Free time and dream projects
Now Kane is finally done (release dates pending etc) and astonishingly, I’ve finished all the scripts, treatments and notes that were overdue on all my other projects I find myself without a pressing deadline for the first time in over two years. I should luxuriate in these creatively calm waters but I prefer the intensity of a slightly more storm-tossed world. I’m finally getting back to some of the projects I had to shelve because of Kane and loving this freedom to flit around a little until I settle on something that really engages me. I should make the most of it as things could change quickly; James Purefoy and I have a thing we want to shoot this summer and it might just kick off at any moment if the rest of the cast fall into place quickly. It’s a very dark, very intense psychological thriller which will push James to places he’s never been before as an actor. Not a big film at all but something very different for us both. It may not come together but I’m hoping it will.
Of course, I’m waiting on news of a few other projects I’m up for as director but these things take forever, and I’m working my way through a huge pile of scripts – some pretty good, others just terribly dissapointing.
But this lull does give me a chance to consider some dream projects too. I’m pretty sure everyone, film makers and fans alike, has dream projects they’d love to see make it to the screen. I know I have; things I read as a kid which left a big impression or even more recent discoveries that are just crying out to be made. So, ignoring my own scripts and ideas that I’m developing here’s a list of some things I’d love to take a swing at. Not in any order and many of them, I know, are already in development (or development hell) but you never know…
HALF LIFE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_life_game I’m a bit of a gamer and to me the holy grail of games to adapt is HALF LIFE (1&2). I love these games so much and can just see how they would adapt so damn well. Huge project, massive ambition to make a sophisticated, visually stunning peice that has crazy action and lots of real depth. No gloss, just lots of grit.
THE ETERNAL CHAMPION SERIES from Michael Moorcock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moorcock Sure I love Elric but I think that whole cycle and complex world is terrific. Hawkmoon (which I’m reading to my daughter at the moment), Corum, Erikose and the rest. I’d love to bring it all together somehow.
AMERICAN TABLOID by James Ellroy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tabloid Stunning and bleak. Hard boiled as hell. The history of America filtered through the underbelly of Cuba, Kennedy and Hoover. Probably not a movie but a massive HBO series. Needs making on a grand, intense scale. I love dark noir and Ellroy is the prince of darkness. Who doesn’t want to see Big Pete Bondurant and Kemper Boyd come to life? Casting suggestions anyone?
THE SAGA OF THE EXILES by Julian May. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga_of_Pliocene_Exile A fantastical world – time travel, pre-history and aliens all mixed in with battling telekinetics and some awesome characters. Needs some serious trimming to be adapted properly but there’s some great material in there.
ALIEN 5 – Alien is the reason I became a film maker. I don’t care about Ripley (edit – just to qualify this comment; Fincher finished her story in Alien3 and bringing her back felt like a diservice to her character in Alien4.) I want to know about the Aliens; their world, the ecosystem or intelligence that created them. Imagine if the Alien in its home world was nothing more than a wasp or ant? What kind of planet would that be? I’d rather Ridley Scott or James Cameron did it but if they won’t I’ll happily take a swing. Anything has to be better than the Alien movies we’ve been served up so far. (And this is coming from a guy who went to New York to see the opening of Alien3 in Times Square. I’ve long since forgiven Fincher who is clearly a genius but boy, it stung at the time. In fact you can kinda see what he was trying to do if you look at the extended cut. Still bad but now at least a really noble failure.) I hear now that the Ridley is producing a prequel with his favourite new Wunderkind director protege. Maybe we’ll finally find out what the hell the ’space jockey’ was all about. Wish it was me doing it though…
OUTLAND – Peter Hyams and Sean Connery’s sci-fi High Noon in space. Would really benefit from a great reimagining. Clearly this is true because Doug Liman is developing it now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outland_(film)
THE SPOOK’S APPRENTICE by Joseph Delaney. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_spooks_apprentice Essentially the stories of a trainee witch hunter/exorcist in a fictional middle ages England. I read a lot of stories to my kids and these have had them transfixed like few others. Dark and bleaker than Harry Potter so it totally fits into my world. Warner Brothers are actively developing these with Kevin Lima attached to direct. I only hope he has a nasty accident…
MORTAL ENGINES by Philip Reeve. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Engines Again, something I read to my kids. It’s a wonderful adventure set in a distant, post apocalyptic future where vast cities are built on huge caterpillar tracks allowing them to crawl over the devastated landscape hunting down other cities to cannibalise. Visually, I’ve rarely come across something so unique and maybe it would be better as animation but I just loved these stories.
JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL by Susanna Clark – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Strange_and_Mr_Norrell Holy hell, this is a great novel. A re-imagining of English history as if magic was real. It’s like a grown-up prequel to the Harry Potter series. Vast, detailed, rich, romantic and utterly, utterly wonderful. I have read a couple of the scripts they’ve had done for this but none have really captured it. The producers know I’m keen, they’re just waiting to see Kane.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES….. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Wicked_This_Way_Comes_(novel) Just a stunning, creepy, vivid tale and one that would really benefit from another cinematic visit. I didn’t love the original film and I feel there is a genuinely terrifying film to be made.
HIGHLANDER – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film) the company that made Twilight is actively developing a big-budget reboot of this. I absolutely adored the original and hated everything that came after and I’d love to get my hands on the script to see where they’re taking it. If there’s something wonderful and fresh in this new take on it, I’d be so there.
So there you go, a few of the things that would make my little heart flutter if only they’d let me at ‘em. There’s loads more but now I want a cup of tea. What would you love to see made?
If you’d do AMERICAN TABLOID I’d be ecstatic, but I don’t think they’d give that to you yet, that one should be an epic with a HUGE budget, maybe after you’ve done one more film. However, if Solomon Kane is a success, I can imagine you doing ALIEN 5.
But who would you cast? That’s the tough question; too few real men in modern movies and far too few real men who can act. Where’s Russell Crowe when you need him?
I hear he’s hiding in Sherwood Forrest at the moment!
… and I hated JONATHAN STRANGE. If there is one book that is needlessly overwritten, it’s that one.
Sorry, just gotta disagree on that one. Overwritten? Only if that means overflowing with ideas and poetic language. All the footnotes made me crazy first time round then I realised that a whole other narrative was being revealed through them. I know lots of people who would agree with you but for myself, once I’d got into it, I loved the passion and potential for cinematic imagery.
All that projects are just GOLD. I really hope you will direct some of them.
PD: Did you note that ALL the Robert E. Howard fan community HATE the new Conan mocie project?
PD2: Solomon Kane will be release in August here, in Spain!!
Wow, August in Spain? If that happens I’ll be amazed and delighted. But don’t count on it, okay?
I read it on the distributor web page, but, you know, this sites are mistaken all the time.
Lovecraft or Bulgakov, if done well, would be wild.
Very curious about the possible new project with you and James Purefoy. Sounds like he’s going to be busy, as well as you, Michael. Best of luck.
I’m gonna take a nice good read through this latest post later at home, but you know I’m salivating over here about the project you mentioned with James involved! All the best wishes that comes about exactly as you want it to!
Really, I’m waiting for the next installment of Solomon Kane, but there are plenty of projects worth taking on: Elric, Corum, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (I’ll agree that it’s an incredible novel); Lloyd Alexander’s the Chronicles of Prydain (especially after the dismal treatment “The Black Cauldron” recieved by Disney) and countless others.
However, there is one true dream project. What I’d like to see is a full-blown 4-movie adaptation of Frans Gunnar Bengtsson’s “The Long Ships”, a true classic. If you haven’t read it, by all means do. Probably the best historical novel I’ve ever read, a wonderful story and main character (Orm the Red) and such a breathtaking sweeping vision that demands some sort of visual treatment. I can imagine the difficulties, though, since the book spans Scandinavia, England, France, Spain and Russia and would require a monstrous budget to pull off, as well as a dedicated screenwriter to capture the brilliance of the original.
I’m totally with you Michal (and von_oben). I love Røde Orm/The Longships (not crazy about the English name, though), and it could be fantastic on the big screen.
The fact is that it has actually already been made into a film, in 1963:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Ships-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B000095WW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1243943263&sr=8-1
I recently discovered this myself, and have not gotten around to getting a hold of it yet. The reviews are rather mixed, though. And even if it turns out to be good, I still think a re-imagining is in order now that more than 45 years has passed.
Unfortunately, that film has little to do with Bengtsson’s book. I wish it had. I still await a true adaptation.
Michael, some of those projects would be truly amazing if they come to fruition- Highlander is a favourite of mine and a film version of Mortal Engines-challenging but a wonderful idea. If you got involved in even one (the Moorcock perhaps) there would be hundreds of happy genre fans.
It’s great to read you have established a rapport with Mr purefoy too and that you might involve him in more of your projects. he has been ignored by the industry for far too long!
Yikes! I’ve been following your progress with Kane for some time, now,and really wishing you the best…But something that has obsessed me for the last five years is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I’m just blown away by the depth of Clarke’s creativity, the research..the footnotes..wow!
There’s a forum ,Friends of English Magic (FOEM) run by our fearless leader Martyn Drake, that has gone through various incarnations, but one way or another, kept going since the novel first came out. We’re absolutely slavering to see this made into a movie!..Go ahead, be a nag…Camp on their doorstep in regency garb..or medieval garb and a long black wig,,you’ve got the raven.
I was going to call my Raven, ‘Usglass’ but settled for ‘Mortimer’ instead. Though I did toy with either Muninn or Huginn (Odin’s ravens) but they’re not names you could really yell across the fields looking for a lost corvid.
I’ve read two screenplays for JS&MN both by Oscar winning screenwriters and neither really worked for me – they captured the period but not the magic or the madness. It’s a tricky adaptation, for sure, and a horrendously expensive project to do right but not something beyond the realms of possiblity…
The first book that I thought of was Frans G Bengtssons “The long Ships”, and I see that I´m not the first one here to think so.
A classic in Scandinavian litterature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships
I didn’t know about The Longships but it’s on order now. I have been reading up on Norse Mythology recently and thinking about a Viking movie. This might be the answer.
Oh believe me, it is. There have been precious few good viking movies. If any movie could capture even a little brilliance of the novel, it would be worth watching.
I have only three words for you: “THE BROKEN SWORD”. Pure epic.
Wow, that’s a great list of dream projects
Hi Michael,
Originally read your blog years ago when you were just starting out with Deathwatch. Congrats on what you’ve achieved so far, Wilderness was a fun romp and can’t wait to see Kane.
One project I always liked of yours was THE UNBLINKING EYE, what you were imagining for it always sounded cool (Requiem for a Dream meets Seven) so I’m hoping that this might be the project you are alluding to.
Looking forward to your updates and give us a heads up on when the trailer might be available, I’m very intrigued by Harry’s review
Lol. Good memory. Yes it is The Unblinking Eye. Damn thing was supposed to be my first movie. I’ll get it made eventually
Purefoy is the perfect leading man for it.
I LOVE your dream list! The thing I’d love to see made, though it would likely be too dark and way too out there for popular cinema, is the Necroscope series. At least the first few books. I adore the horror and visuals painted by Lumley in those novels. But man, they are ROUGH and WILD. Still, I’m itchin’ to see them.
Half Life!
Do it!
Please?
Very nice list,
Just one comment, I’m somewhat wary of a Half Life film just because the game itself is little more than a simple adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist story. Half Life 2 would be a more interesting project but the story line in that game seems to be meandering all over the place as of the last episode. If you want an epic video game to adapt that has almost limitless story telling possibilities for a film there is only one word: Fallout . look the game up, you won’t be disappointed
I totally agree, it doesn’t get much grittier or darker than Fallout and it would be visually stunning and fresh, since the time of “end-of-the-world” scenario movies like Mad-Max has been long gone, that could be a fresh wind like Gladiators arrival after decades of absense for historical cinema.
How about the further adventures of Jack Burton, maybe in Mexico instead of Little China?
I would LOVE to see an adaption of HALF LIFE on screen…. Working in games myself I’m hoping the (fingers crossed) success of ‘Prince of Persia’ next year may pave the way for more (good) games adaptions !
So many projects ! I haven’t read Jonathan Strange… yet, but your interest in it make it on the top of my list…
I’ve made a previexwof Solomon Kane on my blog for my friends and everone who read me because in France a few people know your new movie will be released in october, so I keep them aware !
If Conan would be nice, I totally believe in you about an Elric adaptation in theatres !
Wow yes please Michael!! Make Half Life and cast Hugh Laurie as Gordon Freeman!
Hi Michael,
i love to see your Solomon Kane movie.
because it has a brilliant story and also i want to see my favorite actress Rachel Hurd Wood….I love to see her actions on your film. But im not sure that i can watch it, because im from Philippines.
I dont know if it will release on Philippines???
do have any answers on my problem Michael?
ALTERED BEAST. Sega’s greatest coin-op deserves its own film adaptation. I think the teenage jock demographic would enjoy the story of two brothers harnessing their inner-wolves to punch and shin-kick their way through hell.
Hello Michael,
I think you should try to contact the brother Scott about the Alien reboot.
About your other projects, I have to say that I am very interested in Elric, I love this character (Paul bettany would be perfect).
If one day you need someone for your designs, please call me!!
Best from an Artist.
Alex
Hey Michael!
Very interesting list. I didn’t know that Doug Liman is developing a reimagining of OUTLAND. I hope that it will get made, they should get Daniel Day Lewis or Viggo Mortensen for the main role. I’m very looking foward to the HIGHLANDER reboot. I read the first draft of the script, it has potential. A couple of my dream projects:
THE SHADOW by Walter B. Gibson. I understand that they are developing a reboot now. Hopefully they will stick to the pulps. I wanna see The Shadow as a great detective, master of manipulation and disguise, his network of agents, gadgets, death traps and his true identity should be a mystery. Tell the story from an agents perspective (maybe Harry Vincent), that would be unique for a superhero movie, where you usually follow the hero and you know who he is…
THE VAMPIRE LESTAT by Anne Rice. I was always disappointed that they didn’t do a sequel (or prequel) to Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise as Lestat. Now he is maybe too old, but I would like to see a new film that tells Lestat’s story.
DIABLO – Now that a third game is on the way, it’s time for a live-action movie! Make it dark and gritty, probably as a trilogy.
JUDGE DREDD – I would love to see a reboot, that stays as true to the comics as possible.
I dropped by for a SK update and saw this list.
We have similar tastes.