Will Covenant films ever be made?

[Revan]

I know we've discussed this before... But this is slightly different from the others... Though if it isn't I'm sorry for wasting your time... Do you think the films will ever be made? Do you ever think we'll see the Chronicles on the big screen?

[dlbpharmd]

no - too dark, one really bad scene - no way this ever hits the screen.

[Revan]

Yeah... I think so tooo... If there was no rape there might be.

[danlo]

Is soon as I win the lottery we'll start production!

[Revan]

heh... I'll play Amok!

[Zephalephelah]

Actually, the rape scene isn't the problem. The Entity made in 1982 had multiple rape scenes from a poltergeist. The movie Charleze Theron just made has a brutal rape scene in it that goes way, way, way farther across the line than the Lena scene in the TCTC. There was a rape scene in The Life of David Gale with Kevin Spacey that gives the impression that the rapist puts a bag over the head of the woman and ties her up so that she suffocates to death afterward.

Again, I think that people are just way too freaked out about this Rape thing. I mean for one, Thomas thought it was a dream and nothing more. I'm really surprised that everyone keys in on this so much.

The real reason it won't get made is that the books aren't new & the aren't popular enough.

The second major reason is that the main character is too human & would end up turning 1/2 the people off that see it in the first week & they would tell everyone that it was stupid. Of course all of these people have to have a happy ending in all their movies and they have no real clue about life at all, but that's a whole different thing.

[I'm Murrin]

No. The style in which the book is written prevents the conversion into a film without completely losing our familiarity with the character, and our understanding of his actions. The books are character driven, so much so that the story becomes secondary to understanding Covenants inner conflicts. This could never be portrayed in anything but the written word.

[matrixman]

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[Revan]

I think it's a shame that they'll never be made... Though I think it's right that they can't make them... Because all the books are internally based and their conflicts can't really be told with justice in films... I still think they might make ggod films.

[dlbpharmd]

The examples of movies with rape scenes listed above are not good examples b/c none of those rapes are committed by the protagonist.

All of the reasons listed above are valid.

[Revan]

That's a very good point... We've never seen the hero rape in a film... It would be very hard for people to watch and except

[aTOMiC]

The conditions for the making of a Chronicles film are better now than they have ever been. After the public becomes hungry again for another blockbuster fantasy, I'm sure it will be explored with vigor. Having said that I don't think COTC would be a particularly easy film to make unless a truly dedicated and gifted director is tapped. Peter Jackson has proven himeslf but I doubt he'd be interested.

[dANdeLION]

I agree with Tom, with a caveat. I do think that LOTR has raised awareness on fantasy in general. But, I think that LOTR works as well as it does because the books have been out for over 50 years, so there are a huge amount of people who read them and know the characters, and are practically guaranteed to go watch the movies.

For the personality of TC to come out properly on screen, the books will need to have been read by the audience. That means the books will have to rise in popularity somewhat equal to that of LOTR. Maybe they already have; I am in no position to know. My guess is that one more generation or TOTC readers will do the trick.

[Brinn]

Hollywood is notorious for jumping on the bandwagon when something new or novel is done. For an example look at the Matrix and the wealth of FX laden movies it spawned. Based upon the success of the LOTR Trilogy I fully expect that Hollywood will begin to view fantasy as a viable genre that can generate commercial success. There will be any number of inferior efforts designed to quickly capitalize on the new popularity of fantasy and there may even be a few solid or even spectacular efforts. But in order to do TCTC justice the flmakers would not be able to follow the same formula as LOTR. I envision a much darker and emotionally charged movie. If I were director or producer I would sacrifice the mass market appeal (no comic relief, no line of TCTC action figures etc...) and create an unflinching portrait of a man with a horrible disease on the verge of despair and madness. A man challenged by his inner demons and the impossibility of a world that cannot exist (think Willem Dafoe in Last Tempatation of Christ). I would not shy from the psychological aspects of the books and I would depict the rape scene in all it's ugliness. I would embrace Covenants less desireable attributes and try to depict that singular anti-hero that we all grew to hate and love. Sure it would be anti-formulaic but I think that every once in a while someone with vision challenges the constraints and limits of a particular genre and exceeds all expectations.

In summary, I think the movie could be made but it would be a very serious fantasy movie and would probably be more suited to the arthouse than the general public.

[Loredoctor]

I think TCTC should not be made. I'm going to be crucified for this statement, but I think that the LOTRs films aren't that good. I think someone other than Jackson could have done better. Anyway, I imagine that they'll try the mass market appeal and thus ruin TCTC.

edit: poor grammar

[matrixman]

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[Zephalephelah]

Where do they grow you people? I'd like to know what kind of bottled water to stay away from.

[matrixman]

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[Furls Fire]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

With out the books, there would be no story, hence, no movie.

I'm against this being made into a movie, for the simple fact that it is completely character driven. The movie would lose everything that makes Covenant, Covenant. All his thought processes as he journeys the Land, his ire, his awe, his joy, his bitterness, all of it...would be compromised.

[Loredoctor]

Agreed, Furls.