How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Tobaeus — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:01:39 -0700

We all dream of it at some point or another. Publication, and then a movie option. Thousands of fans camping out at box offices so they can get tickets as soon as they go on sale. But there's always that dark side of that one great moment. Hollywood decides to change some things to make your book "more appealing" in movie form. The fanbase goes nuts. Blogs are set fire with these behind the scenes updates, there is an uproar, and your fans look to you to be their champion. So what crime will Hollywood commit against your integrity when you're famous? From the Imaginary Associated Press, here's how they'll ruin mine: "In a strange throwback to Warner Brother's attempts at Akira, Touchstone Pictures has come under fire for attempting to whitewash the cast of Sadira's Song. Fans are in an uproar over the announcement. Petitions are circulating the net, calling on director Michael Bay to consider the list of Middle Eastern and Middle Eastern American actors to fill the roles. Michael Bay declined to comment on casting decisions. "Another point of contention is a change to the female lead. "She's not supposed to talk," says one irate fan. "Her voice is a destructive force! We might as well hand this whole thing over to Disney. Then she can sing about how she can't talk." Disney representatives could not be reached for comments. "Fans are also expressing trepidation at Michael Bay's involvement in the movie in the first place. "He's just going to fill it with cliche dialogue and explosions. That's not what this book's about," says Gunther McAtherson, of Janet County, Nevada. Why couldn't we have gotten Peter Jackson, or someone else with directing talent. "When asked about his decisions, Michael Bay was quoted as saying "There's a girl in this thing who can destroy things with her voice. This story's begging for explosions! The fans will thank me later." "At this time, the author could not be reached for comments, but her blog displayed a video of herself, banging her head against her desk for five full minutes." -IAP So... how will Hollywood ruin your vision?

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

EMT-TKJ — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:25:21 -0700

"This just in! It seems that the movie rights for KJ's spectacular series are now being discussed. There are three directors set in the line up at this time, Peter Jackson, M. Night Shyamalan, and Tim Burton! These three will be taking her first two novels- The Phoenix Squad and King of The Mountain- And turning them into movies. What will possibly happen to the plot? Peter puts in an odd twist by having a magical helmet in King of the Mountain be the prize being fought over, instead of the crown, and Song- a girl whose voice is being changed to that of a a Siren, is now on a quest to destroy the helmet by tossing it into the pits of the volcano-" "What?" KJ yells as she's reading the article. "There's not even a volcano on the island!" "-but first, she must get the helmet back from her love interest Howl-" "That's her brother you ninny! Not a love interest!" "- who stole her helmet and her heart. Her journey is disrupted however, for whenever she falls asleep, her dreams take her to a world of singing imps who are trying to get her to fall in love with the goblin king, Tobias-" "Oh for the love of Narnia, what in the world is going on? How in the world is Modern day America infested by goblins and imps? Whats next, David Bowie?" "However, we're far more excited for the release of the Phoenix squad, where a mute unicyclists named Ari must fight the forces of hell with her brother and three friends." "Her brother is dead." "But since shyamalan is making this film, expect the entire thing to be in flashback, because the main hero dies at the end." "Wow."

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Almira Torralba — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:26:44 -0700

Going to extremes with the friendship/unrequited love thing with my characters Darren and Emil. Someone might go the entire "Brokeback Mountain" route with them---which does not, does not happen at all. Another more prudish producer may eliminate Darren's unrequited thing for Emil---which is a shame since it's important to the development of Darren's character. Another way they might ruin the story is in how my female character Marce is portrayed. A producer may make her too pretty and girly---which would be wrong since she's supposed to be a little plain and a bit of a tomboy. But a producer may also get it wrong by making her too butch or "a guy trapped in a girl's body". Which is wrong too since she's got a vulnerable, decidedly more feminine side that is obsessed with relationships. And another way this story can be ruined? Writing in an "antagonist" to account for Darren's failure on West End. Still another bad way to render this story into film would be to downplay the activism and political tensions within the story. Eliminate these elements---it becomes simply another teenage "One Tree Hill" or "Glee" type of comedy. The political backdrop is very, very important to this story---another reason it may get banned someday.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

RebeccaMolloy — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:06:57 -0700

If my current duo of NaNo novels were turned into a film or pair of films, the producers would probably relocate events from Ireland to America and not have any Irish characters/actors in it out of the fear that US audiences wouldn't understand their accents. The Irish-language scenes would also be thrown out or changed into English because Hollywood doesn't like different languages and subtitles in films. They would probably also change the style of my characters' band from being a rock band to a supposedly more "fashionable" pop, dance or r 'n' b group which would have me pulling my hair out. I cannot for the life of me imagine Lindsey, Michael, Thomas and co. doing those silly dance routines. My MMC's family history would probably be altered and his father's crimes would inevitably be shoehorned into having been part of some IRA plot or something. There's a fair bit they could mess up with my novels. In the (admittedly unlikely) event that anyone does ever make these into a film, I would be there on set watching everything like a hawk and making sure it was done right.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Spuggey — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:15:22 -0700

They'd pick people to play my characters... And they'd all be generic hollywood clones. I HATE THAT SO MUCH. Yes, they're super-beings, and the most powerful things on earth (potentially) but they all look rather unimpressive. Also, I'm sure they'd stick in a 'romantic' sub-plot, and that would make me cry. Because the books are about FRIENDSHIP and KILLING STUFF.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Elfdragon12 — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:46:44 -0700

Let's see... Deonne, one of the major characters who happens to be black, will be turned into a stereotypical, sassy black woman. Who probably only listens to rap/hiphop and constantly goes out to club. (While she does have a bit of an attitude, it's not that much of her personality and she enjoys classical just as much/more than rap or hiphop or whatever.) Oiserdi will be toned down and turned into some pretty elf-thing so that the light romantic subplot won't be as weird. Or they'll take out the romance involving him entirely and make him a creepy thing with no redeeming qualities. That will be the big thing, turning fans into uproaring maniacs. (His grin is like a shark's, he is almost always smiling, his ears are over six inches long, and he's pretty much an over-affectionate puppy dog.) Marilyn the main character will lose her feminine qualities, instead Hollywood will figure the audience can't handle a gamer girl who is comfortable with being feminine and wearing dresses. She's be in a torrid love affair with one of the antagonists (when, at best, they had seen something could have been there, but this whole mess would never let it happen), have an unrequited crush on Mr. Starrett (who is married), or possibly with another character that I have yet to develop. Mr. Starrett's age will be taken down so they don't have to deal with the questionable May-December he has with his wife who is 20 years younger than him. Or Mrs. Starrett will be made older. Or, they will take out any seriousness in the plot and turn it into another version of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with nerdy college students with video game references galore. (I honestly haven't seen this movie and am not saying it's bad. It's just very much different from my story.)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Brightdreamer — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:48:01 -0700

THE TRIVIAL TRIBUNE, "Pix and Tix" movie review column, dateline November 32, 20?? "It's been said that the surest way to kill a golden goose is to sent it to Hollywood. So is the case with 'Second-Chance Magic,' the blockbuster breakout fantasy novel that made TBW a household name. "Early signs of trouble came when Peter Jackson, who initially optioned the film, was forced to pass on the project due to complications from ongoing litigation by the three New Zealand actors who claimed they were discriminated against by not being cast as extras in his seminal Lord of the Rings trilogy. The script, initially approved by TBW, underwent drastic revisions when the new director, unknown Johnny John, was picked by Disney to spearhead the project. Formerly Michael Bay's official coffee tester, director John reassured unsettled fans by claiming that he had read the book and held a 'deep respect' for the source material. "In Hollywood, 'deep respect' means 'high hopes for massive piles of cash.' "Nevertheless, I was willing to give it a chance. After all, Michael Bay shocked the world with his astounding Transformers 6: Synthesis of Soul, which not only redeemed the previous installments of the franchise but wowed die-hard skeptics (like myself) with its deft interplay of character development against an existential backdrop of galactic and personal entropy, launching today's "neo-action noir" movement. "Alas, Johnny John must have been tasting someone else's coffee before that triumph. "The casting of pop-star Heidi Ho as the lead, tottering about on six-inch heels while squealing out lines like a crack-addicted pig, summarizes just how little John cared for the source material; seemingly under the delusion that she's shooting yet another borderline-soft-core video for her latest album, she thrusts and pouts and poses while giving bedroom eyes to everyone and everything in sight, especially the cameraman. The pivotal half-faerie Fox Robin - half-ally, half-villain enigma from the book - transforms into a misplaced, muscle-bound action man (played by Rock Hardcheese, most recently seen in the equally atrocious He-Man remake) constantly in search of a shirt, barking out dialog without any hint of the subtle mockery and sly half-truths the character was known for. Alas, the rest of the movie could not hope to overcome these obstacles even if it tried... which may explain why it gives up, shrugs its shoulders, and degenerates into an explosion-riddled, FX-heavy mess with an almost gleeful "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality. The plot is utterly unrecognizable, the powerful ending changed so drastically it feels like it was cut from a different movie. It wraps up with shameful hip-hop dance number - evidently that music video that Heidi Ho kept searching for. "As the closing credits rolled by in an illegible grunge font that literally hurt my eyes, I cannot help sympathizing with TBW, who tried, with numerous unsuccessful lawsuits, to stop production of this travesty. The only consolation is that this butchered atrocity bears so little resemblance to her book that nobody could possibly confuse the two anymore."

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

myyearinlists — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:23:11 -0700

Hannah will most likely be cast as a pretty white girl. She's stated to be biracial in the book - black and German Jewish - but since it's not part of her storyline at all, there's no reason not to make her blonde and beige, right? The Ilse/Andre subplot would barely even be alluded to - it's not really necessary, but I like those two so much that I'm pairing them up (before killing them off, sigh). Leroy's death would have to be explicitly spelled out onscreen, rather than left as a mysterious disappearance, just to clear up any confusion. And... that's it, I think. It's basically written with the same structure as a screenplay, so I don't think we'd run into any problems there.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Beautiful Illusion — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:27:29 -0700

"It's never easy censoring a work that was never meant to be censored. Yet if the adaptation of Felicity-Zara Stewart's Free Fall, the controversial novel that has not only garnered a cult following, but as of recent times a more widespread one, is to ever achieve a worldwide cinema distribution, producers tell her that cuts are going to have to be made. "'It's not as unusual as Stewart seems to think,' comments one unnamed source. 'The adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho did spectacularly well on its own merits, without retaining any of the excess from its source material.' Stewart, however, remains stuck in her ways, insisting that the choice to make the plot 'more coherent' by transforming it from a series of semi-tragic suicides into a city-wide conspiracy to kill off influential members of society is more than just one step too far. "The project has been plagued with its fair share of problems from the start, from controversy concerning a series of slated directors to nasty conflicts over casting decisions. Stewart voiced her fears from the outset, stating that she 'did not want [the film] to become a contrived parody of its literary counterpart', and felt that '[the novel]'s impact would be lost in the process of trying to find the right audience.' She was quick to point out that a loyal following would indulge, most likely more than once with an obsessive need to pick out differences between the silver screen rendition and the original, but bitterly noted that this would not be enough, regardless of the original budget. "Fans were reportedly outraged at the prospect of seeing a much younger actor playing the role of Courtney Vaughn, the investigator struggling in his work on each case, as well as facing difficulties in his personal life. One fan raged on an online forum that 'they're bringing in someone a decade too young as eye-candy, ignoring the story entirely. This is pathetic,' while another commented that 'how this guy will be able to support a story heavy as this is anyone's guess. I really hope that the people working on this film realize what they've done wrong before it's too late.' "The real kick is the amount of censorship going on, however, with some of the stories from the novel even having been cut. One story in particular follows porn actress Nicolette Summers, and the disturbing result of her failed attempt at a normal love life. Stewart reasons that she can see why Hollywood would be opposed to including such a scene in a film, but then comments that 'Palahniuk's Snuff was optioned. How the hell were they going to treat it, if they're treating a story that equates to less than six-thousand words this way?' Another reported change is the decision to treat Free Fall as a crime thriller, as opposed to what it originally was. 'Public sensitivity' has been called into question numerous times, leading to a script rewrite that saw ever suicide turned into murder, all of which take place under suspiciously similar circumstances. "'By this point, I'm denying all affiliation with the film,' states Felicity-Zara Stewart. 'They can call it Free Fall, they can name the characters after mine, but I'll make one thing clear for the sake of my fans: this film is not Free Fall. Anyone going into the cinema hoping to see anything that resembles the book will be sorely disappointed.' It's comments such as these that have been ill-received by the team working on the adaptation, leading to behind-the-scenes tension and the swift aversion of a number of nasty lawsuits. Stewart's lack of affiliation to the picture has called into question her rights with regards to royalties and copyright infringement. "Another unnamed source has said that 'Stewart is probably making a bigger deal out of this than there needs to be; her desire to be noticed is second only to her desire to shock and repulse her readers as much as possible, an audience of pseudo-masochists that just keep coming back for more. The more she rages, the more attention it draws to the finished product. The only bad press is no press.' "Public opinion at this point most likely remains split - whether or not this film will be worth watching remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure; the critics will have a field day when it does eventually come out." (So, just to sum up, I don't have a very good opinion of myself, no, but anyway; they's censor it to hell and cut out anything deemed 'mildly offensive', plus they'd try to make Courtney into this hunky, 'screwable' male lead, as well as probably any other males apart from The Director and The Dealer, who they'd make into a stereotypical teen filmmaker and a scuzzy drug-dealer type respectively. And, naturally, the story would have to be made into a crime thriller. Otherwise it just doesn't work. Fun topic, though, xD)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Arlequin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:30:56 -0700

Oh, god, they would probably get rid of the gay subplot. Maybe if James or Richard died in the war they would be fine with keeping it in (FELLOWESSSSS), but they get a happy ending, so that would be cut. At this rate they'd probably try to shoehorn a straight romance into there somewhere, or they'd exaggerate the importance of Randolph's storyline where he cheats on his fiancee. They'd probably try to make Catherine into a "gorgeous femme fatale" despite the fact that she's quite plain and has a crooked nose, and they'd take the fact that Sarah is "the pretty one" to the extreme and cast someone who's two sizes too skinny for her. They would also kill any subtlety the story may have as well.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

MurderDeathKill — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:46:28 -0700

1. Casting the role of Tumbleweed to a sexual object. 2. Simplifying the theme to "Guns are bad, mmkay?" Or, worse, taking out the theme altogether to simply preserve the action, the plot, and 25% of each individual character. 3. Hiring a stunt choreographer. To do ANYTHING. 4. Special effects, slow motion, and "Rule of Cool"-ing my fights. 5. Adding comic relief. 6. Shooting for any particular rating (PG-13 or R) and changing the content to suit the new target audience. .....I think I just convinced myself that I want exclusive rights to pick the director, or else I never want a movie to be made ever.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

imaginepageant — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:16:40 -0700

I second what MurderDeathKill said. I'd have to have exclusive rights to choose the director before I allowed my novel to be adapted to film. Also, I would at least co-write the script myself.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

EnigmaCalaway — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:56:48 -0700

My main character would be some buff hottie. Which is WRONG. They would be WRONG and I would be RIGHT and it would feel GREAT except the world would see their WRONGNESS. They would also probably ignore the race of every single one of my characters. I have an African, (pure African,) a Chinese girl, two Egyptian people, two hispanics, one American, and one English. I bet you a thousand thousand dollars that those facts would be utterly ignored. They would brush over the intro of the antagonist, they would brush over the minor love rectangle making it seem like everything was always as it should have been. They would make two of my main girls Damsels in Distress. Which is also WRONG. I have a feeling the only thing they would do right is the dream sequences. ...Nevermind. They'd special effects the crap out of them. They wouldn't do anything right. And I would cry.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

o0hawaiigirl0o — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:27:15 -0700

My MC is a dog. If Hollywood makes a CGI dog I would die. And he is NOT a talking animal like they have in all these Disney movies. He just narrates the movie.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Trethsparr — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:54:23 -0700

They'd probably try to make my plain-jane FMC a bombshell, for starters. Oh, and they'd cram in some sex scenes. (My novel's a "sweet" romance - no bedroom stuff.)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Lydia_Ember — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:45:24 -0700

How can they ruin my story with Werewolves in it? Simple. Hire the Wolves from the Twilight movies and have them act the exact same way. My story will be ruined by association.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Bookety — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:09:28 -0700

I always try to think of my stories in movie terms since it helps me "see" the scenes better. But there's always something they could and would change: First off, setting it in New York or London or Washington, when it's set in Birmingham. Second, adding a whole load of scenes with no relevance to the plot but which show the aliens who invade actually invading (something I completely skip out because they're rhinos, they've been here for years). Third, casting Tom Cruise as the MC, who's a writer and pretty inept when it comes to fighting. There's probably a whole lot more too, which I'll come up with as I write the story...

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

HarrietRants — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:23:26 -0700

Probably by turning the MC from a plain curvy girl into a perfect model (and still have her complain about being "plain") and runaway with the vigilante aspect by forcing super-powers onto the powerless superhero character. And would no doubt utterly miss the point by making the superhero character a 100% perfect good guy (removing his bipolar depression and mutiple personalities) and the "antagonist" into an actual villain- the whole point of the story being that the superhero is insane. Oh, and they'd give it a happy ending where the MC and the superhero end up living happily ever after. And probably make the superhero and his sister white instead of black, because interracial couples are "controversial", make the sister's nerdy husband either a loser or a genius hacker (or possibly a bad guy), and make the whole story take place in the US, with the MC not Scottish. Probably stop her from being a nerd too, go for the "sexy journalist" angle, instead of just a girl who likes writing. Still, this would probably get off mildly compared to a lot of my comics! Villain protagonists? NOPE. Anti-heroes! I shudder to think.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

HarrietRants — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:28:00 -0700

Ugh, just thought of how they'd make the superhero mega-hot too, instead of horribly scarred and unattractive. Heroes must be gorgeous, otherwise we won't get the dumbass teenage fangirls into the cinemas!

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

GuardianOfTheFronds — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:59:08 -0700

They'll downplay the complex psychological motives of my mad scientist and put in WAY too many explosions instead.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Generalist — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:49:44 -0700

I do science fiction, fantasy and science fiction-fantasy. I suspect that they would botch the science fiction, given their track record on such things. They might be able to handle the fantasy and there might be a better than average chance of doing a mediocre job with the science fiction-fantasy. I might watch the filming of the movie, but odds are I wouldn't watch the actual movie for a while, other than the premier. Of course, betting paid a lot for the movie rights would make it worth it. And if it is a success, I can always demand more money for the next one.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

brian_gott — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:35:20 -0700

Since my project has an all-alien cast, they'd probably try to dumb it down and turn it into a CGI-animated kids' movie, complete with overdone in-your-face 3D effects. Result: Movie theaters full of bored, confused and/or terrified little kids. (They'd probably insist that Dcharzen turn up alive at the end, too.)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

GreaseLightning — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:12:05 -0700

Well, for starters, they will dress Cherry up like a slut. Okay, yes, she's a prostitute, we get it. You don't have to make her wear tiny skirts EVERYWHERE she goes! Then they'll make Layla the "misunderstood" outcast at school. Wrong. She wasn't ever made fun of or bullied. She was just ignored. And she wasn't some freak. She was just a bit weird, but not to the extend Hollywood will make her. And then they'll take out Stanley's background and internal struggles completely. He'll just be the cold, heartless killer. They won't try to make the audience understand why he's the way he is. Damn movie producers.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Magpie Ilya — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:23:41 -0700

My best friend and I have a sort of proverb... "When Nich'hamar and Sajih have a love affair, and Sandra'h has a crush on Mich'wa, you know it's a movie." Nich'hamar, Sajih and Sandra'h are, basically, vampires - who in her universe do not have a sex drive, so no love affairs or sex drives either. For my novel this year... huh. Julius and Sanna would probably be a couple as well, instead of spoiled rich kid/rapist and housemaid/victim. Much easier to leave out the relationship between Sophie and Theresa as well. And the death of Annabell's grandfather. And the government? The government would probably be an evil dictatorship - when the whole point of the "Kivailo world" stories is, could a democratically elected, 21st-century, central European government get away with much the same stuff as Hitler?

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

SecondLinnet — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:38:59 -0700

I can't imagine Hollywood would touch a story like mine with a bargepole, but if they did:- My MC is a little girl with severe disabilities so they'd either tone these down or make a 'message' movie The rest of the family would either become generic victims-of-tragedy or heroic-saints who overcome every problem There'd probably be either a family break-up or a miracle 'cure' that made everything better (the disney version) Everybody would be played by fabulous-looking actors

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

clutzycricket — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:23:25 -0700

Hmm... Last year- Selene will be whitewashed, Rhiannon and S will either be a straight couple, not involved, S will have to pick a gender, Polly will be whitewashed or made useless, Mordecai and Tess will have sex early in, Mordecai saves the day entirely, John will either be straight or die, improbably happy ending. This year- Callie gets a happy ending with her fiance, Matthias saves the day, Spymaster turns evil, Azalea is more stripperiffic, as is Amyanta- oh, wait, she already is. ^_^ Mache becomes stripperiffic and in need of "getting set straight", Olivia becomes less badass... the original Matthias Ilhavre wins and marries Elisabeta Tallisrae as mercy rather than Elisabeta winning and the sweet love story that actually happens. Judith Somerset is completely removed from the backstory. The Abbot becomes corrupt. Mache becomes queen. Olivia needs to be saved at any point. ...Yeah, the darn book would be unrecognizable.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Alleyleeplz — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:59:18 -0700

I'm guessing that Hollywood would never take on a book such as mine! But if they did: 1) Nichelle would be gorgeous. She's not ugly, but she's not gorgeous. In Hollywood, there is no in-between. 2) The skimpy clothes that are actually involved won't even be cool. 3) Zia will have a trouble past or something (as if some people can't just use "the thrill of it" as a reason to be crazy). 4) The twins will have telepathy or something, or have that creepy look about them that twins always have in movies. 5) The Highest Kin will be some smooth-talking, ugly creep (though that's not TOO far from true) 6) The only male in my main party will do some wonderful, manly-man hero things (which will never happen in my novel), or be far too attractive. And they'll probably not include his prosthetic arm 7) They'll use large, recognizable cities for the setting. Which would basically ruin the alternate-earth idea. Remind me never to give my novel over to Hollywood unless I am SERIOUSLY desperate for money.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Angelic Disaster — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:17:06 -0700

Nora Swordsong would probably be played by Kristen Stewart, with my luck. And they would make Grencia Law either a woobie or a complete and utter villain with no redeeming factors. I don't want to even think of what Hollywood would do with my lazy assassin woman. Poor Mara.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

TewiInaba — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:50:08 -0700

How they would ruin my second book, since my 1st one is way too complex for me right now: Vitas would probably undergo a drastic personality change, since you can't have cold, collected ninja maids. She'll probably be super beautiful, even though she's honestly just a thin, normal looking person who actually is missing a foot. Grachiel would be a horrid CGI wisecracking pony. They'd also change the genre as to be for kids and leave out the fact that she's the Devil, cursed and suffering from amnesia. They'd be superheros, and not just a maid and a pony pirate who fight crime and sail the ocean, looking for answers to their lives. Grachiel's 'brother' would be a good guy who accidentally turned his sister into a pony, and not a mysterious saint who sealed the Devil away.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Inkling Dreams — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:54:12 -0700

1. More explosions, more sword-fights, more guns. As if my story doesn't have enough of those already. 2. Lydia would be white-washed and shortened, because right now she's black and 6'8". They'd also probably give her a more vocal attitude, rather than being the silent, treeish rebel that she is. 3. Mara would become an object of sexual fixation. I know she's a pirate but come on guys, when she wears armor she wears armor that will protect her from bodily harm not armor that you can pick up at your local Adult Superstore. 4. Mara would be made significantly younger than 27, and Octavian would be made significantly older than 21. And Mara would magically become shorter than Octavian even though she is taller than him. 5. Benjamin would become less hideous, because you know Hollywood can't have ugly good-guys. 6. All women would magically be dressed like skanks. Boobs would be everywhere. 7. More rum. 8. Emperor Samuel would probably be depicted as a lot more evil than what he is. By no means is he a good emperor, and by no means is he a good guy, but he's really not evil. Just childish and powerful. 9. The fight scene between Rosaire and Octavian would end up with two shirtless, sweaty guys and resemble a soft-core porn more than... ya know, a fight for the empire's future. 10. Completely ignore the idea that Octavian has done awful things in his past. And they'll probably down-play his whole idea that getting involved in the rebellion is the only way he believes he can redeem himself for what he has done. And that, ironically, he ended a war by doing awful things and he starts a new one by doing good things... and they'll probably make his mechanical arm a lot more functional that what it really is.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

neon.tigress — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:33:10 -0700

MONDAY - It's only been three days since [director]'s highly-anticipated adaptation of 'A Faint Hope' hit theaters, and viewers everywhere have been voicing out their opinions from the digital rooftops of the Internet; unfortunately, most opinions are not what the moviemakers would like to hear. [neon.tigress]'s bestselling high-fantasy novel has become a national sensation in just over a year's time. Along with this success came a massive fanbase that had high expectations for the film version, expectations which a majority believe have gone unmet. One fan had this to say: '[FMC] was done totally wrong. She was too tall, too pale, and certainly too assertive and feisty. She didn't have any of the submissive, polite characteristics that made her so endearing in the novel. And don't even get me started on [FSC]... The acting was weak, to say the least. She was supposed to be the exact opposite of [FMC]'s real personality - strong and powerful, not some stick-thin buxom goddess with perfect hair and nails like [director] made her out to be. Her action scenes were poorly done, and you could just tell she had no idea how to handle a longbow. I waited for the midnight premiere and felt totally disappointed with these two characters.' Many critics complained loudly about the 'unneccessary' sex scenes, overuse of profanity, and sub-par special effects. What outraged viewers most was the issue of unrequited love between two of the characters, something which was never in the novel and, some said, completely ruined the point of their original innocent relationship with each other. Something almost equally irksome to fans was the total removal of the antagonist's touching backstory. The director has made few comments on his film so far, but did provide this explanation: "[Antagonist]'s story seemed to detract from the tension between the two opposing sides. I wanted viewers to despise him, so I had to take out his 'why-I'm-evil' reasoning and make it so that he had no past ties to [FSC]. I feel that this technique allowed people to hate him without having to feel sorry for his tragic life". It wasn't all bad feedback; common accolades focused on the costumes, set design, soundtrack and cinematography, and after all it did top the weekend box office. But overall it seems that [director] will have to handle a great deal of flack from die-hard fans for many weeks - or years - to come. ------------------------ Maybe I got a little carried away... but it was so much fun! :D

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

lyrwriter — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:23:52 -0700

Hooboy, I can see it now... For my 2009 NaNovel: Albert, my MMC, would probably be whitewashed and prettified. Although he's ordinary-looking (I mean, he's not ugly but neither is he handsome) and it's mentioned that he's half Mexican, he would probably be played by someone like Logan Lerman. Julia, my FMC, is supposed to be pretty, but not Hollywood-pretty. She's petite, sprightly, doesn't really have pronounced curves, and has straight, strawberry-blonde hair. In Hollywood, she'll be taller, much more busty, and have long, flaming red tresses (or else your stereotypical flat-ironed blonde hair). Additionally, Julia gets turned into a parrot about 1/3 of the way into the book, and what with all this CGI technology nowadays, I can easily see them wanting to animate her as a parrot to give her more "facial expressions" and whatnot (like the daemons in The Golden Compass). GAH. It would be so much better if they did it with real animals like in Babe! Kozm is described as dark-skinned with dark, curly hair, so I can see them casting him as a sassy black guy, even though that's not at all who he is (he's fairly serious, tight-lipped, and supposed to look more like he comes from somewhere in South Asia). If they didn't do that, I feel like they'd make him way more buff and sexy than he's supposed to be. Good-looking, yes, but also tall and skinny and agile. As for the plot, they'll turn any fight scene into a 20-minute-long epic battle in which characters will perform acrobatic moves or tricks that they'd never actually be capable of. Most of the awkwardness surrounding Julia's transformation will be clipped ("I mean, awkwardness---who wants to watch THAT? Nah. Let's cut it. It'll give us more time for those fight scenes!") They'd probably either play up Albert's attraction to Charlie (though it's already a super-awkward "Stacey's Mom" kind of situation) or just break with canon entirely and have him be in love with Julia (Charlie's daughter and his [definitely platonic] best friend). Spelling (i.e. magic) would turn into something with flashy effects and weird noises when it's supposed to be much more subtle. And at some point early on in the movie, someone will have to ask a TON of really stupid questions in order to give the characters an excuse to explain basic things about their world to the audience. ...then again, seeing how they utterly butchered the plot of Percy Jackson in the movie, I'm not sure I'm even capable of imagining the type of stuff they might do. *le sigh*

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

lyrwriter — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:27:27 -0700

Glad I'm not the only one who dislikes the idea of human-turned-animal characters being done with CGI...

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Chillibean — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:46:27 -0700

I expect Visere will be a dashing hot man who takes off his shirt for no particular reason. They will also remove his flaws, his temper tantrums, and his love subplot with Aveline is going to be taking up a MASSIVE notch. They might even do the whole ball scene *cringes* And she's going to be one of those useless princesses who rely on prince charming to save them. Klyte is going to be turned into a really annoying brat who cannot stop talking. Oh, he'd probably be good at everything he tries, succeeds at kick@ss kung fu but is unable to kill people. Of course he'll always be talking back to Visere and all. Oh, and there are going to be so many high-tech and inappropriate weapons, the King will turn into Galbatorix. Cori is going to be an utter tomboy, Ceon is also going to look hot with black hair-- heyyy I didn't know that before... Faelis is fanservice. Oh... god... (Kinda pressed for time right now, will probably come back later)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Lady_Indis_Dress — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:31:35 -0700

Let's see. First they'd probably change the MC's name. They'd cast some very popular no-talent to play him. Have him rescue his damsel in distress love interest. They'd definitely add sex. They'd probably get the costumes and weapons wrong, cut important subplots and reveal secrets to characters who are not supposed to know them. Oh, and they'd likely have the characters who didn't make it from the first novel to this one magically be alive again.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

neon.tigress — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:07:21 -0700

Also, I should add that they'd probably ruin all of the monsters I've invented. Make them too Avatar-ish or something, or just remove most of them out of laziness.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Llini Guisli — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:37:40 -0700

Censorship.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

mariah125 — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:44:11 -0700

- make the MC have screaming fits and other typical autism things - treat the lesbian kiss as the sexy selling point and not as a horrible act of manipulation - cast actors in their twenties, or alternatively, cast teens who can't act - make it so Jone loved Ettie the whole time (he didn't.)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Notkieran — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:29:32 -0700

Take out the narration that my protagonist uses to carry on a conversation with the reader. Since he doesn't do that much actual talking, they will then turn them into quips and one-liners.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Canuckie — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:38:14 -0700

They would most likely change the setting from Toronto to some major American city. NYC, probably. Which would really be a shame because there are so few movies set in Toronto. The one thing they would butcher for sure would be the relationship between my two MCs. They hate each other for a decent amount of the story but eventually develop an antagonistic friendship. That said, there is no, I repeat NO, romantic feelings between them. At all. Not even a smidge. But because it's a man and a woman, and because they're stuck together for a year, and because Hollywood simply cannot stand to see a male and a female in a platonic relationship with each other unless they're actually related, they'd end up being written as lovers. Which would defeat the whole purpose of the story and turn my quirky comedy into a cliche chick-flick, but they'd do it none the less. Look at me, I'm already fuming and I've not even written the darn thing yet! :P

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Brindabelle — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:32:05 -0700

Since this year's NaNo is the second in the historical crime series I started last year, I very much doubt Hollywood would be interested. Which is a good thing, because Hollywood would: 1. Pack it full of Beautiful People. Probably including a lot of Americans with fake British accents. And definitely including Robert Pattinson as Jasper. (Oh, dear God, no ...) 2. Not only make Peregrina model-gorgeous instead of passably handsome, but whittle her down to model-skinny as well. 3. Turn Jasper and Peregrina into couple-in-the-making, despite the fact that they are purely colleagues who still haven't quite managed to become friends. 4. Play up the case of young love Ellen and Zacharias insisted on contracting. And find some way of using Zacharias's race to leave the audience feeling morally warm and fuzzy ... or just make him white. 5. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Why go to all the trouble of a complex, conflicted, tortured villain whien you can just make him a psycho? 6. In the same vein, remove anything remotely intellectual or philosophical about the nature of madness or redemption or true and false faces. People don't go to a movie wanting to think, do they? 7. Either increase the level of violence (shoot someone, blow something up) or decrease it (cut the scene where Fletcher backhands Peregrina across the face). 8. Either turn the suicide into an accident, or avoid the death entirely. 9. Put the female characters into dresses and hairstyles more attractive than what was actually fashionable in 1792. I'm going to stop now, because hitting double figures would provide far too much nightmare fuel.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

finchgeam — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:39:27 -0700

They will probably do more damage to my vision than they did to Stephen King *zing* 1. They will cast a 18-20 year old to play the 12 year old and dumb her dialog down. 2. They will cut out death scenes, anti-government talk, implied relationships etc... 3. Will probably rewrite it so the character is a dumb 20 year old. I would never sign onto with Hollywood ... I'd rather take my chance with making a tv series on FOX *two in a row*

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

myviolettears — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:08:09 -0700

Probobly set it in England or something, because Japan is too difficult. Also make that characters white or something. Either tone down the violence or increase it. Sam won't die at the end. And Sam and Mika will get together rather than implied. Saya and Daichi will also get together because it will be a love/hate relationship. Irui will be drop-dead model gorgeous. Change all but Sam's names. Remove plot twist and not bother hiding it. Make all characters gorgeous.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Dennis Jernberg — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:03:45 -0700

How Hollywood would ruin Chaos Angel Spanner. First of all, by turning it into a movie. The script would have to be a major condensation, meaning most of the plot of a 500+-page doorstopper would have to be edited out. No, you stupid studio suits, Shira is not blonde. There's enough blondes in this story: Jennifer, Willa, Charmian, Debbie, Mimi, Drusilla, Frank. Shira's a redhead, she's brown-skinned, and she's cooler than all of you'll ever be combined. And the Conservative Revolutionaries are the villains of this story no matter how conservative your corporate raider bosses are. And it doesn't matter how hunky Dexter is, Shira still leaves him for the Irish goth ninja girl she saved from suicide. It's not in Vancouver, it's certainly not in LA, it's in Seattle, and yes, there's rain, you'll have to film in it. No race lifting! Dexter will have to remain black. Okay, you can make Cory Hispanic instead of New Orleans Creole, but you can't make him white. And the only CGI character is Spanner, and yes, cats really do lie down on keyboards while you're using them. Of course you know they'll keep the wicked cool capoeira-and-parkour fight scenes. But will they keep the crowd-versus-helicopter dénouement? As for the sex scenes, the ruthless FCC censors would force the studio to tone them down severely to conform to the draconian American censorship laws concerning visual depictions of sexual content. You'd be surprised what you can get away with in prose that you can't in TV, movie, or comics form. To do Spanner justice, it will have to be adapted into a TV series (a task I've admittedly made easy for my scriptwriters by organizing each chapter like a TV episode, a structural change I made during Script Frenzy). One volume really represents an entire season. And, since I'm the creator, I would have to be showrunner.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Deoradhan — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 09:09:43 -0700

For the one I'm working on right now? Hmm For starters, everyone will be made absurdly pretty. The violence will be toned down a lot. The exact effects of the MMC's power will be changed. The ending will likely be changed from a moment of quiet catharsis to the denouement of a gigantic battle. The evil overlord will likely be a lot more present, and the resemblance of the path of inspiration to certain eastern world religions will likely be emphasized. The MMC will be changed from a reluctant hero who despises his position and would like nothing more then to work for the baddie to a more straightforward messiah figure. The FMC will be changed from an idealistic rebel who wants to change the world (and winds up disillusioned) to a more standard damsel-in-distress. The other MMC will be made into a stereotypical angsty, hunky badboy. It'll be terrible.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

lifelessmind — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:14:57 -0700

They'd see that my MC is described as a bit "boy-next-door" with curly brown hair and cast Michael Cera. /headdesk The whole story would then turn into this horribly awkward situation where he's in love with one of the two female leads and all the stupid things he does to try to get with her, and probably wins her in the end. Never mind that in reality the MC is a charismatic, smooth-talking social power broker who decides to swing the tide in his own favor, and uses the two female leads to get there and neither one of them particularly likes him in the end.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Keyblader — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 11:38:25 -0700

This just in from the IAP: "According to author Hollywood completely messed up movie: The new movie series about the novels by an author only known by the username NaNoWriMo released this statement in light of the release. Please be advised this has been edited for language. "First off, if you hang around teenagers and college students long enough you will hear swearing. Deciding to replace all of the swearing with the sound of goats bleating was incredibly annoying the second time, the first time it happened I giggled, the second the novelty wore off. Next, you changed the fact that three of my characters share the same dichromatic eye pattern was a major plot point, along with the fact the three of them look identical but only two are related. Thanks for ignoring the wrap up to the fourth book altogether. Also Harun is not a true albino, his eyes have pigment, he's amelenistic, he's also a heroic figure, Evil Albino is a Dead Horse Trope. Speaking of eyes, you left Kamui with both of her eyes intact, the fact she is missing one is a major plot point and Chekhov's Gun. Also while I appreciate the epic scale of the battle near the climax, kudos to the CGI team on that, the point was the epic war scene wasn't the focus, the point was what happened behind the scenes, the stuff the rest of the world ie everyone fighting the war, wasn't aware of. Lastly touching on an earlier point, while Harun was introduced in the first book, Kamui, Nero, Svetlana, Linda, Fahim, and Lev Yashim didn't show up until the later books, where their arrival was supposed to be a surprise. "Don't get me started on your casting decisions, except for resurrecting Bruce Lee to play Kamui, that was pretty awesome, but you missed the point that Kamui is a girl, and you had Bruce Lee shirtless for every scene. I will forgive you since it's Bruce Lee, she would be pleased. But the rest of your casting choices were awful. You completely ignored the pre-established religion in a world that had never heard of monotheism for fear of the moral guardians. At any rate, you can rest assured that my single biggest complaint that you my LGBT main cast were all changed to straight for the movie. Not to mention you reworked everyone's personalities to fit with stereotypes of the fifties. Darnell and Ethan's character arc was completely derailed thanks to you doing that. You can rest assured I will find all of the copies of this film and burn them all to the ground. Next time read the bleating book you bleating hearts.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

SammyWrae — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:50:55 -0700

My guess is they will change the wife for the sister (which I suppose won't alter too much), will remove the somewhat blatant Nazi references (which means cutting at least one whole scene) and will object to much of the political content, since it suggests that organizations like the CIA, FBI, MI5, MI6, Mossad and NSA are pretty much terrorists with shiny badges. On the bright side, there is almost no bad language for the MPAA to get their knickers in a twist about, and all the sex and violence that takes place mostly does so "off-screen" (ie - it is referred to by various characters, but never actually written about directly).

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

poi_son_joy — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:35:59 -0700

I'm pretty sure Hollywood just wouldn't make mine into a movie. :| Gay boys without a focus on the ~hardship and tragedy~ of being gay, dontcha know. But if they did make it, they'd probably take out the abusive family situation one of them is in and just... change the focus of stress to IT IS SO HARD TO BE GAY, SO HARD, ALL THE TIME. Or they'd change the nerdy boy MC to a nerdy girl, possibly, to circumvent the whole queer "problem." But mostly I'm pretty sure they just wouldn't make it. Oh, well. Maybe it has some hope as an indie production...

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

melbelle0418 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:46:20 -0700

For me, I'm writing an original take on Peter Pan, but it's crazy dark and twisted But, because it's peter pan, disney will buy it. They'll do what broadway did to wicked - not that the bubbly happy wicked is bad, but the book is so dark!

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Zovistograt — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:08:26 -0700

This year's book would be impossible to make into a movie, but I'd imagine if it were, it would be ruined by Hollywood insisting there be some sort of plot. Last year's would have been more interesting, considering the entire book takes place without the presence of light. The only way Hollywood could possibly do it right is to just shut off the projector for the whole time and force the audience to listen in complete darkness. I would really love to see that, but that wouldn't fly anywhere but in experimental theaters.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

crazygirl9310 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:21:15 -0700

I'm not too worried, I mean at this point I doubt there's much they could screw over, however I also have a lot of friends who are very amature directors but who really would like to do feature length, in the theaters movies. One has said he'd love to direct anything I write, and there's another whom I would probably trust more with my current project since I don't know how Nick would react to gay main characters. Truthfully if my book every got to the movie point there's a few things I'd request, one of which is final approval on the script with supreme veto rights. And by supreme veto rights I mean any deleted scene, any setting, any prop, any costume, any line, anything they want to do if I give it the thumbs down it doesn't happen. The fans have no right to complain if I get this because I've approved everything that went into the movie. I've acknowlaged that things are going to be changed from book to screen, some things aren't going to be conveyed well on screen and some things will probably need to be added. As long as it doesn't ruin the movie, I'll be okay with it and give it approval.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Itzika — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:28:32 -0700

My book would be doomed as a movie from the start, because most of my main cast has Twilight faces, mostly in the same relationships. Alice's actress plays the Jessica figure and Jasper's actor plays the Edward figure, but other than that... yeah, Twilight faces. (Until you get to the secondary cast, where I let go of my original inspiration and just let my imagination run wild.) Which means it's doomed either way: Can't use Twilight actors because people will scream rip-off, and I will be upset if anyone else plays them. And then the secondary characters. Ooh, the secondary characters. The big one is this "teenage" local rock musician, who will be completely butchered or just cut because he is (a) biracial, (b) a crossdresser, and (c) learned the joys of being a crossdresser from a stripper who let him try on her stilettos. Then there's the deal where he's an immortal who was born a slave and lived through the Civil War... Yeah. He'd be cut. And then Belle. Belle is not nice. She hates Alice because Alice nullifies magic, and Belle is some kind of magical being. She mocks Alice, belittles her, tries to keep other supers away from her... and still ends up spending time around her, because there's just something about being "normal" for a while. It's like getting high--you either love it or you trip out on it, but somehow you go back for more. This addiction would probably be completely erased in favor of giving Bella a thing for Alice (which is okay, see, because Bella is a Bad Person) or something. That, or Belle would be nice. Then there's the whole part where people in Alice's immediate vicinity lose their minds and slowly their lives. This goes for everyone, supers and humans. And would probably be dropped, or handled with absolutely no subtlety and a lot of scenes with the Edward figure I really need to name whirling around staring for the source of voices in his head. And of course, the Edward figure. Alice would end up with him. Alice does not want to end up with him. Alice thinks he's creepy and is generally repelled by the idea of dating a blood-drinking corpse, whether he's human in her presence or not. But because the alternative is being single or hooking up with a girl, she will end up with him. ...I'll probably figure more out as I actually get working on this thing. I've spent about ten times as much time on the forums as writing since NaNo started.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Nanyoky — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:01:33 -0700

I'm not too sure on my current nano project, but my coauthor and I entertain and horrify ourselves discussing this one! "Braveage Anti-Hero Receives a Personality Makeover! The long anticipated film adaptation of Aria and Nanyoky's fantasy epic will have a few key changes, according to Herp Derp, the movie's director. The most marked change is in the personality of one of fans' favorite characters. "In the books, the Provost Mercy is, for lack of a better word, a complete bitch," says Derp. "She never learns any lessons, never shows affection, she's horrible! That kind of person just can't make audiences relate. We're tweaking the film version of Mercy a little. She'll make a stark reform halfway through the story and become a better person." Mercy is not the only character to receive changes to her personality. The thief Milo, who was originally a kleptomaniac incapable of controlling his impulses, is now only a thief to feed his family, and the assassin Endymion only kills when he deems his victims evil and dangerous. Other changes are predominately in the casting. Mercy herself, who is described in the books as not classically beautiful, will be played by Jessica Alba. Endymion, described as appearing to be in his late 40s, will be played by the much younger Ryan Reynalds. "The age gaps in relationships the books would make audiences uncomfortable," says casting directer Jimmy John. "So we've brought the older characters down and the younger characters up. Mercy and Endymion are much younger and Tallys and Milo are just a couple years older. We've also upped the age on Adiria and Josten since they were below the age of consent in the books and audiences don't like that." Fans are already petitioning the reversal of these decisions online. "It's disgusting!" Cries forum moderator AdiFriver on the "Save Our Merry Band" website. "Just because the characters moral compasses don't match up with what suburban housewives want, they think they can change the whole story! But that's why we love Braveage- the characters are more like real people because of their personality and relationship taboos." The original authors were not available to comment as they both fell into comas upon hearing the name Jessica Alba.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Rhov — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:28:01 -0700

My MC, a teen well-adapted to her life in a wheelchair, will be played by Kristen Stewart as a whiny girl who cries constantly, bemoaning her troubled life, with a daddy complex because she lost her father in the accident that took her legs. She'll get her magic in some flashy special effects transformation sequence that leaves the audience wondering "was she really naked right then?" She'll also instantly be able to fly. Who cares that she supposedly knows nothing about magic. Nope, she can fly! Why? Because... she's the CHOSEN ONE! (-.-) The love interest, her magic instructor, will be played by Taylor Lautner even though he's supposed to be much older than her. That or they'll get Kevin Costner, who is way too old for her. They'll play up the Lolita effect until the audience is convinced this teacher is a lecherous pedophile. Instead of simply giving her a kiss, they have wild sex under a waterfall... purely so Hollywood can push it into R Rating. The MC then spend the rest of the movie whining how she loves him but she's afraid he's too old, it can never work out, but... but... I LOVE HIM!!!! Half the movie will be epic aerial panoramas of the countryside where they travel, with extended scenes of the cast walking along the edge of soaring cliffs or running along grass hills. And they meet up with a dragon. Why? Because every fantasy needs a CGI dragon. Maybe an elf army. Never mind that elves and dragons have NO place in my novel. It's a fantasy. You need sexy elves. Oh, and she ends up pregnant! That opens up a possibility for a sequel, where the boy we see only in chapter one, a high school jock she only goes on one date with, ends up being the CHOSEN ONE for a group against hers. And although he dumped her in chapter one, he's secretly been in love with her since childhood. Until he betrays her as well. In the same way! And she cries more. Until the third movie in the trilogy, when she finally hooks up with the sexy elf. You know, the one that NEVER MADE AN APPEARANCE IN THE NOVEL. But he's played by Orlando Bloom, so this author isn't going to argue. ^_^

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

theoretical_cat — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:50:31 -0700

(Some spoilers, if you care that much. I kept them very minor.) The special effects will ridiculously overblown. If I ever do write that one borderline-smutty scene, they'll either cut it or make it skip from PG-13 to R. If I don't write that one borderline-smutty scene, they'll add it and skip it up to R. They will cut characters that are important to the plot out entirely. (TOM BOMBADIL ANYONE?) They will stock the soundtrack with top 40 stuff, to the point that I can't stand to watch it (if I could bear their edits otherwise to begin with). They will make the Big Bad too obvious and ruin what little surprise there is in my story. If they don't do this, it's probably because they completely reworked the plot to make an otherwise-unknown character the Big Bad, and just had the Big Bad kill off the character that the Big Bad is pretending to be. I don't know what else, because I haven't finished writing yet.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

lyrwriter — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:21:58 -0700

There may not be a lot of movies set in Toronto, but a lot of American movies that supposedly take place in NYC or Chicago are actually filmed in Toronto (because it's cheaper, I think)....wouldn't it be terrible-yet-hilarious if they set the movie in NYC and then filmed it in Toronto anyway?

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

rainstorm. — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:43:10 -0700

If they added a romantic subplot, that would COMPLETELY ruin it, because there is no romance in it at all and there should not be. Also, they would probably tone down the extra stuff to make it more PG-13. I say, if it has to be rated R, then rate it as such. Who cares if the novel is YA? It's only young adult because the characters and author are. Also, you know, most popular Hollywood actresses, if not all of them, are pretty and make-up-ified and meant to look gorgeous. But that's not my characters. Meeehhh.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

rainstorm. — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:44:52 -0700

I love your "director name". XD

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Cammie Josephine — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:47:36 -0700

1. They would get rid of the scars my main character, Odessa, has and the scars on m y male main character. You know, because they're ugly. 2. My villains will be made beautiful. Granted, one of my villains can turn into a seductress, but most of them are ugly. Of course, now they'll look like they stepped off the cover of Seventeen. 3. They'll make my tree nymph something like an elf, which she isn't. They'll sex her up too, because they seem to do that to all the non-human characters.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Ghost_Feather — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:50:20 -0700

This is something I've honestly never thought about, because I feel like my book is better suited to either a live action TV serial or, more appropriately, an anime (though that will never in a million bajillion years happen). But, 1) Pasts (and scars) will be toned down. Ian probably would not have watched his brother's death (and have "burn" marks [yes, scare quotes are necessary]); Lana would probably not have been physically abused (and full of scars on her torso) and, most ESPECIALLY, Troy would not have been used as a subject of experimentation by his parents in the name of RESEARCH (and have faint surgical scars all over his body). 2) Relationships would move away from ambiguous and more towards (hetero)romantic. The three MCs as listed above develop an odd poly-non-romantic relationship; this would be turned into a love triangle. There are more ambiguities with the MCs and their same-sex respective Partners, which arise from having the same souls--those would be taken out. And they would erase Erik's (Ian's best friend) previous crush on Ian. 3) On the other hand, certain issues would be emphasized to capitalize on current trends. I go a little bit into the origin of vampires (among other things) and their legends re: souls: in short, a single drop of blood can completely revitalize a person if both people share the same soul. Nevertheless, it is NOT IMPORTANT to the overall story. This would be played up...though it would probably be a bad idea, because the amount of haters would also increase, probably. 4) THOSE SPECIAL EFFECTS. Lot's of crazy stuff going on here. It'll be so screwed over. Hell, they'll probably change the setting or something to compensate. 5) The morally ambiguous kinda sorta bad guys with a surprisingly good goal but really bad methods would be turned into a Great Evil for the sake of actually having something concrete to beat in the end. Going with this route instead of the whole "character growth" thing would piss me off the most, I think. But yeah. There are probably a lot of things about this story that would be changed, especially because the emotional attachments that some of the characters have towards each other--the attachments that really help their growth--are so far from what can be considered "heteronormative" sometimes, for both guys and girls. But that's because I think it's more interesting that way.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

MysteriousFlower — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:28:32 -0700

If they were to change my book into a movie they'd probably nick the story line and move it from Manchester, UK to somewhere like New York in the US. Then they'd pick some gorgeous actress to play FMC one and another gorgeous one for FMC, neither of which is applicable because they were created not to be overly attractive and just be plain, ordinary people - especially the detective. They will make the dead girls come from better families because international audiences might not be able to relate to some of the class (if you can call it that) specifics and differences between some council estates and other parts of cities. They will also choose beautiful teenage girls who are in fact not teenager at all and resemble in no way the fifteen year olds with issues that I created. They will put a lot of focus on the husband of one of my FMC's because he's American.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Beautiful Illusion — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:42:21 -0700

I really want to read your novel after seeing that. o_o;; (and synopsis, of course xD)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

SavedbyGrace — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:40:24 -0700

They'll make Death much younger, or much older. They'll make him all muscled either way, They'll make him BLOND, Seth will be like that guy who plays Batman's butler and all his history will be lost Emma will be a whining muffin instead of a very confused but angry girl who ... well more on that later. They won't allow me any say in who plays who and what and all; Dan will be a complete idiot instead of a normal guy. Instead of it all being normal; they'll go for the creepy whisperings thing and horrible special effects when they aren't really needed. Heather will be the support girl the whole movie instead of the crazy awesomeness she's developing into They won't find a guy to pull off Adrian perfectly. They'll settle for less. I'm thinking someone like Damon Salvatore-ish for Adrian. That dude. Perfect. Their pick--not perfect. Everything will be a darker lens, instead of warm as it's meant to be. And a lot more. o.o

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Algae Volvox — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:20:40 -0700

They would most likely make Randi white. And I would kill someone. They would likely also make her really stupid. Again, I'd probably want to kill someone.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

OrangeZest100 — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 20:55:53 -0700

They would cut out basically all of my romance, because it's not heterosexual. (Crazies.) They would also try to make Robin NOT be sociopathic....which ruins, like, half the book.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

ar_cummings — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:55:49 -0800

Instead of casting Chris Helmsworth for the MMC, they'll cast Robert Pattinson. I would weep if that were to happen.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

karaozgoy — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:21:53 -0800

One of the worst things Hollywood could ever do to my book is to cut characters-especially these characters... Deborah Jankowicz-cut so as to ensure no backlash from dog-obsessed celebrities who might identify with her character (in the book, Deborah is so obsessed with her dog that she neglects her own child and is driving the family to bankruptcy with her $10,000 doggie shopping trips.) Felix Obzynski (a.k.a. "The Fat Man")-cut for the sake of "political correctness," and because no one wants to see a 450 lb. man on screen after the camera adds 10 (in the book, Obzynski is the 1st grade teacher at the town's elementary school who is known for assigning "The Manhattan Project," in which students must build a model of a great city.) Anne-Mae Waters-cut so as not to anger actual CEOs (in the book, Waters is the CEO of the town's great manufacturing company, and she is constantly harassing employees, stealing money, and using illegal tactics.) Truly, though, the worst thing that they could do is try and make my story and the characters in any way "politically correct," or more "relatable." That would kill the whole point I'm trying to make in the book.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Elle Mae — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:55:16 -0800

Etoile would be blonde. Or worse; her hair would be long. She'd either be dragged down to age 13, or up to age 30. Which means... If they make her 13, they'll cut the rape scene. If she's 30, they'll make it porn. It's not porn. They'll make Dax a softie from the start and make him instantly fall for Etoile. Sterling and Etoile will be dating. Or they'd hate each other the whole time. They'd cut my beginning, so people would be confused out of their minds the whole time. I could go on, but even thinking about it gives me a headache.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

bravrayj — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:16:53 -0800

My NaNo as a Hollywood film? Uh-oh. I can already think about how this can turn into a total disaster. 1. Jovita Salazar will no longer be a Cuban American albino with a decent figure. Instead, she will be probably named Katelyn Sheridan, a blond hair, blue eyed white American with a supermodel like figure. On a side note, Jovita's extremely conservative clothing and trademark umbrella, which she wears for medical reasons, out the window for provocative wear. And say goodbye to medical issues, those aren't attractive. 2. 'Katelyn' won't be the MC. Dylan Maddox will, because Hollywood hates having females in the lead role in anything that's not purely a 'girl's romantic comedy' nowadays. This will probably turn her into a generic damsel in distress that worships Dylan for being a strong man. Jovita, admittedly, does very little to defend herself early on due to low self esteem, but she slowly grows a backbone, and becomes a competent fighter with high self esteem by the end of the story. 'Katelyn', on the other hand, will do nothing for the entire story, expect fawn over Dylan and get kidnapped, and feel no regret for what she's doing. 3. Also, the whole subplot about Jovita's low self esteem being connected to her mother dying in childbirth and family shunning her soon after, dropped. Replaced by 'Katelyn's' generic high school teen that is wishing for a boy and/or to get away from controlling parents. Instead of Jovita being reluctant to join the quest because she thinks she will hamper the others, 'Katelyn' will go, despite hampering the others to get away from controlling parents. 4. Dylan's backstory will be changed. Dylan is a bastard child and had a mom disappear on him at age eight and his rich father disowned him, and then was saved from a monster attack by Tyson. He's mostly acts indifferent and standoffish as he feels that nobody loves him [not in a romantic sort of way]. He hates inactive losers because those type of people tend to die and that's how he thought of himself at one point and didn't want that again. This will be changed to more generic 'rebel bad boy', with a stupidity streak, that hates his rich family's upbringing and ran away to be a real man or something, and just sorta bumped into the plot with no trauma, and saves the world because it sounds cool with no questions asked at all during the story. 5. There is zero romance, and the two see themselves as best friends by the end of the story, with no interest for romance, and they really don't have time for it, given the situation they are in for nearly the entire story. The movie, thinking that two teens of the opposite gender can't just be friends, will instead create forced romance between 'Dylan' and 'Katelyn', along with lots of kissing, and possibly a sex scene, which makes no sense because of Dylan's backstory, which was of course, changed. 6. The deaths will either be removed altogether, or played out of context to make it just about the gory deaths, thus removing the significance of the innocent bystanders dying to the character development of the mains. A major death may not happen, which is critical to the plot. 7. The intentions of the bad guys will be revealed early on. In my story, the mains don't find out much about their plans until almost halfway through, and there's a big reason why, which is full of spoilers. And although it made sense in my story that the characters don't do anything about the bad guys until 2/3rds of the way through due to lack of knowledge of the situation, in the movie, it's run around for no reason. 8. My villain will probably be just a generic 'take over the world' villain with no justification for his actions. Their IQ will be also dropped, making the movie an idiot plot. 9. The powers. They will either be used at horrible times or made into a bad CGI-fest. The fights will likely be just one shot fights, making everyone look stupid. Plus, they will change it to where the powers descend from the father's side of the family instead of the mothers. This changes some factors in the plot, and plus, I wanted to do mother sides of the family, as they are always ignored. This is why I don't want Hollywood touching my stories. And there's another story I'm working on that will likely be mutilated far worse for many of the same reasons. I may do a list on that later on.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Wind Ann Wise — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:45:38 -0800

This should be fun. One way could be that they turn it into "Twilight with werewolves". Another way could be that they make Chad and Annie look like 2010 "Wolfman" when in thier wolf forms instead of 1941 "Wolfman" (I would be really pissed about that, because they are specifically supposed to look like 1941, not 2010 remake.) Or, god forbid, they CGI them. (They'd have to do that with Rafe and Ally, but that's fine, it's just the other two I'd have a problem with.)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

chinalizard — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:50:00 -0800

Ohh, any number of ways, I'm sure. Taking out graphic sex scenes to make it PG-13? Fair enough. Putting in the F-word as every other word? Not acceptable. Adding even MORE GRAPHICALLY INTENSE sex scenes to make it R? Unacceptable. Trying to make the vampire into the tragic hero instead of the heartless, cowardly, cold villain set on world domination that he is? Idiotic. Don't get me started on the half dealing with unicorns....eeauugh....

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

AdelineFarr — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:08:02 -0800

They'd probably make Beck an emo and go to an extreme with Mason, making him a bookworm. Finding the Folk members would probably be rushed and some even skipped over to save time. And the romance... Ack.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

LizStaley — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:33:32 -0800

All of my female characters would become useless instead of being butt-kicking martial artists. And the two guy characters would save them all the time. And Andrea would probably fall in wuv with D in the first five minutes.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

ghostlyhamburger — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:52:26 -0800

They won't include the song the book was inspired by because it's not by a well enough known band. They'll cast Matthew McConaughey as the male lead because it's romance, when he's exactly the opposite of Daniel.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Foxstar2000 — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:42:05 -0800

Hmm... well, the worst thing they could do, I think, is make it computer animated. Not that this would ever get published, since it's fanfiction, but if it was I cannot imagine it animated. I can't really imagine it with real animals, either, but they'd be better. They would also cut out the sort-of touching beginning when she leaves her stealers, and probably cut out her family all together. They would either portray her as a stealer and the savers as evil, or make her "misunderstood" and probably switch to being a saver after the end of the movie because she realizes how bad it was. They would glorify her relationship with Scar so that it seemed like she was totally in love with him(she kind of was, but still), and the sexual tension with Smoke would be probably amplified times 10. Storm would be cut out entirely- he's just the old man. If he's there, they can't get it on! 0_0 And then, they'd make her friends flat, cut out Oak, have some really weird relationship with Bramblethorn, and at the end she would drive them all out with help from the savers and good people, not kill them. Maybe her brother would become good and fall in love with her best friend. Yeah... no. Oh, and they could cut out the blood. That would suck horribly.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Steampunk avi8or — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:09:47 -0800

[quote=Foxstar2000] Oh, and they could cut out the blood. That would suck horribly. [/quote] Yep. My book would be fine as a movie unless they used Robert Pattinson for the MMC or Kristen Stewart for the FMC. But no cutting out my amazingly bloody scene at the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

eowynspen — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:47:00 -0800

Film Critic Ray Beecher on the new film "BLUR" adapted from the recent hit novel: Having read the original book Blur myself, I was hoping for a film that would reflect the emotional meaning and finely crafted subtlety of the source material. Alas, it was not so. The movie "BLUR", rather than an insightful reflection upon the power of perfection and unconscious prejudice, came off more as a typical chick-flick, a carbon copy of Twilight without supernatural creatures. The casting of a Meg Ryan look-alike as Brigid was the first clue that the movie would take the path of chick-flick rather than carry a message. The actress, while not untalented, presents the complex and disturbed character of Brigid in a much lighter tone, making her a Hollywood sweetheart. Moreover, she is given the part of the designated love interest for David, who is made the hero of the story rather than the narrational bystander. A major point in the book was that the two characters personal philosophies made them incapable of any emotion but fascination with one another, and love quite impossible, but Hollywood cliche conquers all in this disappointing choice. The choice of the star from recent light-hearted comedy movies to play David seemed at first as though it may work, given that the actor's previously untapped talents could be given a chance to shine in this reflective character. However, he delivers the same performance as he has in his previous movies, leading to a boring and uninteresting main hero. The inclusion of an action scene, where David must fight robbers in the abandoned house rather than entering it unchallenged, appears contrived and weak, and adds nothing to the plot. Most disappointing to fans, however, was the near obliteration of the characters of Luke, Wesley, and Gabe, who, far from being important tools in David's path to realization, are demoted to dialogue-robbed ensemble. The important character of Wesley is given no lines at all, and rather than making the point that he considers his words carefully, it creates awkward and uncomfortable pauses in the pacing. The character of Gabe is drastically reduced in importance and, to fans' outrage, his unrequited love for and brief romantic entanglement with David are cut out entirely, leaving him a flat and two-dimensional face in the background. When asked about his decision to remove such an important plot point as the romantic feeling between Gabe and David, director Disappointing McFail said that he feared that homosexual undertones would alienate viewers. The author has also been approached for comment, but upon hearing director McFail's explanation, her only recorded response was a violent shaking of the head and rapid clenching and unclenching of the fists and jaw. Even taken without consideration of the source material, the film - which should really be called a flick at this point - "BLUR" has been a disappointing and empty experience. The dialogue is shallow, the characters boring, the plot robbed of its interesting elements and replaced with tired contrivances. Overall, I give it a 2/5.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

nanomarsbar — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:08:46 -0800

Turn it PG. ...It would probably only go for about 5 minutes xD

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

almostalice — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:28:42 -0800

1. They would choose Josh to go all politically correct, and make him a minority character, instead of being a caucasian, awkward everybody. 2. To discourage child obesity and bad parenting, Tannaz would not feed her child red liquorice. 3. The incessant amount of cussing by all characters would be removed. In which case, I give the director the two fingered salute and tell him to stick it.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

bravrayj — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:28:17 -0800

now that i'm finished, i have another one. 10. The ending may be changed to be a love and kiss ending, implying that they never fight again, when in fact, the ending implies that they still go on missions now and again when enemies strike. Thus removing a bunch of the message of having to work for a better tomorrow and that a hero’s work is never done. and they will likely curse alot.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

tummer — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:52:05 -0800

Hmm, well, there are a number of ways they can ruin it. They all revolve around turning my book into to something like Twilight in order to hook that group of suckers into seeing it. A tagline i came up for my novel is: "If you love Twilight, you're going to hate this book". Of course, I would never allow Hollywood to screw up my story because I'd go the J.K. Rowling route and become a producer of the movie. But, since we're speaking in hypothetical, this is what I would hate to happen: 1. They focus on the romance much more than I do in the book(s). Don't get me wrong, I do love romance, especially if it's done right. However, the romantic sub-plot in my book rarely takes center stage. My story is about the connection these group of characters have with each other and how nothing sees to happen by accident, that everything is controlled by fate. If the movie focuses too much on how the love life of my two main characters, they obvious are missing the bigger picture. 2. Adding a love triangle. There is no love triangle in my story, simply because I don't want to add that kind of drama. There is a second female character that does get close to my MMC but there is no way that they would hook up. Hollywood would destroy simply by adding in that the female character has a crush on the MMC, and thus beginning a "team" system. 3. Casting popular teen actors. The main problem I have with teen actors these days is because they look pretty, but they cannot act. They don't understand subtext, character development, or being a good actor in general. They believe that just because they look pretty, they can land any job they want. It's our fault, as a society, that we allowed their egos to get so big. For me, I'd rather higher a bunch of unknown actors, who understand what it means to be an actor, than hire some kid with a big name that will draw in a crowd.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

KatBrown — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 03:36:20 -0800

Casting a way too hot Parker Evans (he's supposed to be a tall, skinney awkward red head) White-washing various characters Cutting the lesbian sub-plot Making a way bigger deal out of the romantic sub-plot then there actually is Not thoroughly explaining the "visions" and how they connect to Red Day ... That's all I can think of.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

RedxLuna — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:38:32 -0800

Well, my main story is fan fic, but still: -Refuse to use actual the Stargate: Atlantis cast. -Cast Talim with some tall, overly attractive blond when she's suppose to be a reasonably pretty petite, brunette. Or if they totally dismiss who she is as a leader of her people. Really, if they mess with her character in general I will have to slay them. -Completely get rid of the romance between John and Rodney and make it all about John and Talim, who don't even have one in the original story line.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

MissAngelAdorer — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:31:39 -0800

I don't think my novel would particularly work as a film. Most of the character development is in the prose. But if asked? I'd want it to be animated like Coraline, since I don't think it would work in live action. If they screwed it up, including making it live action they would . . . 1. Whitewash or stereotype Caleb or Mrs. Nunez. In the book, Caleb is black, but the most brilliant sophomore in school, who likes to joke about how blacks are portrayed in movies, like how they always die. Mrs. Nunez's name is the only thing that screams non-white about her, since I describe her as "youthful" for a teacher, but I don't like the idea of her just being a white woman. If their races were kept, they'd get stereotyped. I'd be offended in Caleb's case since I'm black. 2. Make Eloise a different character. She's the heroine of the story, and I left her appearance purposefully vague. All we know is that her mom is dirty blonde and her dad has dark hair and brown eyes. But if they made her YELLOW blonde with blue eyes and curves, and made her older, I would have a huge problem. I'd also hate if they got rid of her selfish tendencies and made her mom or dad abusive to give her a "sad story" to make her a more likeable protagonist. That ruins the whole point of her character development. 3. Focus on romance. There is a little implied romance that's supposed to happen, but it's subltle. Sort of like, "Hey, want to go out?" Not full on kissing, or dating. That's mostly because I myself have not experienced romance, only crushes. And I would be calling anyone who added a love triangle. Sure, I'm still deciding if I want Eloise to date Caleb or Matthew, but don't ever try to make them fight over her. 4. Up the rating to anything past PG. The book is written with little to no violence, and next to nothing dark, but just about any teen movie gets that rating now. They'd have to add violence or swearing to make it PG-13, and I wouldn't like that. It would seem out of character. To counter that . . . 5. Do it like the "Wizard of OZ" film and make it seem childish and less emotionally involved than a Disney movie. Or worse: add an actual antagonist. 6. Make Scarlett out of character. Scarlett is a girl with short dark hair that has, as Eloise describes, a "mean looking smile," and non-matching clothes. Hollywood would probably make her an actual redhead--missing the whole FREAKING POINT!--who talks in cliche dialogue, is busty, wears very "in fashion" clothes, and tries to hook up with a guy. It's not in the narrative, but I imagine Scarlett as a lesbian, or asexual. 7. Take out virtually anything about the plot that's interesting and turn it into the basic "Alice in Wonderland," "Wizard of OZ," "Coraline" sort of film, making it come off boring like the Lighting Thief movie. 8. Hire a director like Michael Bay, Tim Burton, or such to direct. That's all I can think of at the moment. But that was pretty fun.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

AshHadAns — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:19:39 -0800

My story is what really caused the great war in heaven from the other sides view. So I really doubt any studio would ever touch it with a ten foot pole! Too much backlash. They would probably white wash it and take Lucifer and his POV out completely. They would probably also cast a bunch of pretty boy young actors for my angels, even though I wrote them as all being in their thirties and rougher And for Lucifer they would cast someone completely disgusting and horrid just to show how "evil" he is. Except I've always heard him described as God's most beautiful angel, so I see him as late twenties and insanely attractive.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

ReadySetWrite — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:44:39 -0800

the books are about FRIENDSHIP and KILLING STUFF I love this.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Chillibean — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:13:52 -0800

[quote=Tobaeus]Why couldn't we have gotten Peter Jackson, or someone else with directing talent.[/quote] I like this quote muchly :)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

dancer_kirsten — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 03:27:58 -0800

1. Cut out all the sex scenes and make it just a gushy romance. Ugh. My MCs have sex. A lot. And they love it. Just straight on male-female sex between a married couple who still love the heck out of each other and screw whenever they get the chance. But no drama. So that certainly wouldn't pass for Hollywood. 2. The kids would be A. brats, or B. total angels, or C. creeps (since they both have a spiritual guide). My kids are just little kids, okay? Properly raised by smart parents, and yet prone to temper tantrums because they're small kids. But you cannot have a normal kid obviously. Plus, I doubt whether my girls would be allowed to be the plain kids they are. Sure, my MMC thinks they're beautiful, but he's biased, okay? So they'd probably be lifted straight out of the awards ceremony of Toddlers and Tiaras, in spite of the fact they live on a subsistence farm. Other than that I don't think Hollywood could mess up a lot.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Chillibean — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:46:51 -0800

1. Way too much romance between Visere and Aveline. Nononono, do you not understand it's supposed to be a SIDE PLOT? No, you cannot reveal their romance before I reveal it! Nooo, your flashback cannot last for three hours. No, Aveline is not allowed more final words. Gahhh. 2. Visere will be hot. Even when he has a mental breakdown. Even when he's screaming, crying, breaking everything and bleeding all over. Even when he's pale, dying and unconscious. Yes, he will always manage to look hot somehow. (Now that I think about it... that isn't such a bad thing...) 3. It will end with Klyte and Nephele. Gahhh. 4. Cut pieces of my plot out. A lot of things happen in the story but... if they cut Connor, I will be mad. If they cut half the part with Klyte running with the vigilantes... then that's completely fine, I'm going to cut that out anyway. 5. If anyone, ANYONE gets magical powers, someone is going to die tonight.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

the flipr kid — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:38:28 -0800

Hmm...so many things they could screw up here... 1. Ned and Cain will be more than best friends. (Honestly -- this is the one I'm most afraid of. Never mind that Cain is happily married for three years with a loving, committed wife, never mind that they adopt a kid and have a baby by the end of the book, never mind that Ned is completely, totally apathetic towards any romance of any kind for the whole entire book and beyond. Also, never mind that they're both about as straight as straight gets.) 2. Ned will be romantically attached in any way. (Read above post stating his romantic apathy.) 3. Somebody tries seducing, or is seduced by, Andrea. (Seriously Hollywood? What's with the uber-sex-themes littered in every single stinking movie you get your hands on?) 4. Bram will be a teenager instead of an eight-year-old. 5. They'll get rid of the subplot where Ned wants to kill Cain. Conversely, they'll make him want to kill Cain's entire family as well, despite him having stated multiple times in the book that he will do no such thing for this and this reason. 6. Dace won't be a nutjob, or she won't survive and betray Cain, or she'll have a good reason for everything she does instead of it all just being sheer spur-of-the-moment whim. 7. Artemas won't be a pure evil-to-the-core bad guy. They'll give him something sympathetic in his character or history...which would quite simply make me sick. 8. One of the MC's will tragically die at the end. Probably Bram. Too much forced drama! That's not the way the story goes! Gahh, there's just too much Hollywood could screw up with this... -_-

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

amaltheaa — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:38:03 -0800

well this is my current wip, rather than my nano, so some details are still subject to change and things like the names are ~tentative, for the most part, but: 1. Amira would probably end up in a romantic relationship with EInnan, because he's supposed to be ~somewhat attractive (so they'd cast someone ridiculously hollywood pretty for him and we all know he has to be with the princess cos he's the ~pretty one, right?) Alternatively, she would still end up with Lir, but they would either: also make him ridiculously gorgeous, or make it a "Beauty and the Beast" love-can-make-even-unattractive-people-really-pretty kind of thing, which just, no. (That would also make her romance with him, like, the focus of the story, when it's really more of a sub-plot?) 2. They would cut out Amira's development, either by making her the really annoying person she is at the beginning (and turning her into a damsel in distress), or by making her the better person from the beginning so that change is unnecessary. 3. They would make my [still unnamed] antagonist completely unsympathetic, because it might confuse people into rooting for him instead or s/t idfk. 4. Everyone would magically be talented at everything right when it matters, because training in something like, say, swordfighting is annoying and boring, right? no one needs that, protagonists are born with the skill and it all comes rushing to them when they pick up a sword for the first time! 5. I know this has been addressed in this post already and all, but Hollywood would cast the actors in general, which we all know would not end well. uhhh idk that's all off the top of my head, keep in mind that I'm still in the plotting process and it's only about half done here~

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

A.L. More — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:43:12 -0800

They'd probably concentrate on the zombie hunting, rather than the romance and the human relationships. I have this weird feeling that Sam will be aged-up and turned into an older mentor instead of someone who is the same age as Penny. Penny's going to be turned into some TSTL woman who plays at zombie hunting and she's probably going to be aged down so that she's barely legal, instead of mid to late twenties. The dog's probably going to be written out. I like the dog.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Aiyandra — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 05:20:41 -0800

It will be horrible. My NaNo not as much as some of my other projects - *glance at Camp August novel* - but still. 1. Change the setting to America. I choose the Victorian Era for a reason and no, you can't just change the setting but give the characters Victorian clothes. 2. Whitewash Susu. He is quarter Korean, but Hollywood won't bother and make him a) a stereotypical white genius or b) a steretypical asian math nerd. 3. Sian's and Susu's relationship will be simplified horribly. It starts as an act of manipulation - for pure fun, nevertheless - and what Sian feels at the end is never really stated. I did that for a REASON. Hollywood will either give them a love/hate relationship with a happy ending or a cheesy romance with a happy ending or they will remove it completely. 4. Remove the two torture scenes. They are major character development and without them, the second half of the novel does not make any sense at all. In addition, they will probably also cut the light depression Susu fights, thus leaving every watcher wondering "So why did he just do THAT?" 5. Beautify Isabell. She is a plain Jane and the only outstanding feature are her dresses. And her wings, later on. She is NOT a gorgeous, blonde, curvy model. 6. Cut the subplot which leads to the climax. 7. Either totally beautify the trans* side character or make his birth gender obvious. That androgynous look is there for a reason. 8. Make the climax into a totally overboard epic battle, thus ruining the entire point. 9. Make the Rich the obvious enemy and source of all bad. They are not. 10. Ned will probably be a) smoking hot or b) ugly. He is neither. His hair is longer than average and he is tall, but that does not make him some kind of model. I will stop now... v.v

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Christina Huling — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:47:22 -0800

Aaaggghhhhh. I'm terrified of this happening. What Hollywood will do to ruin my novel: 1) cut Alex, the dead boyfriend, completely. He's half the reason my MC does what she does and the whole reason she finds out about herself. But, by completely ignoring the novel, that could happen differently! 2) introduce Jackson too early and/or portray the first encounter between the him and Morgan all wrong. The first time she sees him, she's totally freaked out and thinks he's a bad guy. They'd probably do this and #1 and have them in bed together by chapter three. 3) which brings me to my next point: THERE. IS. NO. SEX. IN. MY. NOVEL. But I'd be willing to bet it will be turned into and R-rated film. 4) make Toni a tall, stupid blonde who traipses around wearing barely anything and acting helpless. NO. Toni is short. She is blonde, but not helpless. If she witnessed the travesty the movie would become, she would personally strangle the director. 5) allude to some sort of messy romantic backstory between Toni and Jackson. I've considered it, and it would NEVER happen. 6) ignore the main antagonist and shuffle all guilt onto the secondary antagonist, or vice versa, because two villains acting independently and for conflicting goals just can't happen. 7) with #6, remove primary antagonist completely, because with #1, he doesn't matter anyway. 8) portray Morgan as a pathetic, weak person who completely depends on Jackson, when half the point is that none of the characters possess all the information, skills, or experience to finish the ultimate goal and they all must contribute. 9) make Toni too nice. She's got quite a temper and will appreciate if you remember it, thank you very much. 10) make Morgan incapable of decisive action. Instead, Jackson will do everything, including killing the primary villain, because we wouldn't want our delicate female tagalong getting blood on her hands, now would we? (I am thinking that line in a sugary sweet voice, by he way.) 11) remove all traces of assassins and turn it into a sweet story about an adopted girl who sets out to find her parents and finds love along the way. 12) blow things up. 13) make Morgan and Jackson's relationship definite, like with a proposal or something. I've deliberately left it fuzzy as to whether they have a future beyond maybe a month after the end. While they can't manage all of these at once, I just know a bunch would happen.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Earthsick — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:59:11 -0800

I guess a movie adaption of my novel would totally slaughter the bromance relationship between my two main characters (which is an important part of the story, since the way their relationship develops reveals more about the second main mc) and would make up some kind of strange ronmantic relationship between my female mc and one of the other characters. I guess Sparrow wouldn't be as funny as he is and all the hilarious banter would be cut short. Does anyone remember the horrible movie adaption of "A Magician of Earthsea"? Suddenly there was some king struggeling over power and trying to gain immortalitly - something that wasn't in the book at all. I fear something like this could happen to my stuff because meh, I don't have so much fighting and my main plot is about collecting stuff, so there are a lot of subplots. Best choice for an awesome subplot for a movie would be how Gavin figures Sparrow out (his past, his relationship with his mother and other sort of things) since that stuff slowly develops on the sides as the main plot goes on. Then again, this contradicts my assumption that the bromance would be killed off. lol

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Princeshelby — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:05:23 -0800

Mine wouldn't be "commercialized enough", so the teacher who helps the MC will probably turn into some sort of Dumbledore type character. The MC herself would probably be portrayed as troubled, rebellious, and probably even goth, not as much as a nice girl who's doing what she believes is right. If not that, they would try to make the MC "pretty in her own way" or really ugly. They'd probably also set in in modern day instead of the sixties, therefore ruining both the plot and the theme and making both into more "commercialized" plots and themes that have been done a million times over. Overall, it would become just another "teen rebel" movie. If they don't do that, it would turn into a sort of movie about a girl becoming famous in the end. NO. It's supposed to be unresolved, show that while the MC hasn't made any of the big changes she meant to, she still made a change that made a lot of impact. The ending isn't meant to be neat and clean. But who wants to see that? (being sarcastic, of course).

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Princeshelby — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:06:48 -0800

Also, I'm pretty sure that even though there's hardly even any boys involved in the novel, there would end up being some sort of unnecessary romance.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

brian_gott — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:44:36 -0800

After giving it some further thought, I've concluded that they would insist on making the MC human, which contradicts about 90% of the world building that I've done.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

AnAgelessTime — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:29:32 -0800

I can imagine that they will dumb down the language, white-wash the cast, have someone write the screenplay who has never read it, or they'll just take the smallest details from it (like the title) and construct a whole new movie around it just so they can pass it off as an adaptation.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Itzika — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:55:23 -0800

The two things I'm trying to decide between... let's see... Saint Nicky would be so easily ruined: - They would make Nicky into a fundamentalist or remove her Christian faith entirely, because the masses won't take a reasonable Christian seriously. I mean, those don't exist, right? /sarcasm - They won't let me pick the actress for her, and the only person I can see as Nicky in my head is Lyndsy Fonseca. She was *born* with Lyndsy's face. - They'll make Jake into an active hunter, thus forcing the pair to get their money from theft and scams, instead of leaving him as the research and money backup to Nicky's hunter/exorcist role. - They'll have a happy ending with Nicky and Ben, either making Nicky say yes when Ben proposes or having Ben not freak out when he learns what Nicky actually does with her life. I haven't decided what's going to happen with those two, but it's not going to be neat and clean. - They'll have Nicky use her powers at every opportunity for the special effects. - To do this, they'll remove the mark and the consequences to using her power. She'll just have a set time limit, if they don't completely rewrite her backstory. I'm having visions of them making her into a half-demon to accommodate the first one. It's scary. I'll probably think of more later. Weak Point, hmm... - They'll cast someone too old as El. She's *supposed* to look *sixteen.* Yes, she's twenty, but she looks *sixteen.* Not Hollywood sixteen, *real life* sixteen! - They'll make magic work in El's world, again for the special effects. (My books don't seem to need many special effects lately. Hmm.) I haven't done a lot of planning on this one, so I don't know what else they could mess up.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Ink_Stained_Midnight — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:37:14 -0800

Oh, the story I'm outlining right now would be completely annihilated. ~ Either Michael Bay or Catherine Hardwicke will direct it instead of some of my own choices (Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski, Alfonso Cuaron, or Ridley Scott) ~ They'll completely edit out the Tobias/Amara subtext because of the large age difference. ~ Amara will be played by Kristen Stewart, quickly followed by my brutal attempt at suicide. ~ Tobias will not be played by Sebastian Roche. Considering his appearance is more or less exactly like Roche's, this will be a problem. ~ The northmen will be played as entirely stereotypical Vikings, horned helmets and all. ~ Reave's sexuality will be completely ignored or blown up until he is the poster child for Camp Gay. ~ Magic everywhere. We only see real magic in the second half of the novel, but the movie will probably open with a scene involving a wizard. ~ Velmund will be revealed as Amara's father and/or evil in true Star Wars fashion.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

XVisiEX — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:03:18 -0800

.................Good god 1. Aria would be an angry black girl (She actually works hard to break stereotypes -_- ergo. She is not snapping her fingers cranking her neck around every time she gets upset) also she would be cast as Sanana or something....and that would not work. As Aria is not that light. Nor does she have that "petite" bodytype Or in complete opposite....she will be displayed as being ashamed of her race and constantly crying about how she is black but wants to be treated fairly =/ 2. Sage would be a buff (Orlando Bloom Chase crawford )mega hot jet black hair smokey eyed emo looking music student with glasses to make him appear "nerdy"(wrrrong, he is an average, maybe cute to some guy. He does not get a ton of girl attention in the novel. It is his personality that appeals to people and even then...he is not fawned over) He does not have a SIX pack! He is average. In shape...not fat....but he would get his rear handed to him in sports.... Or he would be a mega prick who never listens to anyone and appears racially ignorant to the 10th degree.....which again is not true. 3. Scotty would be spitting "Irish" sayings every two seconds. A complete manskank and only be there to drop one liners and probably be talking about his "homeland" every other scene. Nevermind the fact he is a supportive friend, actually has some chapter chunks to himself and has lived in America for two years and adapted to the culture well =/ 4. Lillian would be probably be written out.......and if not well she would be turned from the amusingly crazy friend to unamusingly stupid -_- we can never have two smart females. She will go from being the quirky bff who needs Aria to keep her grounded to being Britt from Glee stupid and believing in Santa. Which reminds me............... Lillian being A messianic Jew would probably never make it to the screen..... 5. All parental interaction besides Sage will be eliminated..........cause you know...positive parents in teen stuff? NAAAAH cant happen unless a parent dies 6. Scotty/Sage friendship will be downplayed.....cause you know....straight guys cannot be close to other men. It just isn't possible. 7. Any mentions of Christianity, which only two pop up I believe.....may just be once. I have to check it...but whatever....that would be ripped out. Cause Christian are horrible people and obnoxious and annoying and judgmental!!! and no one else is! 8. There would be raunchy sex scenes.............er......NO Hollywood............no one has sex (well you know written! Some characters aren't virgins but i am NOT going into that)! Get over it.....some people don't do that. Some wait. 9. The first kiss scene would be way overblown....it is supposed to be unsure...awkward and abrupt! It's a "I want to feel something and make you feel it too" thing! Like impulsively hugging someone but instead it's a kiss! Not some long romantic back arching steamy make out thing! You have one confused character and an insecure emotional awkward one....that is NOT gonna be the flawless first kiss dag gone it!!! 10. Kristen Stewert.........or Miley Cyrus.... or the blonde from mean girls two....would appear to play one of the girls that gets into a fight with the mfcs...........................and I would blow the set up 11. Aria would become sickeningly clingy to Sage..........she is not..............she will not....in fact the entire friendship/relationship Aria is still consistently working towards HER goals and future and trying to help SAGE set some for himself based off what HE needs. Never does it cross her mind to give up her life for him! She is not trying to manipulate him into being NEAR HER 12. Sages father will be a douchebag from the firey pits of Satans home.............he will be rude, abusive and just horrible. Instead of being a frustrated father who is too much like his son to understand how to communicate with him properly. Anna, Sages mother will be turned into a weak bobble headed idiot. 13. They will probably kill off Arias dead cause you know.....................females like her never have fathers COUGHDISNEYCOUGH 14. Sages half brother would probably be ignored just bc I don't focus on him that much annnnnd it isn't some dramatic "MY HALF BROTHER WHO CAME FROM A CHEATING MARRIAGE" cause...no one remarries in the world....sheesh.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

goblingirl — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:01:36 -0800

Well, let's see... 1) They'd probably whitewash Zulie (black) and Maria (Hispanic). Either that, or turn them into stereotypes--Zulie is not the "sassy black friend girl" and Maria isn't the "spicy Latina" but if they were played by actors of the correct ethnicity that's what the director would probably try to do. 2) Despite the fact Clio is supposed to be androgynous-looking (and mostly fine with it), they would make her Very Clearly Female and then maybe have people occasionally talk about how she doesn't look like either a girl or a boy. Speaking of Clio, they'd probably either cut out the scene where Naeema flirts with her entirely, or whitewash Naeema and make it clear she thought Clio was a guy (which she does not. She can't tell. She just thinks Clio is cute.) 3) They'd cut out Maria and Daiya's relationship entirely. Either that, or have most of it be off-screen with them just holding hands or something. Maybe a cheek kiss if I get lucky. Or, the third option, fetishize it horribly. (I'd much prefer option two, thanks.) 4) They'd either cut the part where Selena is seducing Clio for her own ends, or fetishize that. (Ugh.) 5) Downplay the fact that Zulie is actually in charge. 6) Extend all their powers so they're actually overtly useful, despite half the point of the book being that even if you have magic that seems useless as first, you yourself are not useless and there are some situations in which your particular talent is the most helpful. 7) They might even put Michael Bay in charge of it o.e So if I ever get a movie deal for one of my books, I'm going to make sure I'm in charge of everything. Other people who actually know what they're doing will be doing the movie-making, but I myself will have the power to say "yes" or "no" or "what in the seventeen point five hells were you thinking when you wrote that scene you ignorant arse?" (That last only to be used in times of extreme anger xD)

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

mycatduncan — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:29:53 -0800

"They cast Orlando Bloom as Lysander. Fangirls are fangirling, whilst everyone else is threatening to sue, including the author of the book." That is all. You may replace Orlando Bloom with any well-known heartthrob actor.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

the flipr kid — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:08:27 -0800

I have to use that phrase sometime. That's just epic.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

harrypoter4ever — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:20:09 -0800

Cut out major parts in the novel. Add in crap (see Half-blood Prince. The part at the Burrow for further reference). Ruin cast and character personalities.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

queenoftheoutlands — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:38:32 -0800

Oh blimey... 1. Hollywood in general. If it isn't a British production with British actors, then I will throw things. I am definately not having everyone in Victorian London have unexplained American accents. Only two characters are allowed American accents (and one of them is subject to my casting bias, and is a voice-only role anyway). American actors are only allowed if they can do convincing British accents. 2. Casting heart-throbs or known actors instead of character actors who can portray the emotions needed. (There's a reason why I imagine TV actors and not movie ones in some of the roles.) 3. Making Wing into a generic 'rebel' who hates his family for stupid reasons 4. Cutting Wing's mother and sister and having his father be some sort of hero he aspired to who died in a tragic accident. 5. Cutting Wing's crippling leg injury 6. Any love triangle between Wing, Iris and Bramley 7. Making Raven a love interest for anybody and making her into a sex object 8. Making Iris' driving characteristic angst about how she is a woman in a "man's" job 9. Making Browning's driving characteristic his werewolf angst, or cutting it altogether, instead of leaving him as a sinister background presence. 10. Ruining Morgan. Which they could do any number of ways, including: Casting a "hot" actor instead of making him plain and unnoticeable, taking away his blue eyes, downplaying his addiction, taking away his motive and backstory, playing up his backstory to make him a sympathetic villain 11. Giving Wing flashy magical powers 12. Making the final confrontation between Wing and Morgan into a flashy, effect-heavy, magic battle.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

queenoftheoutlands — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:41:34 -0800

Oh, and turning into a flashy fantasy movie instead of a slow-paced murder mystery. They'd also totally ruin Wing by making him a private detective instead of a librarian and make the murders really gruesome and start off with a murder instead of building up to the first death.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Lisa.Vail — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:43:17 -0800

I dread to think... 1. They'd make Adaline a typical squealy fangirl, which isn't SO bad because it would make people hate her, and she is kind of horrible. OR they'd make her a cheerleader. 2. Americanise it. Sounds horrible I know but the story is just WRONG if it's not on the Welsh Border. Oh how they'd massacre the names! Merrill to Martin, Clee to Cloe... TT.TT 3. They'd have everyone fall in love with Merrill, and make him a flirt; even though for the most of the book he is completely asexual and hasn't the slightest interest in women. 4. They'd either cut out the violence or blow it out of proportion. 5. They would definitely cut out the flashbacks; images of abuse in a teen film? 6. They would make it into a teen film. It's young adult/adult, with dark themes! Of course they'd also make Merrill about 15 rather than 19, too. *looks up* Oh god I kinda hope it never becomes a movie TT.TT

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Arya Svit-Kona — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:33:33 -0800

1. They will cast all the wrong people. 2. They'll give Leif a romantic interest right off the bat. 3. They'll make Lucian an abusive father and make him the Big Bad. 4. Make Leif have a Heel Face Turn (which would destroy the story entirely.) 5. Drop James, Terran, Jev, Madge, and half the other characters. 6. Make Elsil the Big Bad. 7. Hell, they might even make Dustin the main character and Leif the Big Bad! 8. They'll cut all of Leif's immorality and make him a good guy who wants to get away from his father who's the evil guy. 9. Relating to number 8, cut all of the people Leif has killed. 10. Make the entire story black and white, good and evil, and thus destroy the entire point of the story which is that there is no good and evil, but shades of grey. 11. Rowan will get paired off with someone... either Leif or Dustin. Rowan will be brought in far too early. 12. They'll ignore books two and three. 13. They'll drop the entire point that the Isle of Time does not have that all powerful object that will help them defeat evil. Instead, the object will be there. 14. They'll cast Leif as a big guy... well, not big, but the typical heartthrob.... and give him blond hair. 15. Or they'll cast Dustin that way instead. Which is also wrong. 16. They'll mess up Leif's weapons and just give him a sword. I did make a point to not give him a sword. 17. They will focus too much on romance. Which has very little place in this story. 18. Leif will live in the end. 19. Make Rowan an elf. 20. Drop Jared, Sariel, and their entire subplot... and their entire race... 21. Drop the bloody scenes... drop the torture... drop the flashbacks... 22. Make the fight scenes incredibly cheesy. 23. Make either Leif or Dustin (whoever they choose to wreck and turn into the MC) the chosen one and add a prophecy. 24. Drop the backstory of Argonia. 25. They'd add some random girl just to put in a romantic sideplot for whoever doesn't get Rowan. 26. Make Nepheram a Gandalf like figure. 27. Have Rowan wear skimpy leather "armor". 28. Make the movie two hours or less. Will not work! Will not work! Think more along the lines of three and a half hours. 29. It would be *cough* *gag* American! American accents just won't quite cut it. 30. They'd make Leif (or Dustin) king at the end of the movie. 31. They'd kill off Lucian... because they probably made him the Big Bad. 32. They'd have Lucian kill of Leif's mum. 33. They wouldn't make Peter Jackson direct it! 34. They'd have horrible soundtracks that were not created specifically for the movie. 35. They'd cut the demons, the other creatures, and the other creature that needs a name. 36. They wouldn't read the other books in the series. 37. They'd dumb it down for kids because it's fantasy. 38. They'd add some Mooks for some more battle scenes. 39. They'd put Lucian's castle on some hilltop and have some horribly cliche'd lightening and music. 40. They'd forget the villains are people too, which kind of destroys the point of the story. 41. They'd cut the part with Leif killing a kid. 42. They'd make Leif and Dustin friends. They hate each other! 43. They'll make Dustin an orphan. 44. They'd drop Leif and Dustin being enemies and racing against each other and instead have them join together and race against the Big Bad's Mooks. 45. They'd make neither Dustin nor Leif know how to fight to just make them learning for a bit of filler stuffs. 46. They'd ruin Leif by making him not even the 'evil' king's son. 47. They'd give at least one of them magic powers just because. Magic is not a common talent in Argonia! 48. They'd cut the needs-to-be-renamed Darkened Lands because it takes too much time... and will scare the kiddies. 49. They'll take out any injuries the characters acquire along the journey no matter how unrealistic it is. 50. They would only read the summary of the book and not the whole story, thus ruining everything about the book. Wow.... I managed to find fifty things....

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

mixeduppainter — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:39:13 -0800

For one of my previous stories there are so many ways it could become horrible. For instance: * Nero would not be a double dealing bastard most of the time. And heaven forbid that he should smoke, break and enter, or hit the heroine. Because that's just not hero material. * E (and the other demons in the story) would no longer engage in extremely rough foreplay/sex as a part of their normal relationships. Because that would be abusive and wrong. * Also, speaking of Nero, his entire past as a male prostitute would be ignored. * By virtue of her being a vampire, Rachel would be cast as a beautiful and statuesque blond instead of the frumpy, nondescript librarian that she really is. In my current novel they could: * Change Meg's entire injury so that she isn't scarred with a limp and a barely functioning hand. * Ethan's implied incestuous feelings for his sister (which supply most of his motive) would be completely ignored. * Henry wouldn't be moody and passive-aggressive. Instead he would spend long chunks of time staring at Meg and making googly eyes while they "flirt". * Meg would respond in kind. She may even giggle. * All the ghosts would do that annoying twitchy blur thing before trying to attack Meg. Her grocery store ghost stalkers would also be changed from a grunge kid and trucker with a beer belly into two obnoxious guys that crack jokes to "provide comic relief." * Travis's job would change because an illustrator just isn't cool enough. He wouldn't body hop in such a selfish manner. What he did to Henry would have been an accident as well thereby removing all trace of his guilt. * Ethan would be dispatched in a flashy yet open ended kind of way in case they decide to make the (as yet unwritten) sequel. The wrap up would also find Henry safely back in his body so that he and Meg can go on to have a romantic interlude before the ending credits.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Smartiez101 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:22:27 -0800

"We're reporting live from Hollywood! Wave at the camera folks! Today we're here for the premiere of the latest movie of the record-breaking, amazing, and ultimate 'Below' by T.A. Stone. The main character, Kristen, and four friends escape the evil underground prison, holding those born with special mutant powers for ransom! They train them and brainwash them trying to get them to become an army so that the 'University of Discovery' can take over the U.S. Government and eventually the world." T. gaped at the T.V. screen before ranting under her breath. "What fresh heck is this? She escapes with three friends, and meets another one on the way. How are they supposed to explain Mr. J now? The whole point is that they can hide them from people, not blow them open and hold them for ransom! That last part is sooooo Mr. J's roll, and it's the 'Institute of Discovery' smart*bleeeeeeeps*" "The moment Kristen escapes with Ben, their feelings about each other change-" "-Kristen doesn't even like him until the final book. She thinks he's a complete jerk-" "And they become the cutest couple ever-" "-they NEVER become a couple." "Of course, things get complicated when the leader of the University, Mr. James, or, as he likes to go by, Mr. 'J', sends several evil thugs after them, sending them scrambling into terror." T. rolled her eyes in a large circle. "That's how they explain Mr. J? His name isn't James! And he's completely against the Institute of Discovery! Besides, he'd much rather go in for the kill himself than let some stupid thugs do his dirty work!" "Knowing the directors and people of this age, Mr. James turns out to be Kristen's father, and she, being a secret double agent, goes along with him. The rest remains a mystery. So buy tickets now!!" T.: *pitches T.V. out window*

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

MaddieMcMoomin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:58:30 -0800

They'd change the locations. It's Aberystwyth, Wrexham and Birmingham for a REASON, and it is most certainly British. I am British and I am Welsh - that's why two of the main locations are in Wales and the other is in England - and I live in Wales, I know Wales. I'm certain they'd make it American, or have them go to Wales from Birmingham, Alabama or something.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Thekherham — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:42:30 -0800

If my book were ever picked up by Hollywood... they'd have to change almost everything. (I'm talking about my Thekherham autobiography here, not the crappy thing I wrote for the 2011 NaNoWriMo) They wouldn't even know what to do with it. And since I don't want them to ruin it, I wouldn't accept any money they offered.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Spuggey — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:33:30 -0800

Thanks! :D

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Spuggey — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:40:39 -0800

Aside from the stupid romantic subplot they'd put in, they would mess up my characters thus: Saskia would be made thinner, girlier and with neater hair. She doesn't WANT to be like that! Jasira would be made bitchy as opposed to just depressed. Ramiro, Emilio and Xavi would be made about four inches taller than they are in the novels. They're meant to be short. I LIKE them short. Also, they'd be plastic Hollywood dolls as opposed to the slightly odd looking little guys they're meant to be. Ciro... I'm not sure. Hollywood would have less issues with Ciro. He would probably be the focus of the awful romantic subplot though. They'd probably cure his OCD too. He's meant to be a little bit... Damaged from childhood. Zero would probably be made 'cool'... Meaning someone who dresses in black and sounds like Clint Eastwood. He's not. He's skinny and looks like a normal guy. Until he starts killing people. Also, they'd try some horrific redeeming. He doesn't need redeeming. He LIKES killing people.

Re: How Hollywood will ruin your book-turned-movie for fans

Spuggey — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:41:54 -0800

I'm tempted to agree. Unless they let me make certain rules... I'm not sure I could stand seeing my characters reincarnated as Vin Diesel. AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! *cries*