Whats stopping Terry Pratchetts Discworld series from becoming as popular as say the Harry Potter franchise?
On a related note, what actor would play Rincewind the best? and various other characters?
Feature films? I’m thinking no. But a mini-series or two? Hell yes!
I’d like to see a few on the big screen, but reading even the shortest of his books, the stories are all way too involved that one would have to cut out too much good stuff in order to make it fit within the constraints of a two hour movie. And if you plan on making a franchise of them, then it’d be even harder to help save consistancy.
But I’m one of those people who really enjoys movies based on books that actually follow the books. Now, if Pratchett wrote a script strictly for a movie, that would be interesting to see. If I recall correctly, The Color of Magic has been made into a play. Anyone seen it and have a review?
As for who would play Rincewind, I’m sure a lot of people would say John Clease, especially considering he did the voice in the game, but personally, I think he’s too old. I see him playing more the head of Unseen University, and also just randomly dispersed throughout the movie as various other characters. Sorry, I just think he’s too old to play Rincewind.
Someone made an animated version of a couple of them. I saw ‘Soul Music’. It wasn’t bad - nothing special, but certainly far above what I expected. I think animation is probably the way to go if someone was to make a film of it - Too much of it just wouldn’t work with real people. Maybe the guards series would work as a feature film, but I’m rather dubious about the scenes with the dragon. I think CGI would give the wrong effect.
Who was the person who did the voice for Rincewind in the games? He’d be perfect (although I’d be dubious about watching a film with Rincewind in it - I hate rincewind as a character)
And the reason Terry Pratchett isn’t as popular as harry potter is pretty simple - they’re not kids books, so the world isn’t being swamped with millions of screaming little brats obsessing about it (Disclaimer: I do read and like harry potter). Also, when it comes down to it, they’re fairly intelligent books. This rules out 1/3 of the population absolute minimum. Once you’ve considered this anda bunch of other factors it puts him well below HP in popularity.
That being said, they do have a fairly large following, so I guess there’s some hope for humanity after all. 
Wyrd Sisters is an animated version available on DVD. I think either traditional animation or CG (like Shrek) would work better than live action.
Me - i would play Rincewind best!
runs away like a coward
terry pratchett is the most shoplifted author in the UK…
if people won’t pay for the books, why would they pay to see the film!!
seriously i think the temptation to cast “big names” would be too much…better to be CGI or animation, and have famous voices.
and yeah, i think a mini series would be able to stay closer to the full story (and the footnotes should be done in voiceover, they’re essential)
I asked Terry this about 7 years ago. His reply:
“I’ve had many people want to turn my books into movies. Either they’re really great, ernest people with loads of skill and no money, or they’re Americans.”
He went on to say that Hollywood producers wanted to take Death out of the onscreen versions, because they didn’t get it and didn’t think the audience would either.
Honestly, I really don’t feel that Pratchett’s humour translates well from the page to the screen. To my mind at least, the thing that makes him so incredibly funny is not just the way he has with words (and characters, and setting, etc.), but the intangible humour you can find in the way he punctuates things, the comic spacing, if you will (like comic timing, only, well, on the page).
When I saw the above-mentioned animated version of “Soul Music” a few months back, I couldn’t help but feel that the indefinable essence of the man’s unique style of humour hadn’t even come close to being captured, and quite frankly I don’t really think it can.
Take out Death?!?!?! :eek:
I would check out a movie of a Terry Pratchett novel, whether animated, live-action or CGI, but not if they took out Death.
None of them. Leave the books on the bookshelf, where they belong.
Now, if Terry Pratchett wanted to write an original screenplay, I’d be keenly interested.
Americans don’t understand how popular Pratchett is in the UK. At least until Rowling came along he was the best-selling author there. Of any and all genres. He’s certainly wildly popular among sf&f fans in the US but probably unknown among the general public.
And I also think that his flavor would never come across on film unless he himself found a way to write a screenplay that conveyed it.
On preview I see a reference to a Good Omens movie. Since I’m presuming that all of us have been referring to his Discworld books, that’s a totally different thing.
Ah yes Good Omens Such a wonderful book and my personal favorite.
If they cut out “the other 4 horsemen” expecially “Man covered in fish” I will be very pissed.
I think we are at the point where we could make a movie out of one or more of the Discworld books. I remember coming out of Shakespeare in Love thinking, “Well, they could do a credible job with Ankh-Morpork”.
I think that the problem is, the Pratchett humor wouldn’t play well in a big budget, Hollywood movie. You know,
**The Color of Magik**
starring
Robin Williams as Rincewind
Lucy Liu as TwoFlower
with
John Goodman as The Patrician
:smack:
But someone like the Cohn Brothers (maybe) or a smaller studio might make a go of it. Hey, what about Peter Jackson to direct? Pratchett’s written more books than JRR…
It’s not on the IMDB, but Dreamworks has Truckers in development. It will be done by the same crew that did Shrek.
Personally, I’d love to see The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents done on film, I think it would translate rather well.
[url = “http://www.writenews.com/2001/050201_dreamworks_bromeliad.htm”] For information on Truckers being filmed.
sigh Could a Mod please fix? Tankie.
For information on Truckers being filmed.
How’s that?
Sadly, tragically, we may not.
I haven’t seen the animated movies, but I really don’t like the idea of a CGI version. There are some people out there who are absolutely brilliant at casting, and as Peter Jackson’s shown us, with enough motivated and dedicated people, fantasy can be brought to life in a VERY effective and positive manner. When I read the books, I envision the characters as real life people, not animated figments. As a lot of people mentioned, a lot of Pratchett’s humor is going to be lost in any visual adaptation of a book, so I believe they would need the extra power of real people who can convey emotions, which is something no CGI rendered figure can do effectively.
Sure, if Hollywood got ahold of it, it could turn out to be uber crap on a stick, so it would be great if a UK studio, or possibly independant group could put it together.