LOTR fallout

[crawfish]

Are any of you other geeks as pumped up about the potential fallout from the success of LOTR as I am? One project on the horizon is C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" and the rest of the excellent Narnia series..this has been announced for some time. But a truly cool NEW movie that's going to be made:

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17099

The "Princess of Mars", from Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter series! Some really, REALLY excellent pulp that should even meet with C&C Dean's approval! Manly men, half-naked women and big, nasty monsters? It doesn't get much better than that.

Not to mention, David Farland's "Runelord" fantasy series is also being filmed. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my to-do list.

On the sci-fi front, "Ender's Game" and "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" have been greenlighted, and the latter will start shooting soon. I've heard rumors that work is going on with "Rendezvous with Rama", but nothing lately.

These are good days to be a geek!

[bri]

Don't forget Punisher!!!

Which is to say, guh.

[Boarder]

I'm excited about NECA's 18" LOTR figures coming out. I think I'll do a disply in my theater room. {geekly snicker}

[Eddie Money]

I can't wait for all of the movies with wizards, dragons, elves, mystical fantasy lands, and all of that other Dungeons and Dragons / Led Zeppelin crap, it is the best.

Oh wait. Screw that we have a Coen Bros, David Mamet, and Tarrantino movie in the next month!

And the Punisher looks good, I will admit it. It's bubble gum.

[bri]

I just don't believe that Thomas "Giant Mutant Shark Wrangler" Jane can do a better job that Dolph Lungren. Nuh-uh.

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

I bet Ender on screen will suck.

Narnia might be good, but we'll see. That's another one with a fanatic fan base that will be hard to please.

Jackson pulled it off with LOTR, but can lightning strike twice?

[crawfish]

Don't forget Punisher!!!

Which is to say, guh.

Superhero movies are a different thing entirely. But I'm looking foward to Fantastic Four, no doubt.

Did I forget to mention: With the LOTR trilogy grossing nearly 3 billion worldwide, it's not IF "The Hobbit" will be made, but when. And it'll happen with a nigh unlimited budget.

[crawfish]

I bet Ender on screen will suck.

Narnia might be good, but we'll see. That's another one with a fanatic fan base that will be hard to please.

Jackson pulled it off with LOTR, but can lightning strike twice?

I'd think their translation to screen would be easier than LOTR, or even Harry Potter. The books are pretty short, and much smaller in scale. And LOTR proved that pandering to an existing fan base by NOT messing up the vision can be pretty lucrative.

The biggest problem I see with Ender is that they're using older kids (12-15 rather than 8-10). I also worry they'll lighten up or avoid the more disturbing elements (like the things that those kids go through with no help from the adults), because those are vital to the story.

I'm well aware of the dangers of letting Hollywood get at this stuff. We could end up with another "Krull"...

[Beano's Fourth Chin]

Excellent points... I hope you're right.

I mean, it will be difficult to have Ender kill the kid right off the bat in a movie and that was integral.

From now on, the only director they should ever let put a book on screen is jackson.

[Eddie Money]

In music and movies, when one style is successful, everything that follows suit to cash in is always even better, I have no worries!

I want a movie with Spider Man and The Punisher or Daredevil, or a combination of the three. But not Punisher and Daredevil.

[Ike]

A better hitchikers guide than the crappy BBC version would be nice...

[Frozen Sooner]

Doing Ender's Game on the big screen is a mistake, IMO. I hope they prove me wrong, but the novel is WAY too intellectual to make a good transition. Not only that, but as crawfish alluded to, there's some EXTREMELY brutal violence between children in that book.

TLTWATW should be good, though they've tried to put it on screen before. [hysterical reaction]OH NO! More Christian propaganda on screen![/hysterical reaction]

I'll believe H2G2 when I see it. Is Jay Roach still attached to the project? If so, it should be VERY good. Just too bad that Douglas Adams isn't around to make sure that they're faithful to the book. Main issue I see is the long expository passages that were half of the humor in the book. [hysterical reaction]Shriek! More athiestic propaganda from Hollywood![/hysterical reaction]

[bri]

Actually, 'guh' for Punisher is a bit unfair. Not when they're prepping Iron Fist.

God help us all, it's the death of the New Golden Age of Comic Book Movies.

[Frozen Sooner]

Plus, how are they going to show how truly nuts Peter Wiggin is without turning off a MAJOR portion of the audience? Heck, if they're using 15 year old kids, how are they going to explain Peter and Valentine still living at home-since they're both a few years older than Ender?

DAMN IT! I won't be happy until they've got 6-year-olds on screen battling to the death!!!!

[hysterical reaction]AGH! More Mormon propaganda on the big screen!!![/hysterical reaction]

[Howzit]

I really enjoyed Tad Williams' Otherland series. It's a VR theme with some really good plot ideas.

But each book is a hoss. While it could make for some really good movies it may be too much and end up being a disappointment.

[bri]

Doing Ender's Game on the big screen is a mistake, IMO. I hope they prove me wrong, but the novel is WAY too intellectual to make a good transition. Not only that, but as crawfish alluded to, there's some EXTREMELY brutal violence between children in that book.

There may yet be hope for the Ender series.

I hope they don't try and water it down. The Ender series is one of my favorites...

[Frozen Sooner]

Hm. Well, at least they're going to go with the "Shadow" series as the sequels. Frankly, Speaker for the Dead and Xenophobe sucked rocks.

[crawfish]

Hm. Well, at least they're going to go with the "Shadow" series as the sequels. Frankly, Speaker for the Dead and Xenophobe sucked rocks.

I thought Speaker was fantastic. Very different from Ender's Game, but it was an incredible book. Probably unfilmable, though.

Agree that "Xenophobe" and "Children of the Mind" really sucked.

[Frozen Sooner]

Hm. Maybe I'll give it another chance. I read it about 5 years ago, and just didn't like it at all, but I can always try again.

[Frozen Sooner]

I guess what annoyed me about them was Card's constant interjection of his theories on social interactions.

I really enjoyed Pastwatch, though. That's a good book.