. Narnia and HDM have all kinds of crazy metaphysical stuff that goes on and symbolism and crap.
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
The magic will actually get problamatic. You'll need some serious SFX for it and quite a few pivotal scenes involve fights with the power that don't actually look like anything.
SFX like that are really not that hard to do now-a-days. Basically you just animate the weaves even though in reality they would be invisible.
Yeah, but those battles are surprisingly kinda boring. I mean, the Nanaeve/Moghedien fight actually says it looks like two people glaring at each other across a room.
They should make the Wheel of Time movie series like a Hans Christian Anderson reading hour. Just film a guy on a horse riding around reading all million-plus words.
The Wheel of Time is actually pretty easy to adapt to movie format compared to LotR or Narnia or even His Dark Materials. LotR, you spend god knows how much time just walking from place. Narnia and HDM have all kinds of crazy metaphysical stuff that goes on and symbolism and crap.
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
The magic will actually get problamatic. You'll need some serious SFX for it and quite a few pivotal scenes involve fights with the power that don't actually look like anything.
SFX like that are really not that hard to do now-a-days. Basically you just animate the weaves even though in reality they would be invisible.
Yeah, but those battles are surprisingly kinda boring. I mean, the Nanaeve/Moghedien fight actually says it looks like two people glaring at each other across a room.
If you can't see the weaves. If you can, there's all kinds of shit flying around between them. And you're forgetting that right before that one of the black sister's destroy's like half the palace with balefire.
Simply put, the SFX needed would be trivial compared to something like Golden Compass, where you had to do all the daemons and the armored bears and all kinds of other things all in CGI. In WoT, the vast majority of characters are human, for the rest, Fades and Trollocs can both be done, and would probably look better, using costume and make-up and other traditional methods, the Green Man would probably need to be CGI but he shows up for like one scene, the Drakhar hardly ever show up and could probably be cut, Gray Men are just people visually, and the gholam doesn't show up for like 6 books.
I guess Darkhounds would actually be the biggest concern.
The point is that the only SFX really needed would be for using the One Power and the occasional back drop.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
0
Options
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
edited January 2009
They'd better be able to make me a Fade that scares me. Cause, my imagination could not sustain anything less.
That's my biggest fear is that these won't live up to my imagination from reading the books. But then, I said the same thing about Narnia, and it worked.
Dawn Treader is good. And we get more Reepicheep. Which is worth it. And if the BBCTV thing that you're talking about is the one that I remember from like, years ago. I agree.
Also, all they need for the SFX for the Power is the same stuff that they use in Heroes right now for Elle's powers and things. And they won't be able to do Power battles without showing the threads. It'll just be too hard for a generic audience to get what's happening if they can't see the Power being tossed around.
It'll be interesting to see if they can find an actor/actress to pull off the Power and the reactions to it. Like the guy that they get to play Rand would have to physically look sick every time, or I'd be upset. Or something.
It'll be interesting to see if they can find an actor/actress to pull off the Power and the reactions to it. Like the guy that they get to play Rand would have to physically look sick every time, or I'd be upset. Or something.
That's not the problem. The problem is the Flame and the Void.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
(Nothing happens. Then, nothing happens. Then, unexpectedly, nothing happens. Everything is FRAUGHT with PORTENT.)
Moiraine
Everybody come with me.
Everybody
No. Well, ok.
(They travel a LOT. Something happens that isn't explained. Something happens that doesn't make sense. Something happens.)
Rand al'Thor
Tam is my father.
THE (predictable, cliched, dumb) END
Fans
Yah! Wah hah! This is the greatest book ever! Whoo hoo! This is the greatest series ever! Whoopie! Yee haw!
The Great Hunt
Rand al'Thor
I want to do something. But doing this something is probably what the Aes Sedai want me to do, so I will do something else. But doing that something else may be what they want me to do, because they think I think they want me to do the first thing, so I'll decide to do this other thing instead. So I'll just do the first thing, since I want to do it anyway. Screw them.
(Repeat seven hundred times.)
THE END
The Dragon Reborn
Rand al'Thor
Being the Dragon Reborn stinks. I'm out of here.
(Moiraine and the gang CHASE him. But even though they are on HORSES, and he is WALKING, they never CATCH UP. This is supposed to be MYSTERIOUS but is really just a plot CONVENIENCE for Robert JORDAN.)
Perrin
I hate wolves.
(Mat and others show up out of NOWHERE. This is supposed to be MYSTERIOUS but is really just a plot CONVENIENCE for Robert JORDAN.)
Rand al'Thor
I am the Dragon Reborn. (kills the EVIL SUPREME BAD GUY)
Robert Jordan
Fooled you! That wasn't really the EVIL SUPREME BAD GUY! Now I can write forty more books!
THE END
The Shadow Rising
(Everybody HATES Rand, so he BEATS them until they OBEY.)
Rand
I have conquered all sorts of stuff, because I rule.
(Gibbers to self. Five hundred pages pass.)
THE END
The Fires of Heaven
Rand
I found an artifact which gives me limitless power. I think I shall brick it up behind a wall.
(A female character SNIFFS and thinks about her NECKLINE.)
THE END
Lord of Chaos
Rand
I have a secret plan, but I won't tell you about it.
THE END
A Crown of Swords
Rand
Now my secret plan shall be unleashed! Here it is. Are you ready? Are you sure you're ready? I'm going to make it look like I'm attacking this guy. But THEN I will attack some OTHER guy.
(He DOES, and it ALMOST WORKS.)
THE END
The Path of Daggers
Mazrim Taim
I am evil, yaargh! Fear me!
Spooky Voice of Lews Therin
Rand, kill Taim.
Rand
Being powerful sucks. I will brood.
THE END
Winter's Heart
Perrin
I was going to rescue my wife, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Mat
I was going to escape with my friends, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Egwene
I was going to attack Tar Valon, but that will have to wait for the next book.
THE END
Crossroads of Twilight
(Rand BROODS and DREAMS about his THREE WOMEN.)
Minor Characters
There is a large use of the One Power over there. (repeat indefinitely)
Perrin
I was going to save my wife, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Egwene
I was going to attack Tar Valon, but I won't finish it until the next book.
Mat
I might flirt with Tuon in the next book.
THE END
New Spring
Reader
I was going to wait for the next book, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Anyway, go ahead and reread Winter's Heart. There is maybe half-an-hour's worth of plot in there, everything else is Perrin chasing Faile and Faile doing shit and Elaine doing shit and none of it is remotely relevant to the plot and can be glossed over in twenty minutes without any real loss.
I guess cleansing Saidin isn't an important part anymore?
Anyway, go ahead and reread Winter's Heart. There is maybe half-an-hour's worth of plot in there, everything else is Perrin chasing Faile and Faile doing shit and Elaine doing shit and none of it is remotely relevant to the plot and can be glossed over in twenty minutes without any real loss.
I guess cleansing Saidin isn't an important part anymore?
No see, that's the half-hour worth of plot. Even then it's mostly just one huge badass fight scene.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
I could live with these being turned into movies that were just badass fight scenes. As much as I do like the series it doesn't lend itself to being a good movie because of the huge amount of just sitting around doing nothing.
They need to expand the prequel and add in the bits where Rand is in Rhuidean going back in time. If that is in the trailer and fleshes out the movie in the beginning people will be a lot more intrigued.
They'll have to cut out a huge amount of stuff for the first movie to work.
I mean, come on.
Lets say its a long movie, so like 2, 2 and a half hours. You're gonna need the first hour for introductions, the farm house, leaving, Baerlon,(could probably skip Baerlon, but then do you cut Min as well? And thats where they introduce the whitecloaks, too. Nope, gotta have Baerlon) and finally Shadar Logoth.
Then you've got a second hour, maybe hour and a half left, but you have to fit Perrin/Egwene/Elyas,(Traveling People, wolves, whitecloaks) Rand/Mat you can probably skip quite a bit other than maybe Whitebridge(Thom and the Myrddraal.) Nynaeve/Moiraine/Lan you probably don't have to spend much time on up until they rescue Perrin and Egwene, you have to fit in Rand and Logain's parade to introduce Elaine, Morgase, Gawyn, and Gareth Bryne, not to mention Elaida, then the Ways, and finally, you've gotta have a good chunk of time left for the Blight, and the final battle.
It would feel kind of rushed if they tried to fit everything.
But yeah, the 6-10 books they can probably do in like 1 movie. Or an animated short, or something.
Dump some characters? You don't need them all to capture the basics, I'm sure. Notice how Lord of the Rings kept the number of characters with serious screentime to a minimum, and how ruthless they were in removing material and even characters. You can't make movies of WoT and expect every character from the book to make an appearance, let alone get any serious time on screen. I've only read the first handful of books, and it would be a nightmare to do it with those. A book doesn't equal a screenplay.
EDIT: Was meant as a reply to Sepah's spoiler about all the characters they'd 'have to' introduce. Basically, get in your DeLorian and go back pre-LoTR movie and ask some fans of the books how important Tom Bombadil (sp?) is. You'll get some people claiming he's quite vital.
They should just make a heavily rewritten Dragonlance movie. The average audience won't care if it's one silly fantasy adaptation or another, and the first Dragonlance book would make for a good action flick. Low on magic (relatively, anyway), high on dudes getting stabbed. Easily identifiable characters and characters types (courageous knight? Check. Sinister wizard? Check. Grumpy dwarf doing occasional comedic relief? Check. Etc.). It would basically be a road movie with lots of stabbings, and a dragon at the end. What’s not to love? Unless you don’t care for stabbings, of course. In which case, yes, it may not be the movie for you.
a) This flops immediately and there are no more movies made.
b) This flops after the release of one of the following films and there are no more movies made.
Then again, maybe film goers will continue to eat it up just like fantasy readers ate up the book series.
But I doubt it. Word of mouth based on the books is not in their favor this time, since almost everyone pretty much got fed up with them at one point or another.
Interestingly, Brandon Sanderson, who is finishing the series, did not get fed up with it and loves it to bits. And he's meticulously brilliant at plotting and worldbuilding.
OremLK on
My zombie survival life simulator They Don't Sleep is out now on Steam if you want to check it out.
They should just make a heavily rewritten Dragonlance movie. The average audience won't care if it's one silly fantasy adaptation or another, and the first Dragonlance book would make for a good action flick. Low on magic (relatively, anyway), high on dudes getting stabbed. Easily identifiable characters and characters types (courageous knight? Check. Sinister wizard? Check. Grumpy dwarf doing occasional comedic relief? Check. Etc.). It would basically be a road movie with lots of stabbings, and a dragon at the end. What’s not to love? Unless you don’t care for stabbings, of course. In which case, yes, it may not be the movie for you.
Are we really at the stage where we're so bereft of great fantasy novels to turn into movies that we want to use novelisations of D&D campaigns? This is dangerous ground, and if we're not careful we'll end up with a runaway hit series of appalling movies featuring the ongoing adventures of Drizzt Do-Fucking-Urden.
I hadn't thought of Drizzt. Those books feature even more stabbings, I'd imagine. All kidding (and stabbing) aside, I think the problem is that we are turning fantasy novels (great or otherwise, cough cough) into movies, period.
EDIT: Actually, I really wanted The Dark is Rising to be good when it was announced. I loved those books as a kid. Then I saw the trailer. I did not watch the movie.
OremLK: I haven't really followed those books at all, I didn't know they were still publishing new ones. Does it still exists as a campaign setting and all that jazz?
They'll have to cut out a huge amount of stuff for the first movie to work.
I mean, come on.
Lets say its a long movie, so like 2, 2 and a half hours. You're gonna need the first hour for introductions, the farm house, leaving, Baerlon,(could probably skip Baerlon, but then do you cut Min as well? And thats where they introduce the whitecloaks, too. Nope, gotta have Baerlon) and finally Shadar Logoth.
Then you've got a second hour, maybe hour and a half left, but you have to fit Perrin/Egwene/Elyas,(Traveling People, wolves, whitecloaks) Rand/Mat you can probably skip quite a bit other than maybe Whitebridge(Thom and the Myrddraal.) Nynaeve/Moiraine/Lan you probably don't have to spend much time on up until they rescue Perrin and Egwene, you have to fit in Rand and Logain's parade to introduce Elaine, Morgase, Gawyn, and Gareth Bryne, not to mention Elaida, then the Ways, and finally, you've gotta have a good chunk of time left for the Blight, and the final battle.
It would feel kind of rushed if they tried to fit everything.
But yeah, the 6-10 books they can probably do in like 1 movie. Or an animated short, or something.
I don't see a problem. One hour to get to Shadar Logoth, one hour to get everyone to Camelyn, and then thirty minutes for the Eye itself. That sounds perfectly feasable to me.
Dump some characters? You don't need them all to capture the basics, I'm sure. Notice how Lord of the Rings kept the number of characters with serious screentime to a minimum, and how ruthless they were in removing material and even characters. You can't make movies of WoT and expect every character from the book to make an appearance, let alone get any serious time on screen. I've only read the first handful of books, and it would be a nightmare to do it with those. A book doesn't equal a screenplay.
EDIT: Was meant as a reply to Sepah's spoiler about all the characters they'd 'have to' introduce. Basically, get in your DeLorian and go back pre-LoTR movie and ask some fans of the books how important Tom Bombadil (sp?) is. You'll get some people claiming he's quite vital.
It's not like Tom Bombadil at all. More like cutting Aragorn. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nyneave are all main characters and then you add in Elaine past book 3 or so. Min and Aviendha get promoted to the main cast eventually as well. They are usually in at least three seperate groups as well.
On the other hand, there are all kinds of people you could cut like Elsa, Egeanin, Domon, Luca, etc. You could even cut Elyas if you could figure out another way of handling Perrin's wolf stuff.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
0
Options
lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
edited January 2009
But once you get to the later books, you can't cut out Egeanin or Domon or Luca. Well, Luca maybe can be relegated to the random background character. But Egeanin and Domon are more like..... well, possibly secondary for Domon at first.
But the later books, they play fairly important roles.
You could cut most of the Aiel save for the Wise Ones and Rhuarc and Aviendha. But again, that's not in Book One.
But once you get to the later books, you can't cut out Egeanin or Domon or Luca. Well, Luca maybe can be relegated to the random background character. But Egeanin and Domon are more like..... well, possibly secondary for Domon at first.
But the later books, they play fairly important roles.
Not really, no. Everything that happens in Ebou Dar and after works just as well if Egeanin is Nameless NPC #52 or even just not there. Her role is entirely superficial to the actual plot.
HamHamJ on
While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
Posts
That is sooooo cheating.
Also, as far as Narnia goes...
Dawn Treader would be the last of the books that would be even close to easy to make. And even then, it's tricky. Because you lose Peter and Susan, and you pick up with Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin whatshisface. And the story gets a bit twisty and turny.
And the story is just a bit... It's even more out there.
I could see them doing Magician's nephew, possibly Horse and his Boy.... But there's no way they can do the full series. The books just don't lend themselves to it.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
The bar is currently on 104%. According to his website, 100% equals 400k words; since he estimates that the book will finish at 700k words, this means he's past the midway point on his first draft. Of course, he writes a fuck load of drafts before he calls it a day, so the final product is still ways off. He also sends chunks of writing to Harriet, Jordan's editor and widow, for approval. I'm not sure how discerning an editor she is, though, considering how some of the WoT books turned out.
Presumably, she'll be harsher on Sanderson, who is not her husband.
There's a film in the works, which is very disappointing as it would make for a much better television series. A large part of the enjoyment of the book (certainly in the first half) is its mundaneness - exemplified by Mr Norrell; the interest is in seeing the fantastical elements set against the Victoriana. It would make a good BBC series, I think.
Eustace. And actually, The Silver Chair would still be relatively easy to do. Has Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace, as well as a slightly old Caspien.
Magician's Nephew and The Horse and his Boy are both pretty much solo casts, so they can be done however. You just need to have the Witch from the first movie come back, and The Horse and his Boy takes place during the reign of the siblings, so you just use different actors.
Done quickly enough between films, The Last Battle could be done right when the kids from the first film hit the appropriate age.
The issue is that the last three movies would be boring compared to the rest. The Magician's Nephew is cool, but not a good movie. The Horse and his Boy is a nice story, but not an interesting movie. The Last Battle was neat - but all the action took place before they arrived and they're looking at the aftermath.
Plus, it's not all 4 kids. It's 3. Peter, Edmund, and Lucy.
Susan wasn't able to come back to Narnia because she grew too interested in worldly things. Like lipstick. And boys.
I think you could get Tilda Swinton to come back and play Jadis.. but still.... Boring.
So.... fantasy cast for WoT?
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Wheel of Time has people fighting with swords. The characters do spend a lot of time traveling, but almost always end up fighting something along the way somehow. You don't need to invent action scense, there are plenty right there in the book. And the magic isn't some subtle bullshit about the human heart and shit, it's people tossing fireballs and calling lightning and balefire and shit.
No mysterious riders chasing you around the country side, instead you have mother-fucking Trollocs breaking into your house and trying to slice and dice you. You have villians who just love to monologue and stand there twirling their moustaches at you.
The real question is, what are the odds that we get Shia Lebeouf as Rand? :P
Shit, I read that book at the age of like 9 and even I figured out it was a stupid allegory. Something I hadn't picked up on in any of the other books.
The magic will actually get problamatic. You'll need some serious SFX for it and quite a few pivotal scenes involve fights with the power that don't actually look like anything.
SFX like that are really not that hard to do now-a-days. Basically you just animate the weaves even though in reality they would be invisible.
Yeah, but those battles are surprisingly kinda boring. I mean, the Nanaeve/Moghedien fight actually says it looks like two people glaring at each other across a room.
If you can't see the weaves. If you can, there's all kinds of shit flying around between them. And you're forgetting that right before that one of the black sister's destroy's like half the palace with balefire.
Simply put, the SFX needed would be trivial compared to something like Golden Compass, where you had to do all the daemons and the armored bears and all kinds of other things all in CGI. In WoT, the vast majority of characters are human, for the rest, Fades and Trollocs can both be done, and would probably look better, using costume and make-up and other traditional methods, the Green Man would probably need to be CGI but he shows up for like one scene, the Drakhar hardly ever show up and could probably be cut, Gray Men are just people visually, and the gholam doesn't show up for like 6 books.
I guess Darkhounds would actually be the biggest concern.
The point is that the only SFX really needed would be for using the One Power and the occasional back drop.
That's my biggest fear is that these won't live up to my imagination from reading the books. But then, I said the same thing about Narnia, and it worked.
Dawn Treader is good. And we get more Reepicheep. Which is worth it. And if the BBCTV thing that you're talking about is the one that I remember from like, years ago. I agree.
Also, all they need for the SFX for the Power is the same stuff that they use in Heroes right now for Elle's powers and things. And they won't be able to do Power battles without showing the threads. It'll just be too hard for a generic audience to get what's happening if they can't see the Power being tossed around.
It'll be interesting to see if they can find an actor/actress to pull off the Power and the reactions to it. Like the guy that they get to play Rand would have to physically look sick every time, or I'd be upset. Or something.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
That's not the problem. The problem is the Flame and the Void.
http://rinkworks.com/bookaminute/sff.shtml
The Eye of the World
Tam is my father.
(Nothing happens. Then, nothing happens. Then, unexpectedly, nothing happens. Everything is FRAUGHT with PORTENT.)
Moiraine
Everybody come with me.
Everybody
No. Well, ok.
(They travel a LOT. Something happens that isn't explained. Something happens that doesn't make sense. Something happens.)
Rand al'Thor
Tam is my father.
THE (predictable, cliched, dumb) END
Fans
Yah! Wah hah! This is the greatest book ever! Whoo hoo! This is the greatest series ever! Whoopie! Yee haw!
The Great Hunt
I want to do something. But doing this something is probably what the Aes Sedai want me to do, so I will do something else. But doing that something else may be what they want me to do, because they think I think they want me to do the first thing, so I'll decide to do this other thing instead. So I'll just do the first thing, since I want to do it anyway. Screw them.
(Repeat seven hundred times.)
THE END
The Dragon Reborn
Being the Dragon Reborn stinks. I'm out of here.
(Moiraine and the gang CHASE him. But even though they are on HORSES, and he is WALKING, they never CATCH UP. This is supposed to be MYSTERIOUS but is really just a plot CONVENIENCE for Robert JORDAN.)
Perrin
I hate wolves.
(Mat and others show up out of NOWHERE. This is supposed to be MYSTERIOUS but is really just a plot CONVENIENCE for Robert JORDAN.)
Rand al'Thor
I am the Dragon Reborn. (kills the EVIL SUPREME BAD GUY)
Robert Jordan
Fooled you! That wasn't really the EVIL SUPREME BAD GUY! Now I can write forty more books!
THE END
The Shadow Rising
Rand
I have conquered all sorts of stuff, because I rule.
(Gibbers to self. Five hundred pages pass.)
THE END
The Fires of Heaven
I found an artifact which gives me limitless power. I think I shall brick it up behind a wall.
(A female character SNIFFS and thinks about her NECKLINE.)
THE END
Lord of Chaos
I have a secret plan, but I won't tell you about it.
THE END
A Crown of Swords
Now my secret plan shall be unleashed! Here it is. Are you ready? Are you sure you're ready? I'm going to make it look like I'm attacking this guy. But THEN I will attack some OTHER guy.
(He DOES, and it ALMOST WORKS.)
THE END
The Path of Daggers
I am evil, yaargh! Fear me!
Spooky Voice of Lews Therin
Rand, kill Taim.
Rand
Being powerful sucks. I will brood.
THE END
Winter's Heart
I was going to rescue my wife, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Mat
I was going to escape with my friends, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Egwene
I was going to attack Tar Valon, but that will have to wait for the next book.
THE END
Crossroads of Twilight
Minor Characters
There is a large use of the One Power over there. (repeat indefinitely)
Perrin
I was going to save my wife, but that will have to wait for the next book.
Egwene
I was going to attack Tar Valon, but I won't finish it until the next book.
Mat
I might flirt with Tuon in the next book.
THE END
New Spring
I was going to wait for the next book, but that will have to wait for the next book.
THE END
This is the best thing.
Steam | Twitter
haha brilliant.
Oh god I want a Malazan movie
I want to see the Seige of Capustan in a Total War-esque game.
Or well....actually, the Chain of Dogs would make a pretty fuckawesome movie.
Knife of Dreams really is good though. It's a shame the book before it is so terrible. And by terrible I mean TERRIBLE.
No see, that's the half-hour worth of plot. Even then it's mostly just one huge badass fight scene.
They've been trying to make Chain of Dogs as a movie.
I am forced to disagree.
I mean, come on.
Then you've got a second hour, maybe hour and a half left, but you have to fit Perrin/Egwene/Elyas,(Traveling People, wolves, whitecloaks) Rand/Mat you can probably skip quite a bit other than maybe Whitebridge(Thom and the Myrddraal.) Nynaeve/Moiraine/Lan you probably don't have to spend much time on up until they rescue Perrin and Egwene, you have to fit in Rand and Logain's parade to introduce Elaine, Morgase, Gawyn, and Gareth Bryne, not to mention Elaida, then the Ways, and finally, you've gotta have a good chunk of time left for the Blight, and the final battle.
It would feel kind of rushed if they tried to fit everything.
But yeah, the 6-10 books they can probably do in like 1 movie. Or an animated short, or something.
EDIT: Was meant as a reply to Sepah's spoiler about all the characters they'd 'have to' introduce. Basically, get in your DeLorian and go back pre-LoTR movie and ask some fans of the books how important Tom Bombadil (sp?) is. You'll get some people claiming he's quite vital.
They should just make a heavily rewritten Dragonlance movie. The average audience won't care if it's one silly fantasy adaptation or another, and the first Dragonlance book would make for a good action flick. Low on magic (relatively, anyway), high on dudes getting stabbed. Easily identifiable characters and characters types (courageous knight? Check. Sinister wizard? Check. Grumpy dwarf doing occasional comedic relief? Check. Etc.). It would basically be a road movie with lots of stabbings, and a dragon at the end. What’s not to love? Unless you don’t care for stabbings, of course. In which case, yes, it may not be the movie for you.
a) This flops immediately and there are no more movies made.
b) This flops after the release of one of the following films and there are no more movies made.
Then again, maybe film goers will continue to eat it up just like fantasy readers ate up the book series.
But I doubt it. Word of mouth based on the books is not in their favor this time, since almost everyone pretty much got fed up with them at one point or another.
Interestingly, Brandon Sanderson, who is finishing the series, did not get fed up with it and loves it to bits. And he's meticulously brilliant at plotting and worldbuilding.
Are we really at the stage where we're so bereft of great fantasy novels to turn into movies that we want to use novelisations of D&D campaigns? This is dangerous ground, and if we're not careful we'll end up with a runaway hit series of appalling movies featuring the ongoing adventures of Drizzt Do-Fucking-Urden.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
EDIT: Actually, I really wanted The Dark is Rising to be good when it was announced. I loved those books as a kid. Then I saw the trailer. I did not watch the movie.
OremLK: I haven't really followed those books at all, I didn't know they were still publishing new ones. Does it still exists as a campaign setting and all that jazz?
I don't see a problem. One hour to get to Shadar Logoth, one hour to get everyone to Camelyn, and then thirty minutes for the Eye itself. That sounds perfectly feasable to me.
It's not like Tom Bombadil at all. More like cutting Aragorn. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, and Nyneave are all main characters and then you add in Elaine past book 3 or so. Min and Aviendha get promoted to the main cast eventually as well. They are usually in at least three seperate groups as well.
On the other hand, there are all kinds of people you could cut like Elsa, Egeanin, Domon, Luca, etc. You could even cut Elyas if you could figure out another way of handling Perrin's wolf stuff.
But the later books, they play fairly important roles.
You could cut most of the Aiel save for the Wise Ones and Rhuarc and Aviendha. But again, that's not in Book One.
And i'm ramblinf...
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Not really, no. Everything that happens in Ebou Dar and after works just as well if Egeanin is Nameless NPC #52 or even just not there. Her role is entirely superficial to the actual plot.