Indie Movie I Would Like to Make
I have read most of Stephen King's novels, and like many of them. But some of my favorites were the four novels he wrote as Richard Bachman, in part because they were actually, you know, novel length rather than thousand-page monstrosities.
I have discussed in other posts that the Bachman book "the Running Man" is one of the movies I would most love to remake. The movie was a silly farce where the lead actor (the governator) was out-acted by Richard Dawson, for God sakes.
This week while my daughter was sick I reread "the Long Walk." Its one of those love it or hate it things -- the Amazon reviews are split between 5 star reviews and 1 star reviews.
I would love to make a movie of "the Long Walk." It would not be that expensive to make -- the whole book takes place with a hundred teenage boys walking a couple hundred miles down a road. Seriously, 10-12 unknown teenaged actors, 90 or so other extras, a couple of steadicams on a flatbed truck. The crowd scenes at the end would take a lot of extras, don't know how expensive that would be, but I think a really interesting movie could be made. I picture something ala Kirosawa, maybe even in black and white. The concept also seems to suggest Tarantino, which reminds me of a movie called Battle Royale that is a sort of similar, but much more violent concept, which Tarantino once listed among his ten favorites.
PS- This would also be a really cool play. Picture a big moving conveyor belt from front to back of the stage, so the actors walk a steady pace through the whole show.
Caroline:
The Hunger Games is in this genre you like. It's written for a younger audience (my daughter's book) but it's a great read.
May 27, 2011, 9:19 amTJIC:
Great story.
I'd love to see that movie too. I'd kick in a few bucks on kickstarter, if you want to start up your indie producing career! ;-)
May 27, 2011, 9:19 amTJIC:
> The crowd scenes at the end would take a lot of extras, don’t know how expensive that would be
One barrista I flirt with is an aspiring actress and has been busting her ass to get work as an extra (she's finally gotten three gigs over the last few months).
I think "free coffee and diet coke" would cover it.
May 27, 2011, 9:20 amperlhaqr:
TJIC: I'm part owner of an independent movie company, we've done two full length films independently, and been a part of the production crew on a dozen others. Snacks and drinks pretty much covers it. Heck, that's what we've paid the actual cast, let alone extras. (We're a really small company. Sub $10k budgets.)
The biggest problem with this plan is: Someone undoubtedly already owns the rights to the film adaptation of this book. Even if it's King himself, whoever it is would probably like a lot of money to sell those rights to Warren / whoever else might take on this project. So, yes, it's true that the production cost of the film would be pretty minimal. But acquiring the rights to do the production seems likely to be expensive.
On the other hand, film is pretty much just a hobby for me (my partner in crime is way more involved), and I'm also not a lawyer or any sort of expert in the legal / financial end of the business. So, I could be wrong, and I encourage y'all to investigate the screen rights on your own. :)
May 27, 2011, 10:04 amCraig:
You can do a lot with a mobile camera and a lot of planning. Check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
May 27, 2011, 2:25 pmanonymouse:
From the wikipedia page for the book:
Frank Darabont has secured the rights to the film adaptation of the novel. He said that he would "get to it one day". He plans to make it low-budget, "weird, existential, and very self contained".
May 27, 2011, 3:55 pmJames H:
" The movie was a silly farce where the lead actor (the governator) was out-acted by Richard Dawson, for God sakes."
C'mon, everyone loves Richard Dawson. His charisma on Family Feud has not been matched except for Bob Barker. And his role in the movie was a game show host! Not much of a stretch.
May 27, 2011, 11:08 pmMatt:
That was the first Stephen King book I read in high school and I burned through about a dozen thereafter. I loved it.
May 28, 2011, 6:06 amMary:
I guess I'm too much of a literary purist, or Stephen King fan, because I just don't believe his works translate well to the screen. Even with Nicholson in The Shining, the written form is better.
I adored the Bachman books, maybe even preferred them. How about we just let them be?
May 30, 2011, 4:39 pm