If that STINKBURGER Eragon got made into a movie...

[Perssonicus]

It escapes me why Elric's or any of the other Moorcock heroes' sagas have to date not been made into films.

Someone coughed up the bread for Eragon (a movie I walked out on after the first boring hour), and although there has been discussion for years of an Elric movie, it would seem, out here in Flyoverland (Colorado), that the project has lost steam.

My deepest hopes are that Mike is deeply involved in the screenplay and in the conceptualization of the film, or, heck, even one of Corum's tales. I keep hoping that Mike will be with us for many years to come, and that the film is not made after his passing when he has no input.

With all of the terrible movies that get funded and made every year, it escapes me why Elric is yet to make his silver screen debut. I continue to await that glorious day.

[KenBoorman]

Mike has stated on numerous occasions ii this section and elsewhere on the site that it wasn't until recently that he was confident the movies could be made to the standard he wanted them at. He is deeply involved in the screenplay, again, as stated elsewhere in this section.

Ken

[Perssonicus]

Yes, Ken, I saw the points in other spots that the film has been under discussion, and that Mike is involved. I had, though, just come back from seeing Eragon and was so disgusted that someone paid to make that waste of celluloid while we are still awaiting a film treatment of the Kinslayer and the Stealer of Souls.

It IS heartening to know that the project is not dead at this point, and I do hope that the flop of Eragon has not tainted the deal. I thought that striking while the iron was hot after the three-year theatrical domination of The Lord of the Rings would have been good marketing strategy, but of course, no dice there.

I do, however, think that the success of comic-book based films does actually open the door, yet again, to an opportunity to go ahead with an Elric film, even though the anti-hero concept may seem a bit of a stretch to marry to the success of film treatments of fantasy heroes.

I, for one, do not think that the filmgoing public would be so averse to the anti-hero, especially when I look at the success of some of the mundane fare that contuinues to be cranked out by the Hollywood industry.

I continue to hold out great hopes for the finished product, and for the commercial success of same.

[Hawksun]

I think that Guilliamo del Toro's latest film, Pan's Labyrinth should give us Elric fans some cause for hope. It's a wonderful film artistically, and has been very well recieved by the critics.

The work of Neil Gaiman, who I'm a great admirer of, has a number of his works being made into films (eg Coraline, Stardust and - I hope Death: The High Cost of Living) as well as being personally involved in the writing of MirrorMask, the English-language script of the wonderful Princess Mononoke and the upcoming CGI version of Beowulf.

I don't mean to say that the fears following the release of Eragon are unfounded, but after LOTR I'm not surprised at the phenomonon. Afterall, just when Ridley Scott seemed to have ressurected the sword-and-sandals epic with Gladiator, along came Troy. Hopefully the films I mentioned above (of which only Death: The High Cost of Living isn't already on release or in post-production) should restore some of the reputation of the fantasy genre in order to get us a decent Elric movie or six.

[Perssonicus]

Hiya Hawksun:

I've been intrigued by the little I have seen about Pan's Labyrinth. Is it a lot of hack/slash/guts/blood/entrails/torturing beautiful girls, or is there any real socially redeeming aspects to the film?

If it's basically Texas Chainsaw Massacre with slightly more visually intersting butchers and a slight eldritch tone, I'd probably pass it by. What did you think?

Thanks for any input.

[Hawksun]

It can get a tad gruesome at times, but there are no actual evicerations. The evil stepfather who is a captain in the Spanish army and a die-hard fascist is a nasty piece of work, as you might expect. The most gruesome bits are when he stabs a farmer he suspects of being a rebel sympathyser to death and the results of his torturing a guerilla fighter (although the actual torture takes place off-screen). On the whole, I don't think it went over-the-top with the blood, and much of the tension was created by the wierd creatures that are guarding various objects that the protagonist has to retreive. I'm not that keen on horror movies, so I only have a vague idea of the stereotypes, but I didn't see any evidence of them in Pan's Labyrinth.

[Morgan Kane]

there is a specific thread about Pan's labyrinth !

a great movie about teen age, fascism and fantaisy !

[Yisselda]

That Eragon film and book leave me cold.

They just look so derivitive.

They even made the heros name sound like Aragorn from LOTR.

Its like they looked at features of other books and put them together.

The plot reminded me of the plot of Draken The Aincients Gates. The PS2 game.

But really really depressing and opposite.

But Jeremy Irons going nuts on early morning interviews on E4 was funny.

Obviously not a morning person.

Yeah it totally sucks that they havent made a Michael Moorcock film yet.

Elric is the most cinematic. Corum and Hawkmoon too.

Corum actually reads like a script or screen play.

[Arquinsiel]

That Eragon film and book leave me cold.

They just look so derivitive.

They even made the heros name sound like Aragorn from LOTR.

Its like they looked at features of other books and put them together.

The plot reminded me of the plot of Draken The Aincients Gates. The PS2 game.

But really really depressing and opposite.

I was pretty much thinking the same thing the whole way through. It was like the origional Drakan - Order of the Flame (for PC, tomb raider one engine) mixed in with Dragonlance and using character names generated randomly from some LotR name generator.

[ElricSW]

It would be cool to have various movies, a single one wouldn't be enough...

[Yisselda]

I think it probably is more like the pc version of Draken The Order Of The Flame.

I think all the MM books merit films.

[Steve the Dude]

Of course Eragon got made. LOTR, Narnia, and Harry Potter have all done well. Eragon is similar to those. Thus it was made easily.

Elric, as well all know is NOTHING like those or anything else for that matter. Therefore it naturally will meet resistance. Hopefully, Elric will go into production this year. If it doesn't ...

[devilchicken]

Of course Eragon got made. LOTR, Narnia, and Harry Potter have all done well. Eragon is similar to those. Thus it was made easily.

Elric, as well all know is NOTHING like those or anything else for that matter. Therefore it naturally will meet resistance. Hopefully, Elric will go into production this year. If it doesn't ...

We still haven't seen a decent Conan movie yet, and that's got some 30-odd years on Elric.

[Steve the Dude]

We still haven't seen a decent Conan movie yet, and that's got some 30-odd years on Elric.

Exactly my point devilchicken. We still have not seen a new Conan movie despite 3 different possible productions; still no Conan movie. What chance does Elric have given such ? Not much.

[David Mosley]

Exactly my point devilchicken. We still have not seen a new Conan movie despite 3 different possible productions; still no Conan movie. What chance does Elric have given such ? Not much.

But 10 years ago what chance would most people have given that LOTR would ever be made into a film, let alone three? What is needed is people at Universal with the will to make the Elric movies regardless of their public popularity (i.e. right now Elric is nowhere near as popular as Eragon or Harry Potter (say) although over the 45-odd years Elric has been in print his total audience is hardly likely to be insignificant).

I think the fact that Universal have twice paid their option fees on the Elric property at least suggests that the studio feels it's a property worth holding onto. Whether an Elric movie ever gets made though doesn't worry me overly. Elric's legitimacy doesn't depend for me on whether there's a film out there or not, although I don't dispute that a Elric trilogy will significantly raise Elric's profile in the public consciousness (just as the not-so-great-but-not-so-awful Judge Dredd film did with Mega-City One). However, the real virtue of having an Elric movie made is that it will (hopefully) bring people to discover Mike's books who might not otherwise encounter them.