“I don't think they've been very faithful to the book.” McShane admitted when interviewed, lack of enthusiasm obvious. “I don't know how many of you've read the book. I know they sold a few copies, but I couldn't read it very well. It's really dense. It’s from the '70s, you know?” Signs hardly encouraging from the man playing the greatest wizard of all time.
So why are all involved making this film, if not to honour the author’s original art, furthermore give shape, breathe life into the imaginings of millions? Are cast and crew the slightest bit interested in recreating just a small amount of magic in the most magical of mediums — film? If the man playing Merriman is typical, the aim in The Dark is Rising was slightly lower than magical. Asked what about the project specifically interested him, Ian McShane replied with refreshing, although hardly endearing honesty: “The cheque. As it always is.”
It seems not creativity, imagination or even pride in their craft, but money has spoken loudest in the making of The Dark is Rising. As it almost always does.
In October The Dark is Rising will be released as a film. Judging by not just the trailer alone, it will sink without a trace.
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.