Everything You Love Withers and Dies: What is Monday Miscellany?
By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (24)
It’s that time of the week again, that glorious and invigorating time when it seems like all the trade news worth writing about is bad news. This week it falls on a Monday, just to make sure that you’re really enjoying being back at work. You think to yourself, “self, work is too boring to contemplate after the weekend I had, and so I will steal thoughtlessly from my employer and read the mighty Pajiba instead.”
And then BAM, this post hits you in the mouth like a nail-studded two-by-four. But look on the bright side, none of it has to do with Twilight, so you got that going for ya.
First up, it looks like The Great Gatsby is finally getting made with a cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. So far so good, great American novel, fantastic cast. So who’s directing? Baz Luhrmann. That would be the guy who directed Moulin Rouge, Australia, Romeo+Juliet, and Strictly Ballroom. Faaaantastic.
But wait! It gets worse! He’s insisting on making it in 3D! Having read that novel, I can think of not a single scene that would benefit in the slightest from the added expense of shooting it in 3D. Not one.
And Luhrmann insists that the film will pump $120 million into the local Australian economy where it’s shooting, starting a new golden age of Australian film production. $120 million? The Matrix cost less than half that to make. In what universe would The Great Gatsby have anything close to that budget?
(source: SlashFilm)
In other eye-rolling news, the Tolkien estate has issued a cease-and-desist letter to author Stephen Hilliard who has written a book called Mirkwood, which features JRR Tolkien as a fictional character. Here’s the book’s description:
Bold new author Steve Hillard’s wildly original debut, Mirkwood, re-invents J.R.R. Tolkien as a man haunted by the very myths he rewove into his famous works. As much literary criticism as boisterous epic, this episodically-driven plot explores the blurred borderlands where ancient tales, lost heroines, and epic journeys are stalked by dim monsters that will not be still. In 1970, Professor Tolkien makes a little-known visit to America-and sets in motion elvish powers embodied in a cache of archaic documents. Destinies are altered, legends become real, and two heroines must race for their lives in vastly different worlds.
The Tolkien estate is seeking to have publication cease and have all copies destroyed. Do you know what the dream of all writers is? To have books burned in their name 37 years after they die. I ordered a copy on principle.
(source: Blastr)
And saving the best for last, Joshua Jackson (RIP) is begging fans to watch “Fringe” because it is now on the edge of cancellation. Okay Fox we get it, the Friday night sci-fi death slot works. The study is officially large-n. Now can you move it to a tenable slot so that the show doesn’t get canned?
Jackson had this to say:
I’m a positive person in general, but we really need our Fringe fans to tune in and watch us on Fridays…We did good when we first moved, but last week we did not have a good week, ratings wise. It is going to take the people that like the show to watch the show and start the campaign and show their support if they want to see us stick around for another season.
The ratings last week dropped to 3.7 million viewers, down from last season’s average of 7.3 million.
(source: Blastr)
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Comments
Posted by: Whalen at February 21, 2011 10:09 AM
Wow, and I thought this was going to be a pretty good week. Look who's wrong. :/