Two friends of mine have had their books made into movies. Karen Joy Fowler‘s Jane Austen Book Club and Holly Black‘s Spiderwick Chronicles will be out in September and next February respectively, and can now be seen in trailer form right now.
I can’t tell you how rarely this happens. Lots of books get optioned, which means that someone has paid the writer for the right to make a movie based on their book. An option usually lasts a year and if work hasn’t started on the movie by the end of that time the option expires. That’s what happens in at least ninety per cent of cases; rarely do options result in films being made.
I know lots and lots of writers who’ve had work optioned. I’ve come close to an option myself, but Karen and Holly are the first to have had an actual Hollywood movie made. It’s like a miracle. A well-deserved miracle. If you haven’t read their books you should—they’re awesome.
I’m definitely gunna go see both movies the second they open. Can’t wait!
i haven’t read any of jane austin’s works, or the jane austin book club for that matter. but now i think i’m going to read both. they look fantastic. can’t wait.
i saw the trailer for spiderwick. it looks amazing. 😀 i’ve got to read the books though, before i see the movie. the jane austen book club sounds cool too.
p.s. i love what you’ve done with the sidebars. 😀
Jessiegirl: You must read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Fabulous book and probably one of the most influential ever published. I’ve read it maybe a hundred times. I loves it! And Karen’s Jane Austen Book Club is a wonderful homage to the fabulousness of Jane Austen.
Rebecca: It will take you about ten minutes to read the Spiderwick books. They’re very little. Wonderful and short.
i love what you’ve done with the sidebars
A procrastinating blogger’s work is never done. Literally. I must stop futzing with the blog and get back to work! It piles up all around me. Short stories and novels don’t write themselves. Nor do interview questions answer themselves or email for that matter. But why not? Lazy bastards.
futzing! where is that from? i could swear i made that word up…. i was gonna use it in a story and everything. 😮
damn those lazy questions. but playing with the blog is soooo much fun. 😀
I attended a screening for The Jane Austen Book Club at ALA in DC. It was highly enjoyable. I haven’t read the book (it’s on the list), so I have no notes regarding the comparison of the two. But, I will probably go see it again upon its release and then buy it on DVD, too.
For all of you buffy fans out there, Marc Blucas (who plays Riley) is in it, too! Yummy.
I’m a HUGE Jane Austen fan, of course. After my stack of books goes down a bit, I plan on going back and reading all of her work again, but in chronological order. I know it sounds dorky, but I don’t care. I stole the idea from Lindsay Doran, who produced the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility.
hmmm…futzing sounds a lot like putzing
what age range would you say the spiderwick books are for? i loved tithe, valient, and ironside but i wasnt sure if the spiderwick books were more for younger readers.
Hey Riley Finn is in JABC! How weirdly cyclical. I remember Karen always got Buffy 3 hours earlier and she had to be careful not to give up any plot points. I’ve been holding off on Jane Austen Book Club cause I haven’t read Austen yet. I guess I’m gonna have to roll with my multiple viewings of the BBC Pride and Prejudice and read it before the movie comes out.
You know, looking at those two trailers just made me think that you can’t tell anything about a movie by the trailer, except how it’s being marketed.
I was interested to hear about how options work from the author’s side of things. I was wondering: once the option actually works out and the movie is made, does the author profit more if the film does well in theaters than she or he would if the film does poorly? my guess is that the author is paid a fixed sum well before it hits the theaters and that is that, but I could be wrong.
I am prompted to find this out by a comment someone made at a con recently. we were discussing the upcoming film of The Dark Is Rising (I am appalled! AAAH!), and one audience member suggested that we all attend the film no matter how dreadful it looks, out of support for the author. I’m curious as to whether her logic held, at least from a monetary standpoint.