OMG!

[kelliem]

I don't know whether to be elated or terrified at finding out today that they are making one of my all-time favorite fictional worlds, Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series into movies. O.o

I was all set to be elated, when I read this article which leaves me more in the terrified camp. I can't see how anyone could put a "Biblical" spin on that series without totally ruining it. Walden Media did pretty well by The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, but the Christian allegory in those books was there to start with, it didn't need to be tacked on.

That said, there's at least one bit of casting that I love. Check the IMDB entry and I'll bet you know who I'm talking about. :)

ETA After reading a bunch of posts on thedarkisrising I think I'm definitely in the terrified camp, despite the casting. ::whimper::

Comments

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

Oooh, cool! Ian McShane!

*snerk* :-)

And that other guy! :-):-):-)

This could be interesting, that's for sure.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

McShane's definitely a bonus. I saw on his IMDB entry that he's also got a role in the film version of The Golden Compass, which has an amazing cast. Looks like he's going in for fantasy in a big way.

I guess I will have to reserve judgement for now and hope for the best.

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

I've loved McShane since his Lovejoy days. *sigh* Miss that.

Yeah, I'm not particularly excited by the apparent injection of religion, but maybe it'll be good anyway. The eye candy certainly won't hurt.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I've watched some pretty wretched things in pursuit of eye-candy, so... um... yeah. :D /shallow

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

heheheh! Nothing wrong with taking a dip in the shallow end of the pool from time to time.

Ah, the joys of edmats... :-)

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Equally scary: rumor has it that the family is American!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

OMFG. Because nothing important could ever happen on the planet unless an American was involved. ::rolls eyes::

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

I am quite delighted both by Eccleson & McShane. That should be a quite interesting pairing.

Having said that, I have to say I've found the works overall quite Manichean. Not overly overtly Christian -- in fact, they were a large chunk of what led me to my enthusiastic neopagan period in college -- but at the same time, for a broad audience, making them more Christian is not too much of a stretch to my mind.

Having said -that,- (puts on her Economists' hat of Kali) I also got out of the series that 'Good' is not a function of 'Faith.' Wasn't one of the antagonists an ordained something or other?

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I don't recall any of the antagonists being clergy, but there is a minor character who is rather befuddled by the goings-on who is.

But yes, one of the points of the book IS that good is not a function of faith.

[kudra2324.livejournal.com]

if you're interested, i know i've seen at least a couple of posts about the movie over at [Bad username or site: shusu / @ livejournal.com]'s journal.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Found some interesting (and dismaying) stuff there. Sounds like they've a complete mess of it.

[kudra2324.livejournal.com]

i haven't even read the books, and i'm terrified on everyone else's behalf.

[chickwriter.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much terrified, however much I like some of the casting.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Yeah. From what I've now read, they've changed it out of all recognition. I mean, half of what I loved about the books was Will's wonderful and realistic relationship with his family, and that seems to be completely gone. ::weeps::

[celemon.livejournal.com]

Hi - I got here by way of silme...
I think I fall into the 'terrified' camp here. I also note that I find nothing particularly Christian about the books, nor do I find them offensive to any Christian sensibilities of mine. Could they sometimes let a book be just a book..?

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Exactly! And why do people need to impose their worldview on everyone else?

[celemon.livejournal.com]

That's why I hang out with pagans, despite being a die-hard high church Christian...

[celemon.livejournal.com]

Uhm - not to impose my views, that is, but because pagans mostly don't.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I got that, don't worry. :)

[ann-tara.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't read the books, but the premise sounded exciting on first read. The casting is certainly looking terrific, with several actors I like signing on board. However, I hate to see any work changed or even perverted just to appeal to a certain audience. *sigh*

[aukestrel.livejournal.com]

Dude! Go read the books! I still reread The Grey King on occasion!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I was very excited about the casting until I started reading more, and discovered that they're absolutely gutted the story.

If they want to make a Christian-oriented movie from a fantasy book, they should go find an existing one, not destroy a classic. This looks to be every bit as awful as the SciFi channel's "Wizard of Earthsea."

[aukestrel.livejournal.com]

I am terrified just on HEARING about it. God. Go leave our beloved books ALONE, Hollywood, and try coming up with something original and fun all by yourselves!

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Yea, verily.

[highnez.livejournal.com]

If I had known Ian McShane was in Deadwood, I would have made more of an effort to watch the series! I haven't seen him in anything since Lovejoy.

But, I don't think having him and Christopher Eccleston in the show is going to draw me in.

My favorite book of the series is Greenwitch, but I like all of them.

It's really too bad the director feels he needs to "convert" the story to a Christian one. Sounds like it might be as big a disaster as the Earthsea project, which someone else has mentioned.

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Earthsea was a pile of steaming crap, and this seems to be heading the same way.