The Giver Tagged Articles at Cinematical
David Yates Will Direct 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' Says Lois Lowry
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », RumorMonger », Remakes and Sequels »
It's funny. I consider Lois Lowry to be one of those instrumental writers for young girls, but I only read Anastasia Krupnik (and maybe one more). Regardless, one of her other big series was The Giver trilogy, which was once again trying to reach the big screen last March. Well, it seems that the production has hit another snag, one that is bad for Lowry fans, but great for followers of JK Rowling and Harry Potter.On her blog, Lowry says that David Yates was going to helm The Giver after finishing the next Potter flick -- Half-Blood Prince. However, she goes on to say: "But he has just decided he wants to do the final Harry Potter first, thereby postponing The Giver by several years. Maybe the opening of this film could be held simultaneously with my celebration-of-life service after I succumb to old age? Or the producers will decide to get a different director. Stand by. But without holding your breath."
If this is true, it means that Yates will be behind three of the series' films -- Harry Potter and the ... Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows -- in other words, all of the final films. Hopefully he won't have to deal with any romantic turmoil on the set!
Speak out, Potter fans! Do you want him tackling the final installment, or is there someone else you would rather have helming the Hallows?
[via Ace Showbiz]
Lois Lowry's The Giver is Getting Another Stab at Production
Filed under: Drama », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Family Films »
Children's novelist Lois Lowry was one of those powerhouse names of 80's kid lit, mainly because of her series of kickass Anastasia Krupnik books. The series dealt with all those pesky pre-teen problems like blemishes and popularity, as well as more serious issues like sex and suicide. While the themes of the series earned the books criticism for its frankness, it was The Giver that really turned heads. A science fiction novel published in 1993, the book is about a young boy, Jonas, who lives in a future anti-utopian world. In the novel, everyone is striving for "Sameness," removing emotions from their lives. However, Jonas is chosen to be the "Receiver of Memory" who holds all the pre-Sameness memories and then struggles between the shallow world and the depth of his given memories.For years, the book has floated around in development hell. After it was published, it was picked up by Lancit Media, and then RCN Entertainment, but both businesses tanked. Nicole Silver then grabbed it with Jeff Bridges, holding onto the film for nearly 10 years. House of Sand and Fog scribe/director Vadim Perelman wrote a script, and was to direct The Giver starring Bridges, until Walden Media bowed out. Now, Warner Brothers has nabbed the rights in a much better deal -- high six figures against $1 million. It's a start for the struggling adaptation, but we'll have to see if the company will wipe the slate clean and try again, or stick with the original Perelman setup. Now that we've had How to Eat Fried Worms, a remake of Bridge to Terabithia and movement on Giver, I wonder how long it will be until we get a Judy Blume feature?
Film Clips: Movies for Big Kids -- Going After that Harry Potter Demographic
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Family Films », Film Clips »
I'm guessing the box office success of the Harry Potter flicks has made studio greenlighters take another look at the tween/teen demographic, because there are quite a few film adaptations of books targeted at that age group in the works. And I'm glad to see this, because my nine-year-old is getting to the stage where films for younger kids -- the Over the Hedges and the Ant Bullies -- are more of a cinematic snack than a satisfying movie meal. She's waiting with bated breath for the next Harry Potter film and the last book in the series, but is also aware that the series is coming to an end and thus has been hunting out more tween books to satiate her literary needs. Much as she likes to read, though, she also loves to see films made out of her favorite books. Here's a short list of movies on the horizon that will hopefully meet her expectations, and mine as well:
The Giver comes to the big screen
Filed under: Classics », Drama », Scripts », 20th Century Fox », Family Films », Newsstand »
When it was published in 1993, Lois Lowry's The
Giver was greeted with both praise and controversy. The novel (aimed at kids of middle school age) is set in a
future world "with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy"
and "all memory of human history has been erased." Lowry's main character is a 12-year-old boy who is chosen
to become a "Receiver of Memory," the person who is aware of the community's history. Through the process of
preparing for his role, the boy "discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the
weight of its hypocrisy." Though the book won the prestigious Newbery Award in 1994, its subject matter and the
way it "deals with suicide and euthanasia" also made it the 14th "most challenged" book (just
behind Catcher in the Rye) in school libraries during the 1990s. Sigh.According to Variety, a movie version of the story is finally on the way, under the guidance of kid-friendly Walden Media and 20th Century Fox. Though an early draft of the screenplay was written by Todd Alcott, Walden have asked Vadim Perelman (who wrote and directed House of Sand and Fog) to do a rewrite; Perelman will then direct the film from his own script. It's going to be utterly fascinated to see how faithful the resulting film is to the book - will Walden risk offended the same audiences who flocked to their The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe earlier this year?
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