By all accounts this is the same slash and burn, cross it out and write it again treatment that Steven Spielberg wanted to give to the Harry Potter films, but although critically acclaimed, author Susan Cooper in no way wields the power of J.K. Rowling to set terms of adaptation to owners Walden Media. For the sake of her original books, much is the pity.
Whom to blame for this English pudding half-baked into American apple pie? Surely not the screenwriter, Oscar nominated Glaswegian John Hodge, whose writing credentials to date include two of the most acclaimed British films of the nineties, Trainspotting (1996) and Shallow Grave (1994)? Or has the sight of the dollar rising on this, Hodge’s first Hollywood film, prompted him to sell his soul?
The Dark is Rising screenwriter has never met Susan Cooper. He freely admits as much, saying that as far as he was concerned he had her blessing to do whatever was needed. To give Hodge some credit the screenwriter is reportedly the only member of the production team aside from English born Amelia Warner (contrived love interest Maggie Barnes) who has actually read the book. But judging from the scale of the rewrite, that would have been the last time he strayed between its pages.
Maybe we can blame director David Cunningham, whose directing pedigree to date, The Path to 9/11 (2006) and Little House on the Prairie Mini-Series (2005), reveals a path straight to television, and whose only feature, After (2006), went almost directly to DVD. Cunningham is a child of the early 1970s, the perfect age to have grown up reading Susan Cooper’s award winning series, but indications are he spent his formative years reading comics rather than novels, or watching Bruce Lee — he was nicknamed on set “Captain Chaos” for his cool hand in directing karate fight scenes. Yes, in the adaptation of a book where brooding evil and malevolence never come to outright blows, the climatic scene has been re-envisioned as what one actor described as a kung-fu fight atop a vegetable cart. One can only assume Walden Media spent all their money on securing the rights to the books, and got their writer and director cheap.
And what of Golden Globe-winning, Royal Academy-trained lead Ian McShane, sole, flickering hope of quality to fans very much fearing the worst, an actor whom would only need a fraction of the Shakespearean presence displayed in the acclaimed Deadwood series to succeed as character Merriman, a modern-day Merlin? Surely he has read Cooper’s books? Sadly the answer is no — in fact he had never even heard of them.
Article comments
1 - Olivia
Indeed. One can only hope this pathetic movie disappears quickly, or better still just goes to dvd where it can be lost forever.
2 - Anon
As one of those fans whose lives were changed by the Dark is Rising Sequence (I was 11 just as Will was, going through a new phase of my life, when I discovered them), I was appalled by the trailer, and I hoped that it was all just a bad dream. I too can only hope that the movie is forgotten, or if not, perhaps it can spark more interest in a beautifully written series of books.
3 - Sabriel
Amen
4 - delilah
Thank God for this article. It made the monstrosity of "Seeker" feel a bit less like a funeral and a bit more like a chance to laugh at hollywood. One good thing: if the trailer alone has given me an urge to reopen the Dark is Rising, the movie might actually make it a bestsellers.
5 - Michael
Thanks a lot for this great article, the message needs to be spread further before October... A huge fan of the books from Germany.
6 - John Gillespie
Thanks a lot Michael and Delilah. I'm a huge fan myself, which is what led me to write the article.
7 - jim_mathews
Beautifully written and argued; my guess is that Susan Cooper didn't have enough guile to fight back when she discovered that she had signed away all creative control over the Dark Is Rising sequence.
Now I am in the position of forever having to explain to the legions of idiot Americans who will flock to this film that no, in the real book, Will is a confused and bewildered boy trying to come to grips with his new reality...not a typical American mall-rat punk.
Everything that was lyrical, beautiful, moving and transcendant has been ripped from the story; and we ordinary readers are powerless to correct the misimpressions about what the "Masses" will come to believe was Susan Cooper's vision. We're not talking about the typical whining of The Compleat Fan, who can go on and on about minor details like the color of a scarf in a background character. Fundamentals of plot, motivation and message were utterly discarded.
What a shame. I wish Susan Cooper would come out and condemn it...
8 - John Gillespie
It turns out Jim Henson Pictures originally purchased the rights to The Dark is Rising, and then on sold them to Walden Media after failing to make a film themselves. Susan Cooper probably no longer has a say in the adaptation, having sold that right originally to Jim Henson.
9 - Cyn
I was so excited when I first saw that "The Dark is Rising" was going to be made into a movie; but I am not planning on seeing it...not ever, if I can help it. I'm currently re-reading the entire sequence and am just as caught up in the story as I was when I first read it. It breaks my heart that something so wonderful can be made into such trash by someone who openly admits that he didn't even read the book.
10 - Ashura
As one of the ones who can say my life was changed (why do you figure I'm getting that Masters in Medieval Welsh anyway?) I must say the one bright spot in all this is the discovery of so many people all over the world who are just as hurt, just as outraged, and just as attached. We will be here long after the last memory of this travesty of a movie has faded.