The Truth About Books and Films

Kevin Wignall has an interesting post up over at Contemporary Nomad on books and film.  Not on films based on books but the process of getting a book optioned and maybe turned into a film:

One thing you often hear published writers wish for is a film deal. It’s often talked of as a sort of career panacea, in much the same way that some unpublished writers think a publishing deal will give them everything they’ve dreamt of. By the same token, I think I’ve mentioned before that writers who sell considerbaly higher numbers of books than me across many more territories, will envy me the fact that I have two film deals. So I thought this might be a good place just to explain a couple of things – as I’ve experienced them – to those who don’t know, and share some reflections on an author’s involvement with the film industry.

Which tied in nicely with this Ross Douthat post on Prince Caspian:

I think that to the extent I liked the movie, it was largely for the same reasons as Frederica Mathewes-Greene: The filmmakers took what is easily the weakest of the Narnia novels, rejiggered the narrative and altered the plot, and produced an entertaining, swashbuckling medieval war movie set against a Narnian backdrop. To the extent that I disliked the movie, meanwhile, it was for the same reasons as Steven Greydanus: In the course of making a poorly-constructed book into an entertaining fantasy adventure, the filmmakers largely purged the original story of its most distinctive thematic elements, and the results owe more to Braveheart and Lord of the Rings, in certain ways, than they do to C.S. Lewis.

I haven’t seen it yet, but I am preparing myself to enjoy it and try not to think like a purist, but to enjoy the movie as inspired by not just an illustration of the book.

I am visiting my parents this week, but if I get a chance I will try and post on my thoughts on some recent fantasy books turned into movies.

Kevin Holtsberry
I work in communications and public affairs. I try to squeeze in as much reading as I can while still spending time with my wife and two kids (and cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Michigan Wolverines during football season).

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.