The Pterry Movie I'd actually want to see...

(from the Discworld Monthly Newsletter, issue 102)

Do you happen to have a spare 15 million USD? It appears that American investors won't raise that amount to make Good Omens. Terry Gilliam has been offered 45 million USD from the international community but it appears that American investors don't have the confidence to back Gilliam due to his shaky track record. For all his brilliance some of Gilliam's films never got finished or went horrendously over budget - Quixote and Baron Munchausen for example. Gilliam wants to cast Johnny Depp to play Crowley and Robin Williams to play Aziraphale.

Oh Wow. Depp and Williams. If you've ever read the book, which Terry Pratchett co-authored with fellow genius Neil Gaiman, you can see how that would work.

I'm not in favor of any of Pterry's novels being made into films...at least not the Discworld stuff. Partially, because no movie could be as good as the one that played in my head while I was reading the original. And partially, because there are far too many arguments against starting at the beginning of the series, or at any other stop along the path of the 30+ novels.

It would be nearly impossible to make one film that even the majority of the fans would enjoy. It would be equally difficult to give all the newcomers the urge to read the rest of the books. We're talking about four distinct groups of main characters. Somebody's gonna get short-shrifted, even if you manage a sequel.

Doing a one-off book, like Small Gods or Pyramids might work...but the fans would bitch and moan.

Frankly, I'd rather not read the grumblings of other L-Spacers out there by seeing a movie made on A'Tuin's back. When I want to see the movie...I'll just pick the book back up.

But I would go see Good Omens in a heartbeat. And perhaps...once I've finally read them...I'd do the same for the Bromeliad or the Johnnys.