Magician The Movie?

[Fake Vencar]

How about this? With other books being poorly put into films, except for LOTR of course, would we welcome this? If so, what about roles?

Saw this somewhere else ages ago and they were having a right old banter. Seems they were not too keen as well

 

[nixie]

I'm not sure about this. Magician holds a special place in my heart and I wouldn't like anything to spoil the magic.

 

[ice.monkey]

I'm probably going to blow against the wind here (probably very hard) but I actually didn't rate the book at all. So a film might actually be an improvement!

*ducks*

 

[nixie]

Magician is standard run of the mill fantasy but my introduction to a wonderful genre so holds a very special place in my heart.

 

[Kulgan]

I've been reading fantasy for many years and my opine on Magician - and most of REF's other works - is that they're some of the best the genre has to offer.

I've been saying for many years that they should make a movie of Magician - if they'll go to the trouble of doing it right. I waited many years to see LOTR emerge on the screen, and I didn't think they could possibly do it justice, but I was happily surprised. I think LOTR was very well done, and I'd love to see Magician filmed like that.

 

[Fake Vencar]

Magician is his best book by far, although I like most of them for the same reasons

*Throws something very hard at Ice*

It would all depend on the director surely. Jackson did a great job with the LOTR, produced the best out of all the actors and got most of the scenes right. However, with so many different interpretations of Magician's characters and scenes this will be quite difficult (my view of Amos Trask changes every time I read!)

 

[Kulgan]

Good point.

 

[Ivexus]

Do you think P Jackson should direct it, because he did a wonderful job with LOTR.

 

[Culhwch]

Considering he's not even going to helm The Hobbit, I doubt he'd be interested in doing another fantasy epic...

I must say I'm on the same page as Nixie with Magician - it was the book that got me into fantasy, but on reflection is really a middling example of the genre at best. I doubt there's any chance of a film, but perhaps a two or three part mini-series would prove a better an more reaistic format.

 

[Cayal]

Jackson is producing The Hobbit.

 

[Culhwch]

Sure is. And your point is...?

 

[Pyan]

Done well and accurately, great.
But there's been so many ham-fisted attempts at SFF films-from-books, what are the odds of it being any good?

 

[Cayal]

Sure is. And your point is...?

Clearly he would be interested in doing more fantasy.

 

[Culhwch]

As a producer, perhaps. The topic was direction.

 

[Cayal]

He's still involved in fantasy though. So I don't know where you say he wouldn't be interested. Unless you have a direct quote.

 

[Fake Vencar]

Aye but Jackson is doing The Hobbit until its current release date in 2011. What we don't want to have is some second-rate director doing a poor job and then causing thousands of would-be fans to not read the books at all. Better not to have a film at all

 

[Cayal]

Well Magician hasn't been announced so it would be past 2011 anyway.

 

[Ivexus]

yeah, look what happenned to Paolini's Eragon, it was rushed and ultimately ruined as a film

 

[Overread]

I think the key problem with book to film productions is that film producers see one book as being one film, where in truth a single book often holds enough for two or more films. Magician I see as being one of these types; if done as a single film then chances are it will be a flop for fans and either a good or high rated epic action film for the masses; and seeing as the masses are the ones that bring in the ever sought after box office records, that is who the film will be made for.
It is a shame because Magician is a very strong and well written book and it would be wonderful to see it on the big screen.

Another idea - to throw into the pot - if they ever made a Magician film, it would be one of the best fantasy worlds to produce a mini-series off. There are something like 25 books on the world and enough depth to allow a writer to open up the world to new ideas --- however I don't know if I would want that to ever happen; some things need to be left alone to preserve their quality and identity

 

[Kulgan]

Overreach, you're reading my mind on this one. I was thinking myself - and about to post - that Magician would make a much better miniseries than just one movie. I don't think you could do justice to it in less than 6 hrs, and like LOTR and Dune it would be better developed that way and run on the small screen rather than in the theatre.