Instead of a movie.......

[Brinn of the Haruchai]

how about a mini series on the sci-fi channel? This would allow for a lot more time (think band of BRothers) and still could retain some of the production quality of a big movie. This avenue seems yet to be explored---what do you think?

[Myste]

It's a good idea, as long as it really does turn out to be more Band-of-Bros than Wizard-of-Earthsea. If a miniseries could score HBO-style production values, it could be excellent. But if all they get are TNT-style production values, I'd be really worried.

[dlbpharmd]

My understanding is that it would cost too much money to make it as a mini-series.

[Encryptic]

how about a mini series on the sci-fi channel? This would allow for a lot more time (think band of BRothers) and still could retain some of the production quality of a big movie. This avenue seems yet to be explored---what do you think?

Considering the poor reception that Legend of Earthsea got, I'd be very skeptical about the quality of a Covenant mini-series on SciFi.

[[Syl]]

Would have to be on HBO or Showtime.

[matrixman]

I want a concentrated, big screen Covenant movie experience, simple as that. I don't want a diluted, dragged-out TV series experience.

[wayfriend]

I want a concentrated, big screen Covenant movie experience, simple as that. I don't want a diluted, dragged-out TV series experience.

Yeah, cuz who of us could wait for the Season 1 CD to see it all in one sitting!

[drew]

The stories could even be longer than a min-series. A one-hour show once a week, it could go on for a year, and would be the only way I think to do justice to the stories. Although the money woulnd't be there, so the SFX wouldn't be as good, but so what..at least the story would be more complete.

[Variol Farseer]

I think a season-long series could do quite well. Most of the SPFX would be rather intimate in scale compared to LOTR, and the nature of the story would be better served by the extra screen time. Think of LOTR as Ben-Hur and the Chronicles as I, Claudius and you may see what I mean.

[Warmark Jay]

I'd love to see HBO get their collective hands on it. "Deadwood" is one of the best things going right now (Ian McShane as Foul!), and the forthcoming "Rome" series looks to be fairly epic in scope and adult in theme. And HBO continues to attract top writers and actors to their projects because of the network's adherence to quality. Agree wholeheartedly with Variol; making a season-long "maxiseries" (maybe even out of each book?) would do justice to the depth and breadth of the novels.

[much2phat]

Screw all that! If they do it the same way as LOTR, it would be perfect. They release the extended editions of each movie on DVD to make the true fans happy.

But first and foremost in the movies, they have to be done expertly! I'm talkin' top notch special effects, score, and acting. This has all the elements of an amazing movie trilogy, but it would have to be filmed all at the same time. Hell, I would love to have Peter Jackson direct it as well. He's got the balls for it.

By the way, I always pictured a gaunt Tom Hanks as TC. Like he was in Castaway. I think he might be able to still pull that role off.

[Moksha]

Hell, I would love to have Peter Jackson direct it as well. He's got the balls for it.

how can you say that?

he butchered so many characters in the making of those movies, turning Gimli into a bumbling fool, Mary and Pippin with their practically "slapstick" scenes and boring, unoriginal one-liners which were completly unnecessary.

Making Faramir into someone you dont even really care about. Lets not even talk about the Golem vs Golem scene. With all the creativeity of a used sofa.

The LOTR movies looked amazing, and some of the casting was very good, but Jackson bowed down to the studios to make a movie that people who cant handle more than 5 minites of seriousness, and for the "womens" demographic with the added in Aragorn-Liv Tyler romance subplot.

[Myste]

Well, that's true, but at least PJ didn't compromise on scale, or on how he intended to shoot it. He knew it needed to be done big, and it needed to be done together, in order to keep the energy moving from one film to another.

If the Chrons do get made into a movie trilogy, I hope they get a director like PJ who knows how to pick his battles, and then win them. The thing is, he's so golden at this point that the studios would let him do just about anything he might want to--which means, if he did get picked up as director for the Chrons, that he could get away with a lot more truth-to-the-story than a relative unknown might.

[wayfriend]

The greatest thing that PJ did was he made LOTR hot. No, I'm not talking about Orlando. I'm saying, he elevated LOTR out of geekdom and made it popular where it was never popular before.

If someone does that with TC, it'll be the best thing that ever happened to it, and as much as it deserves. All the stuff about bad adaptation will fade away quickly - LOTR is almost gone now. But the exposure remains forever.

[Scorn the Terrible]

The greatest thing PJ did was make Dead Alive. All he did for LoTR was turn it into yet another media driven frenzy of disgust and hype. Sure, it was epic... but what good does that do anybody? Since it's a movie series now, people are going to stop reading the books.

I'm a college student, people. Reading is my thing. And just a few moments ago, I heard to guys talking about how they heard that Lord of the Rings was going to be made into a book series. THE TEMPTATION TO COMMIT HOMICIDE WAS STRONG, PEOPLE.

To my point, I say that good books should not be made into movies. In fact, books shouldn't be made into movies at all; Hollywood needs to back the heck off and start coming up with new material instead of ripping off good authors.

[Variol Farseer]

The greatest thing PJ did was make Dead Alive. All he did for LoTR was turn it into yet another media driven frenzy of disgust and hype. Sure, it was epic... but what good does that do anybody? Since it's a movie series now, people are going to stop reading the books.

Sales of the books have rocketed to record highs since the movies were released. I don't think you'll find any foundation for that particular fear.

[Myste]

The greatest thing PJ did was make Dead Alive. All he did for LoTR was turn it into yet another media driven frenzy of disgust and hype. Sure, it was epic... but what good does that do anybody? Since it's a movie series now, people are going to stop reading the books.

Sales of the books have rocketed to record highs since the movies were released. I don't think you'll find any foundation for that particular fear.

I second that, VF. Sales of these books have never been better.

[Warmark]

i only read LOTR after seeing the fellowship film. Indeed i only started reading fanstasy in general after the film.
i have a lot to thank PJ for

[amanibhavam]

I do not really care for TV mini series. TCOTC is for the big screen, IMHO. Besides, look what they've done to Dune, for instance. Much more faithful to the book as David Lynch's movie version, but where is the feel? (IMHO, of course).

That said, The Gap is much more apt for a mini-series. Most of it happens in confined spaces etc.

[danlo]

Give the entire audience headphones and pipe in the internal dialouge at almost subliminal levels...just a thought...it would definitely be a new experience for theatergoes...