Development Hell is always a possibility. I'm surprised, not sure if I should be excited or not.
Mad Scientist! MWAHHAAHAHSabriel would make an excellent movie. As long as they did it right...
I think it would probably win in terms of those little jokes, bits of humor, that you can find in the movies of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, which just really liven it up. Sabriel already has things like that in it — omg this is awesome, a movie of Sabriel!
I would like to see a really good, talented unknown for Sabriel, but Natalie Portman or Keira Knightley would be good too (though it would be Dawson Casting.) Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) could make a great Sanar or Ryelle - or any of the Clayr, really.
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I don't really like Emma Watson as Hermione, though, but she and Natalie Portman are the right type - cool, intelligent-and-focused-looking.
Also, I kind of had a flashback when I saw the name of the tentative director. Anand Tucker - the first name associated with The Golden Compass. That was a dark time...
I actually hate when good books get adapted for movies, because the actors never perfectly fit the image in your head. For example, Natalie Portman doesn't fit my image of Sabriel at all, but she might be right for someone else. No matter what, something will seem off.
And even if the author is involved, it's almost impossible to fit all the details into a 2-3 hour movie.
I do hear what you're saying, but I've gotten to the point - just for me, personally - where I'm excited to see a new adaptation of something I already love, and ready to accept the many transitions that are necessary between the genres. As long as the project is approached with love, respect, and enthusiasm, that's good!
edited 17th Dec '10 9:54:28 AM by vifetoile
I've got mixed feelings about this one. I LOVED Sabriel when I first read it, and I liked the rest of the Old Kingdom books too, but I worry that they won't get the "tone" of the book quite right. IMO, the atmosphere was both creepy and enticing (hence, you wanted to reread it, or wished it were longer, because you wanted to experience that same creepy-but-magical atmosphere), and that might be hard to pull off. It can be done, but it could also go horribly wrong.
I'm cautiously optimistic. I found the book very entertaining, but . . . flawed. On the other hand, its length means that it should be fairly easy to adapt faithfully into a movie, and I think that they could possibly even improve the story in adaptation with some minor tweaks.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.As a character, Sabriel is extremely mature for her age, so I wouldn't mind Dawson Casting. Also needs to be very pale and very dark haired.
You know... it wasn't until like the second read-through that I realized that Sabriel is supposed to have hair cut in a bob. Like this.
Or this.
Ancelstierre is basically England in the 1920's, so Sabriel has short hair - and it's just incidental, not like how Lirael hides herself behind her hair because of her intense self-esteem issues.
Because Garth Nix is working on the film, the hair will probably be accurate (besides which, I think it'll look cool.)
But the American book covers have Sabriel with long hair - and it's a really good cover, but inaccurate in that respect.
And I have this vision, horrible, of pictures of Sabriel in costume being released, and the book fans howling to the skies, "Noooo! That's not what Sabriel looks like in my imagination!" Because their imaginations are fed by the book covers, and no one has stopped to tell them that actors actually can't be two-dimensional. *
Just because that's exactly what happened with The Golden Compass, and that was one of the most annoying extended Internet interactions I have ever had to deal with.
edited 28th Jan '11 11:30:34 AM by vifetoile
Leradny I knew I liked you.
So long as "they" don't so to it what they did with Dark Is Rising, I'll be tolerating it, and maybe even excited. As to who should be the actors—I'd kind of like a no-name to play Sabriel.
Doodles*sees Ori Doodle on watchlist for Sabriel thread*
*TACKLEHUG*
I am partial to no-name actors in new franchises too, don't get me wrong. But the twenty-odd year Time Skip would mean either Dawson Casting in Sabriel changing to Absurdly Youthful Mother in Lirael, or a re-cast altogether.
edited 13th Feb '11 7:57:59 PM by Leradny
Squee hugged!
I wou;ldn't mind a recast for Sabriel as mom in the sequels. I felt that the 20 years later Sabriel had had so much change going on that she was an entirely different person.
i love "draco" for Nick La Sayre. My biggest worry is that they will make Touchstone a total hunk—cause i always saw him as brawny, but not particularly handsome.
Also—if they give Kerrigor leatherpants, I'll most likely flip out.
DoodlesI wonder how they'll handle the Touchstone getting changed back from a naked figurehead scene. It better have an R-rating because a movie with rotting zombies that chickens out on showing a guy's junk is just wrong.
I really like the idea of Natalie Portman and Emma Watson as older and younger Sabriels respectively, and I'm excited for this to come out! However, I'm worried about the time period, an how it will portrayed, and also how they will deal with the flying scenes. And also the animal "skins"- bear, owl, etc. And the secret chambers in the library. Basically I'm a worrywort.

Let's play the "Guess Who Might Be Cast" game.
I call Sean Biggerstaff as Touchstone because... y'know, Touchstone wears a kilt. Also Christopher Lee or Alan Rickman as Mogget. And Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman as the composer for the score.
Skipping ahead, Tom Felton as Nicholas Sayre. Look at him
◊. And look at Nick.
◊ HE'S EVEN WEARING SLYTHERIN COLORS
I'm not particularly worried about Adaptation Decay because Garth Nix would co-write the script
.
Edit: Upon further thought, I'd like to change the title to "Sabriel might be getting a movie".
edited 16th Dec '10 10:18:23 AM by Leradny