Friday, April 30, 2010

PLANET GRIFFIN WEEKEND EDITION: Picking The Right One



The novel is massive, rich with backstory and subtlety that didn’t make it even to the very subtle and beautiful Swedish film. So we want to expand upon the world of the Swedish film by drawing upon the material from the novel. I think it’ll allow us to do things impossible in either of the previous incarnations. We’re planning a big program, with a unique scope to it.” Since the comics will not be a straight adaptation, readers would see episodes taking place both before and after the familiar events of the film, continuing the adventures of Eli and Oskar.
- Scott Allie, Dark Horse


Whoops!

Not too long ago, DARK HORSE COMICS and HAMMER FILMS announced several projects slated for future release, including a comic based on the US remake of the Swedish vampire movie known as LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (The American remake will be titled Let Me In). Dark Horse has also been looking at the original source material, the original novel by creator JOHN AJVIDE LINDQVIST. The problem with all of this is that no one from the DH camp cleared any of this with Lindqvist himself, who learned of this deal only after the fact.

Again... Whoops!

When interviewed by the Swedish Metro News, Lindqvist has already completed a prequel of his own slated for a future publication, and voiced his disapproval on the matter:

...Nobody has asked me about this and I think that the project stinks. I am looking into this matter and hope that they have no right to do this...

I've read the novel and watched the original film ( a violently bittersweet tale between a misunderstood, 12 year old outcast named Oskar and his chance meeting with his new neighbor, Eli, a vampire girl who was bitten at a very young age. Try to imagine a bloodier version of Twilight without the teen angst.), and found both media to be masterworks in their own right. To remake either of these seems pointless, and based upon the situation at hand, it would seem that Dark Horse may have to deal with future litigation... Only goes to show that if you don't work harder at developing original subject matter, it could come back to bite you... So to speak.

Special thanks to Warren Ellis

2 comments:

Kate said...

I saw this movie with English subs, it was fantastic. It was one of the best vampire movies I've seen.
I didn't know they did a American remake.

RodBuddah said...

I agree that the original movie ROCKED! It's also one of the BEST adapted book-to-film vampire movies hands down... (Read the BOOK! Twilight WITH bite, without the angst!) Yes, the American version is in the works (I don't see why)--- hopefully, it won't become another weak fangbanger...