Magician The Movie?

[Overread]

The only problem with a mini-series would be getting the people together for the larger battles which dominate a good portion of the book - it could be done, but would require the budget of a film for the mini-series-- but it would have a much greater change of being faithful to the source material.

 

[Kulgan]

Well, I've always preferred reality to comp. generated, but as U remember, most of the participants in the battles in LOTR were comp generated. They used perhaps a hundred or so real actors and generated thousands of trolls, orcs, etc, to fill in the action. It worked better than I had anticipated and could also be done for Magician - or any other REF they wanted to make.

 

[Overread]

true it did work well - but remember they also made the CGI in LOTR blend well with the real shots they made - which requires a high investment. Many mini-series skip on expense with the CGI (everything look new and clean and flat) which detracts from the quality. thus either way a large investment is needed - I wonder if there are more fans for Magician than there are for Fire Fly?

 

[Fake Vencar]

I'm against a mini-series myself. It would be the death of Midkemia

 

[Woodfoot]

Depends how much money is thrown at it to whether it will be a great film.
Some books are just too Fantastical to make the move to the Silverscreen and others ....well just look at Beastmaster

I would love to see magician as a film as i would some of Eddings work but i feel it will not do justice.

 

[Woodfoot]

Has anyone read the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander then watched the film The Black Cauldron (Disney cartoon)?

I enjoyed it more than i would have a "real" film, do you think sometimes that with the right type of animator it might be better in animation?
Would you like to see Magician made that way? and i don't mean in a cute way

 

[Overread]

ahhh animation!
something like an epic full animation would be wonderful - totaly wonderful! (I likes animation too much). I think the anime groups would be the best to animate this - they tend to blend animation and CGI better than the western producers - mostly - and I can see the use of CGI for the battle scenes. Though a full animated epic - as a series and not a film - now there would be something.
Personally I cannot see why the west has moved away from animation - aside from the cost its just as good a meduim as any other - and does not lack when it comes to adding the unreal, like dragons and magic, which are often poorly done with cheap CGI


and now I have to find that book as well!

 

[Cayal]

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.

Magician is two books anyway.

 

[Overread]

it is - in the UK its only one single book - but even at two, its a lot to fit in to two films

 

[GOLLUM]

It's only ever been 1 book from when I bought it and the 25th anniversary edition was also a single volume. It may be that it was printed at some stage in 2 volumes but I think you'll find in most cases it was published as a single volume.

I met Feist in Melbourne and got the 3 krondor books I think it was ? signed in Hardback by him. Quite cool actually.

 

[sumac]

I'd love to see this as a movie, I've just finished re-reading the first 3 Riftwar books. But, it could be scary... if they stuff it up. I never read Eragon before I saw that drastic movie, and, I saw the first 5 harry potter movies before I read any of the books, so I'm scared to see the last two now.

However, I agree, LOTR was great on the big screen.

 

[Fake Vencar]

I think the siege at Crydee will be the make or break of the movie if there were to be one. Also the time period would be something of a problem. This would normally be solved by the inclusion of another film, but with the many time changes, this will be another problem

 

[nj1]

I think a movie would be a big ask.
There's so many different settings in the book such as the keep at Crydee, the elven forest, stone mountain, the swamps on kelewan, the magican city where Pug becomes a great one(forgot it's name). for a studio to set up all these different sets would cost a fortune so they would probably end up cutting huge chunks from the book and that would spoil the story IMO.
Theres nothing worse than having read the book, large and important parts of the story don't make it into the film.
As an example i read V.M.M's The last Legion and enjoyed it, the film totally sucked with the whole middle part of the story not in the film.
I suppose that two films might work, but i've only read magican as one book so don't really know where the break off point is.

With regards to a mini series, I wouldn't like to see magican as a MS. It would take years to complete and therefore theres a chance that whoever started it could cut the series and you end up getting a couple of seasons without the end.
Perhaps a book like Honoured Enemy would make a good mini-series, seems like it would be a easy story to transfer into a tv show?

 

[Fake Vencar]

Here's Ray's thoughts:

Date: 24 November 1999

I don't have any "interest," "consideration," or "desire" to turn my books into movies, because I don't make movies. I write books.


If a producer/studio/production company wants to base a film on my books, they're free to talk to my agent about it.


Best, R.E.F.



From good old Crydee again

 

[Cayal]

One movie and he's set up financially for life.

 

[GOLLUM]

He's already that and some w/o the movies but that will secure things for him further.

 

[fingy773]

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

I saw a post about the movie on the Midkemia online forums

Micheal Bay would B a great director (Transformers, pearl harbour)

 

[Fake Vencar]

Ah yes that was the place...they had the entire crew named didn't they

 

[fingy773]

yeah and they were looking 4 a good director

 

[woodsman]

Crazyness. No I can't say I'd realy want it to be ,made into a film.

However some of Calis' expeditions in the Serpent war would make interesting actioin films or similar excerpts I think Talon of the SilverHawk would be more easily converted to the big screen. For me, Magician is sacrosanct.