The Green...?
The Green... Effect?
Contrary to previous reports, Variety are reporting that M. Night Shyamalan's latest spec script has been given the title The Green Effect, not The Green Planet. Don't get too used to it, though... it's about to change.
Having done the rounds of the studios and come up short, Shyamalan is heading back to do another draft which, reportedly, will include a retitling. He's taken onboard a raft of notes from the execs who nixed him, and according to Variety, he's going to be factoring these into Mark 2.
I'm not sure if I like this or not. Of course, allegations of indulgence dogged Lady in the Water, and they were, to a fairly large degree, founded, even while so much about the film showed great skill and intelligence - but taking notes from studio execs? Well... if the notes were vague "fix this, fix that" stuff then we're probably in line for a strong end result, but if they were specific "he should say this, then they should go and do that" stuff, maybe not so.
Only one friend of film ick has read anything from the original version of the script, and they weren't exactly in awe of what they read; having said that, their criticisms might be called wishy-washy, and as I said to them at the time, maybe a little biased. Not liking the script is one thing, but calling it a 'disaster' on the basis of an (admittedly fair-sized) excerpt... well, what's that old saying?
Ah yes: 90% of script writing is structure. And I believe that. And I believe that, yes, Shyamalan is very strong on structure, particularly the kind of structure you aren't going to fully appreciate if you don't read every scene.
I want to read The Green Planet/Effect because I want to judge for myself.
One last point from Variety's piece: if Shyamalan's next draft is picked up, he hopes to make the film before he gets on with his Avatar: The Last Airbender trilogy.
2 comments:
Shyamalan has absolutely no business developing a screenplay for 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' whatsoever and he's a complete fool if he has the arrogance to think he does. Avatar fans are outraged Paramount has shut out co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and have willingly signed on the man whose mental brilliance concocted the idea that an alien species vunerable to water would somehow find it a moral imperative to overthrow a planet comprised almost completely of the same element. (See Shyamalan movie 'Signs') Regularly written off as just a kid's show, 'Avatar' boasts more than 10 independantly run fan websites. These sites were created and are frequently hit each dasy not by Nickelodeon's demographic of 6-14 year olds but by diehard adult fans. The special effects alone required to generate the 'bending' arts and the characters of Appa (a 10-ton flying bison) and Momo (a flying lemur-bat) put Shyamalan enormously out of his league from the start. Shyamalan would be wise to bow out now and leave the transfer of 'Avatar' to the big screen (ideally in animated form) to DiMartino and Konietzko. 'Avatar' fans are diehards and will reject and scowl at Shyamalan's traditional egotistic cameos or the expected taking of any and all 'artistic liberties' in the making of this film. Shyamalan would be wise to be cautious with his career at this juncture less he find his next big project to be asking strangers if they would like fries with their order.
Shyamalan is a very gifted filmmaker who could make some strong movies from this deal.
There's no way he can damage the cartoon series, so there's no need to be afraid of him. The show will always be there, he can't delete it.
If people don't like his films and are therefore put off of the cartoon, that's more a result of their narrow mindedness and possible ignorance.
DiMartino and Konietzko have clearly created something of a phenomenon. The only way Shyamalan could ever really dent that is if his film is superior, and throws their film into the shade that way. Ultimately, that would be a good thing, you'd have to agree - even if you find the prospect massively unlikely.
Post a Comment