Expectations

hvb wrote:Actually, you can sometimes get a cat to do what you want if you bribe it with food ... long as it is hungry enough and the treat is tasty enough that it will abase itself to get it.

Actually pros can train cats to do all sorts of crazy things. Most people don't have the patience or skill.

Not sure when I read there was to be a movie, probaly last year sometime. While I like the idea, I'm a little leery. The vast majority of books that I have enjoyed have become something less than stellar as movies. I enjoyed reading Starship Trooper's, the movie wasn't even close, merely the title. I Robot kept the title and 3 laws and that's about it. Gone to Texas and The Outlaw Josey Wales were both good, but some major differences. Pierre Boule's Monkey Planet and Planet of the Apes were the same. In the book, Taylor actually travels to a different planet. When he returns to Earth at the end, it's a modern, technical civilization only dominated by apes. I supremely enjoyed M*A*S*H the book. Loved the movie even if it had to cut about half the books vignettes. Wasn't too thrilled with the show once the focus became Hawkeye and Trapper John to the detriment of everyone else. Changing Radar from a street-wise scrounger to a milquetoast didn't help. That all happened midway through the 1st season.

Which brings us to Honor Harrington. Starting with Honor of the Queen to me makes sense. The book will have to be compressed drastically and some other changes made but it provides the drama, chances for some humour, introduces various conflicts and several action sequences. I know the hope is to start a franchise and I hope it succeeds but that will be up to the box office which will set not by the built-in fan base so much as by the newcomers to the honorverse willing to spend for repeat viewings. That means a 17-25 age group. And word of mouth. Using multiple platforms, ie the game and comic book, should help immensely.

One thing that needs to be addressed is prolong. I interpret it as slowing down the physical aging process, not stopping it. When I first read On Basilisk Station I didn't picture Honor looking like a teenager. She's described as 24 years old, over 40 terran years and from McKeon's viewpoint, 'youthful looking' 2nd generation prolong. My image was early-mid twenties. If all the prolong characters are supposed to look mid to late teens then that may stretch believablity. With aging comes experience which leads to laugh lines, frown lines, crow's feet, scars both external and internal. Ender's Game used a bunch of young actors and there wasn't a whole lot of success. And that movie aged the children from the book. There was a movie many moons ago, Bugsy Malone (1976). A gangster movie with all the gangsters played by children. Even Jodie Foster didn't make this one a success. Plus with all the teenage, highschool vampires and werewolves on television and in film series the pool of available actors has to be low. (Perpetual highschool, oh god, give me the Fifth Dimension and Aquarious or Bob Seger's band, all depending.) Moving away from the hardline of prolong appearance allows for older actors which should provide a greater choice. Explain it briefly because of Grayston but don't harp on it. Maybe something old-fashioned as a handout flyer given to patrons when they purchase their ticket explaining it and showing the 'ages' of all the characters. Or something similar added to the 'coming attractions' stuff prior to actually showing the film.

The script may have to drop characters completely or combine them. Some here have mentioned combing Tom Theisman and Alfredo Yu. If there are followup films, then that wouldn't be a good idea. Yu needn't be on the screen long but enough so that he becomes apparent that he's Theisman's mentor and friend. Plus his escape from Thunder of God has to shown to explain how the Masadan's came to control the ship. To my way of thinking many of the briefings, dinner discussions and meetings can be combined, shortened or eliminated. That decision, amongst others, will be done by Evergreen, but hopefully not in a vacuum.

The $60 million budget, silly as it sounds, isn't high for a science fiction project which is going to need a fair bit of CGI. Where filming is going to take place greatly affects that budget. Some places offer incentives to attract film projects, others have the infrastructure to support a film already in place. The majority of this film will take place in ships, space stations with only a couple of planetary visits to Grayston and Masada. And those will be indoors. London has Pinehill Studios but they are expensive and Star Wars is probably going to tie them up for few years. California is trying to get incentives passed but not sure whether they have yet. Crew availability and cost have to be considered as well as studio space. Infrastructure isn't a problem. Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal all have experienced crews, infrastructure, studio space and incentives. My suggestion is Vancouver because of it's proximity to Evergreen HQ and Los Angeles as well as a history of science fiction productions, most notable Battlestar Galactica, Stargeate SG1, Atlantis & Universe, Dark Angel, Chronicles of Riddick, I Robot. Just because I live in Victoria has nothing to do with it. Really. Trust me. Honest.

Casting the film. It's been mentioned that unknowns will be cheaper for many of the main characters, paying for 'name' actors for the secondary roles. Pay someone big for Admiral Courvoisier and Admiral Yanakow knowing you won't need them for a second movie. Then get the starring actors on the cheap, so to speak. I think spreading it around is a better idea, again depending on how much of the budget will go the performers. Assuming Vancouver for the shoot, there are many actors who are recognizable from television appearances who may not be 'names' in the US or Europe. They should come at a reasonable cost with some savings for bigger stars.

Honor Harrington: Leelee Sobieski http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005447/?ref_=rvi_nm
She is 31, 5'10, experienced actress, emmy winner for tv movie Joan of Arc, numerous tv series and feature films. Since she'll be in uniform for pretty much the entire movie, give her some lifts to get her closer to 6'1 as described in the books. Plus since she starred with noted smurf, Tom Cruise, in Eyes Wide Shut, she might get kick out of the extra height.

Protector Benjamin: Ian Tracey http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0870439/?ref_=rvi_nm
50, 5'7, currently in Continuum and Bates Motel, starred in cbc series Intelligence and DaVinci's Inquest.

Admiral Courvoisier Admiral Yanakow: Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger
Allows them to team up again after Platoon. Both look like admirals.

Howard Clinkscales: Colm Feore http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0272173/?ref_=rvi_nm
57, 5'11, Thor, Chronicles of Riddick, The Borgias, channeled Pierre Trudeau in the biography for the CBC.

Hamish Alexander: John Barrowman http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0057882/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm
47, 6`, experienced in science fiction with Torchwood, Arrow, Dr Who

This is getting long. As for the rest, I`ll trust Evergreen provided they are not limiting themselves to early twenty-somethings. Young-looking good, young for the sake of being young, not so good.