I am looking forward to checking out the “Narnia” movie, but after reveling in Jackson’s JRRT movies, I really think I’d like to see someone portray my favorite albino anti-hero, who’s made mighty by his soul-sucking sword.
Whadda ya think?
Isn’t it something like an 8 book story? And really depressing? 8 book long depressing stories don’t make movies that will sell a lot of popcorn.
I thin Elric stories are ideal for Anime. Many anime heroes seem like Elric rip-offs to begin with. The people who made Vampire Hunter D could I think manage a decent Elric without adding in the cuteness that so many Anime studios spoil their work with.
The books were licensed for a set of movies a few years ago but I haven’t heard anything since then which typically means “Bought, script kicked around with each successive version having less to do with the original than the last, and finally buried in the bottom of a drawer.”
I think that you could definitely do a solid set of movies from the series; the prequel book with Elric’s back story and The Dreaming City where he returns to his homeland could easily fit one film and make a solid story arc for it. But I suspect that any movie would be Elric in name only…
Ya never know!
Would love to see it. Especially if they don’t pull any punches and depict Elric killing off all his friends…and then in the end, when the world ends, the sword turning on him and wacking him too. I doubt any studio/director would have the balls to do the series right though…a multi-movie series with such an unhappy (to movie go-ers) ending.
-XT
Yeah, but if you could get the Prozac concession for that theatre… 
Bowie’s getting pretty long in the tooth. Who do you fancy as lead?
Only if Blue Oyster Cult gets to do the soundtrack.
I agree it would work better as animation than live action.
Yes, the Elric saga is a series of eight books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric#Books) – but they’re short books, each about the right length for a movie script.
I wonder if they could make a movie about Elrod the Albino from the Cerebus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebus#Supporting_characters) comix? 
God, you know they’d just get Paul Anderson or Uwe Boll to do it. Then it’d have techno and high school kids all over the place.
Hawkwind would be better, as they already have a concept album about Elric, although I can’t remember the title offhand.
Unfortunately I can’t think of a single actor that would be suitable for playing Elric at present, but the idea of a film is fantastic. Michael Moorcock was one of my favourite authors during my teen years.
I dunno. Elric was just so DARK. There were about two times in his life when he wasn’t at war with the whole freaking world and he died in despair with the world crashing down around him(literally!). The “hero” was in league, close league, with the gods of evil! They took slaves and shaved their vocal cords until they could only produce one note. Then they took groups of these slaves and arranged them into some sort of sick pipe organ that some sadistic bastard would play by torturing the “keys”! If they translate Moonglum’s death scene to film even a third as effective as it should be then the audience will just get sick right there in the theatre. I just don’t see this going mainstream.
Despite all its issues, I think it’s a great story. I’m just not sure the world is ready to come face to face with Melnibone or her last emperor. I’m not sure I ever WANT the world to be ready.
Enjoy,
Steven
If one wanted to make a movie out of something in Moorcock’s multiverse, how about Corum? He also had a love/hate relationship with his hand and eye and made a good anti-hero. He’s not a widely known as Elric so you wouldn’t have people as upset as they would be if you screwed up Elric. Have Elric play a cameo when Corum summons the champions and see how it flies.
Enjoy,
Steven
Didn’t Michael Moorcock add other stories and inclued Elric as part of the “Eternal Champion” concept? I don’t recall the others off the top of my head, but Stormbringer existed in the other times in different forms.
Deep Purple’s music could be used for the soundtrack, as well- “Strombringer.”
I have a copy of the “Deities and Demigods” D&D book released before Moorcock sued TSR and had the Melnibonean mythos removed. I’ll have to dig it up…
try Stormbringer- Strombringer would just summon a dead congressman…
:smack:
I think Johny Depp might manage Elric, consider how he played Edward Scisorhands. Elric is a whiney so-and-so but has some ironic humour and other traits that mr Depp might be up for.
Anyway have a look at www.multiverse.org for all sorts of Michael Moorcock stuff
Corum was pretty dark too…withing the first hundred pages (IIRC) his whole race was murdered, his mother was raped/murdered and his father and siblings were murdered…and he was tortured and his hand/eye were cut out. All by wild humans. And it doesn’t exactly go up hill from there (though granted he is more quick to dump the ‘evil’ gods than Elric is so maybe thats a plus).
I agree though…Corum would also make a kick ass movie series. Assuming there is a movie studio and a director with the balls to actually attempt it and do it right. Think about a Corum/Elric series a la the recent Lord of the Ring movies…but much darker and deeper. Wow…
I agree that Johny Depp could pull off a good Elric btw. He seems a lot more versatile than I used to think he was.
-XT
True, but from there he gains a cool companion in Jhary O-Conel and sets out to fix things, or at least find peace. It is ok to have a movie start out dark. The Terminator flicks did this, watching the apocalypse, or the few remains of humanity being hunted down isn’t exactly light and fluffy. It is the stuff which happens later which is the key. Corum wins his fight(well, as much as any Champion ever does), and Elric dies alone and friendless having just murdered his best friend and damned his soul to feed the black sword.
Enjoy,
Steven