Doctor Who movie in development

David Yates, the guy who directed the last 4 Harry Potter movies, is currently developing a Doctor Who film, with plans in turning it into a franchise. Here is the Variety article, gonna look for other sources.

One thing that does come to my attention, is that they're stating that the movie won't follow the tv show, so is essentially a new adaptation/reboot.

edited 14th Nov '11 12:24:08 PM by Dream_Huntress

So it's just like Bryan Singer's Battlestar Galactica movie in the works?

I really don't understand the point of doing a Continuity Reboot of Who. This isn't a franchise that has been bogged down by all of its continuity. Instead, it uses it to its advantage. Fans love that the Whoniverse is what it is. Erasing all of that continuity would totally miss the point.

Also, David Yates? Lol, no thanks.

edited 14th Nov '11 2:50:39 PM by Sporkaganza

I just don't see why the BBC would do this.

Oh, that's why.

I find it interesting that despite apparently involving the BBC in the production, no-one from there was quoted by Variety.

Okay, you do that. I just have one thing to say...

I've been wanting a chance to use that.

Okay, I'm gonna ask, and I know I will regret it, but screw it: Why? Why would it be such a terrible thing to make a Doctor Who story that appeals to more people than just its fans?

Because there's a certain charm to it that wouldn't really translate to a big movie franchise.

Could you elaborate a little on that?

Who says its erasing anything? Sounds like it could be an alternate timeline thing.

Besides, this is Doctor Who. "Time can be rewritten."

edited 14th Nov '11 8:22:49 PM by Pulsar

Doctor Who isn't just about the monsters and the effects. It's very driven by the characters and stories, which need more than just a movie to really be developed and enjoyable. It's meant to be spread out over a series, not crammed into 90 minutes.

edited 14th Nov '11 8:41:57 PM by Mort08

Only one way to go with this reboot:

*roots for the Daleks* Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!!

David Yates may be the most undeservedly hated filmmaker right now. His Harry Potter adaptations were well-received and made money but he still gets called a hack.

It's not like he made Batman and Robin.

I can see it from here: Screenplay by Joss Whedon. Nathan Fillion as The Doctor, Amy Acker as the companion, Christopher Lee as the villain... (/Imagine Spot) Seriously, this has the potential to be either jaw-droppingly awesome or bowel-breakingly bad. And if they americanise it too much, may God have mercy on their souls, for the fandom won't have any.

They would never cast an American as Doctor Who. The character is too into UK culture to do such as a thing (like James Bond, which Burt Reynolds and Adam West turned down as they felt that an American in the role was a bad idea).

My suggestion: Ralph Fiennes.

Ralph Fiennes... Ooh yeaah, that could work... Or him as The Master.

Anyway, just found this again: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2011/04/an-american-who-how-american-s.php

The Doctor: NYEEAAHH!!!

Two more links on the subject:

http://io9.com/5859431/a-new-doctor-who-movie-from-the-director-of-the-harry-potter-films

http://io9.com/5859483/why-david-yates-movie-reboot-could-be-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-doctor-who-in-ages

Other suggestions:

• Romola Garai as his companion (I'm surprised she isn't famous yet)
• The Daleks as villains (or a proto-Dalek)
• Set the film before the series
• Have Ilan Eshkeri score the film

edited 15th Nov '11 8:09:42 AM by Buscemi

If they're going to have the Daleks as the villains, I hope they get a neat redesign like they did in Dalek (Not so much in Victory of the Daleks >_>).

It'll also be interesting if this manages to make Doctor Who much bigger in countries outside the UK.

Does the show get good Spanish dubs? Because I've been dying to show it to my relatives.

This could go any way, in my mind. It could be brilliant, it could be terrible, or it could be anywhere in between. I'm kind of worried.

I'm worried they'll cast someone really big as the Doctor. I know that's what is generally best to do in movies, but the best Doctors tend to be the lesser known actors. I don't think it would work if the actor was too recognisable. I don't know why, exactly, but it wouldn't.

I'd prefer a movie that covered one of the big events alluded to in the current series, but I guess that wouldn't appeal to the market they're aiming at.

edited 15th Nov '11 11:32:31 AM by ArlaGrey

It would be really cool to see the Time War with a big-film budget, but that wouldn't work at all with the stated intent and the fact that they'd need to show Eight turning into Nine, which is pretty much not going to happen since Eccleston has no desire to come back.

I have no opinions on this really. So I'll give one anyway.

Reposted from a tangential thread: Considering that the episodes are already an hour long, I think a passable movie plot would be similar to a season opener. Introduce the Doctor, introduce a companion, introduce a monster or a wibbly wobbily problem or an antagonist. Introduce the Doctor to the companion and then the two to the problem, not necessarily in that order. Have the Doctor do something clever. Have the Doctor offer the person the chance to join him on the journey through time and space. The adventure continues, et cetera.

Choose something spectacular for the problem de jour maybe. Fleets of alien spaceships, a wibbly thing, who knows.

Get lots of banter in. Like an episode but polished up. Write something that would be good for the show. And then make it better.

Setting's important, too. Someplace that's both spacey-wacey and timey-wimey. A world with a futuristic touch, lots of aliens (maybe some familiar faces), and architecture and clothing take inspiration from some recognizable historical era (Victorian, Elizabethan, etc.). Something like that world we briefly glimpsed in the beginning of A Good Man Goes to War, where Commander Strax came from.

Alien planet? Somehow something going on there is affecting or a danger to Earth in some way? Action could jump between the settings?