M: Drafts of letters?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:56 am
There's been talk of a fan petition/letter from BridgetotheStars.net to New Line Cinema. Though I doubt the site's administrators have come to a final decision, I present to you my first draft of a letter -- more or less complete, but subject to change. Hopefully it'll inspire fans to draft letters of their own. It's doubtful that anyone influential in New Line will give any of our messages a second thought, but hell, it was good to write. If any action is to be taken from this site, we should probably come to a decision soon and maybe coordinate with HisDarkMaterials.org to pool our resources together.
Let me know if I should keep this letter public on the board, or keep it private... I'm just posting this openly for now for lack of a better alternative.
Let us know what you administrators decide!
Note: corrections will appear in bold.
Version 01 - January 05 2007
----------------------------------------
To the honorable executives of New Line Cinema,
My name is *********** and I am the co-founder of the students' film society at ****** University.
I have long adored New Line's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In addition, I am one of the staunchest supporters of New Line's The Golden Compass.
The Golden Compass has assembled the most impressive cast and crew of any major motion picture in the past four years; not since The Return of the King has such ravishing talent been mustered. Despite impressive earnings abroad, The Golden Compass has nevertheless underperformed domestically. Many in the fan community are troubled by the possibility that New Line Cinema may choose to forgo the sequels to the His Dark Materials film series, despite the high international gross. In the following letter, I will passionately argue my case as to why New Line Cinema should invest in an expanded DVD cut of The Golden Compass and likewise invest in the sequels The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The greatest argument I can make is that New Line Cinema has everything to gain from this enterprise. Your company owns the rights to the most important collection of fantasy literature of this generation: His Dark Materials. In all honesty, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass adaptations (if handled honestly) have the potential to become some of the most acclaimed films of our time, and an extended edition DVD of The Golden Compass is a smart investment to promote these sequels.
There are ample reasons to produce an "expanded" DVD edition for The Golden Compass, and all of these reasons inevitably benefit the interests of New Line Cinema. It is well-known that the theatrical release of The Golden Compass is a 1:50min abbreviated version of the original (approx.) 2:45min cut -- without the film's intended ending. Although the theatrical cut is an excellent movie on its own merits, critics argued that the story felt unfinished, observing that several plotlines and character arcs were left unexplained by the film's end. An overwhelming majority of critics (both positive and negative) agree that, in the end, the last-minute editing decisions left the story unbalanced. As it stands, the film is excellent, but it could have been magnificent. The final act brings all of the book's themes in perspective, shows us acts of creation and destruction, and is easily the most infernal climax to a fantasy novel ever. Both critics and audiences adore emotional & powerful endings (the commercial success of Twelve Monkeys and Gladiator, for instance), as is proven time and time again, and I have no doubt that the original cut of The Golden Compass would have swept the Academy Awards and changed the minds of its detractors -- what critic would not be moved by such a beautifully tragic ending? Such a movie could have garnered even more acclaim, enjoyed warmer critical reception, and have had better word-of-mouth to attract movie-goers. In addition, by arranging the Bolvangar and Svalbard scenes in the original (correct) chronological order, the storyline would flow far more coherently. I sincerely and wholeheartedly believe that an extended cut of The Golden Compass -- with the ending included -- would have been a spectacular critical & commercial success for New Line Cinema, and would have easily won awards in all the major categories. For instance, the lead actors all give exhaulting performances, but they may have to forfeit their Oscar nominations because their most powerful on-screen moments at the climax of the film were not shown in the theatrical release. I am only pointing this out to assure you that New Line Cinema made a very good investment in The Dark Materials franchise and there is riveting potential in this series. For all these reasons, I am convinced that New Line Cinema ought to release the original cut of The Golden Compass on DVD and give the filmmakers ample resources to make this happen (such as funds for re-shoots and post-production work, in the spirit of Peter Jackson's extended editions). As I see it, this would be the smartest investment your company could make for the upcoming sequels. At the moment, New Line Cinema is not planning to include the deleted ending on The Golden Compass DVD on the basis that it will appear in The Subtle Knife anyways. However, showing that ending now is important to demonstrate how magnificent The Subtle Knife will be, to captivate the public, to amaze old and new audiences, to prove that the His Dark Materials movies will be classics, to raise people's hopes that The Subtle Knife movie will be worth seeing again and again. Once the public watches this extended cut of The Golden Compass and realizes what a truly spectacular film Chris Weitz has made, the sequels' success will be assured. Releasing an extended edition of The Golden Compass movie on DVD would revive interest in the series to both fans and non-fans, and most importantly, revive interest in the sequels.
The His Dark Materials trilogy is the most colorful and intelligent and meaningful fantasy series the world has seen, a fount of discovery and globetrekking and metaphysical wonder. No other series in recent memory can match His Dark Material's synthesis of riveting storytelling, intellectual depth, novelty, and accessibility to readers of all backgrounds. Each novel has the potential to be translated into "the perfect film": at once artistically exquisite, deeply human, and widely appealing. Even at first glance, they easily dwarf The Hobbit in ambition and in human drama. Readers have long held the belief that a His Dark Materials movie franchise could have rivaled New Line's own remarkable The Lord of the Rings movie franchise -- if not surpass it -- simply owing to the sublime richness of the book's universe, the urgent passion of its characters, and its provocative themes. There is evidence to suggest that the His Dark Materials films could in fact have been that successful. Judging by the apparently high quality of Chris Weitz's original script, it is the belief of many in the fan community that director Chris Weitz could have made a film good enough to surpass the Narnia and Harry Potter films by a wide margin. Interviews with Chris Weitz have clealy demonstrated his devotion to making the best film he possibly can, and apparently, his original script came close. We in the fan community humbly encourage New Line Cinema to aid him in this endeavor and to support him in his decisions; because if he intends to make the best film he possibly can, and succeeds, then that film has the potential to match the success of The Lord of the Rings and more. The His Dark Materials novels have earned unprecedented international acclaim (considered to be "smarter" than The Lord of the Rings books and more "responsible" than Narnia), and an earnest & faithful adaptation of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by a devoted fan like Chris Weitz can achieve equal success -- and he now has the experience to make such a success possible. Weitz's original (i.e. more faithful) vision for the His Dark Materials film series should be nurtured, for it can still lead to a highly successful award-winning film trilogy in the image of The Lord of the Rings, a motion picture franchise to not only compete with the others... but to dominate them. And to dominate, it needs to be marketed as "adult" fare; His Dark Materials is serious adult literature and that is the reason for its irresistable appeal, and fortunately, audiences across North American are thirsty for the next big "adult" fantasy franchise. The next film can be magnificent, and The Subtle Knife needs to be taken in that direction at once; it deserves to be more daring in its content (violence & sorrow make for scathing drama), more mature in its presentation (for an older target audience), deeper in its intrigue (controversy is maddeningly exciting), with a more generous running-time to give justice to an important & satisfying story. Your company gave Peter Jackson incredible creative independence, and his' turned out to be the greatest success story in the history of motion picture. For all these reasons, I humbly ask that New Line Cinema put more faith in Chris Weitz's vision; based on all of the available evidence, Chris Weitz can go far with His Dark Materials, very far.
The honorable executives of New Line Cinema should be aware that you own the rights to -- potentially -- the most important book franchise of the modern world. Its filmmaker, in turn, wants to turn them into some of the greatest films of the decade; to achieve this end he will need greater autonomy (over the final cut, for instance). This decade has proven the undeniable appeal of serious fantasy filmmaking and its exciting potential for acclaim, popularity, and profitability. It is the hope of the fan community that New Line Cinema will soon own the two most successful film franchises of the century -- The Lord of the Rings and His Dark Materials. That is still our hope.
Sincerely,
- ***********
Let me know if I should keep this letter public on the board, or keep it private... I'm just posting this openly for now for lack of a better alternative.
Let us know what you administrators decide!
Note: corrections will appear in bold.
Version 01 - January 05 2007
----------------------------------------
To the honorable executives of New Line Cinema,
My name is *********** and I am the co-founder of the students' film society at ****** University.
I have long adored New Line's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In addition, I am one of the staunchest supporters of New Line's The Golden Compass.
The Golden Compass has assembled the most impressive cast and crew of any major motion picture in the past four years; not since The Return of the King has such ravishing talent been mustered. Despite impressive earnings abroad, The Golden Compass has nevertheless underperformed domestically. Many in the fan community are troubled by the possibility that New Line Cinema may choose to forgo the sequels to the His Dark Materials film series, despite the high international gross. In the following letter, I will passionately argue my case as to why New Line Cinema should invest in an expanded DVD cut of The Golden Compass and likewise invest in the sequels The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The greatest argument I can make is that New Line Cinema has everything to gain from this enterprise. Your company owns the rights to the most important collection of fantasy literature of this generation: His Dark Materials. In all honesty, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass adaptations (if handled honestly) have the potential to become some of the most acclaimed films of our time, and an extended edition DVD of The Golden Compass is a smart investment to promote these sequels.
There are ample reasons to produce an "expanded" DVD edition for The Golden Compass, and all of these reasons inevitably benefit the interests of New Line Cinema. It is well-known that the theatrical release of The Golden Compass is a 1:50min abbreviated version of the original (approx.) 2:45min cut -- without the film's intended ending. Although the theatrical cut is an excellent movie on its own merits, critics argued that the story felt unfinished, observing that several plotlines and character arcs were left unexplained by the film's end. An overwhelming majority of critics (both positive and negative) agree that, in the end, the last-minute editing decisions left the story unbalanced. As it stands, the film is excellent, but it could have been magnificent. The final act brings all of the book's themes in perspective, shows us acts of creation and destruction, and is easily the most infernal climax to a fantasy novel ever. Both critics and audiences adore emotional & powerful endings (the commercial success of Twelve Monkeys and Gladiator, for instance), as is proven time and time again, and I have no doubt that the original cut of The Golden Compass would have swept the Academy Awards and changed the minds of its detractors -- what critic would not be moved by such a beautifully tragic ending? Such a movie could have garnered even more acclaim, enjoyed warmer critical reception, and have had better word-of-mouth to attract movie-goers. In addition, by arranging the Bolvangar and Svalbard scenes in the original (correct) chronological order, the storyline would flow far more coherently. I sincerely and wholeheartedly believe that an extended cut of The Golden Compass -- with the ending included -- would have been a spectacular critical & commercial success for New Line Cinema, and would have easily won awards in all the major categories. For instance, the lead actors all give exhaulting performances, but they may have to forfeit their Oscar nominations because their most powerful on-screen moments at the climax of the film were not shown in the theatrical release. I am only pointing this out to assure you that New Line Cinema made a very good investment in The Dark Materials franchise and there is riveting potential in this series. For all these reasons, I am convinced that New Line Cinema ought to release the original cut of The Golden Compass on DVD and give the filmmakers ample resources to make this happen (such as funds for re-shoots and post-production work, in the spirit of Peter Jackson's extended editions). As I see it, this would be the smartest investment your company could make for the upcoming sequels. At the moment, New Line Cinema is not planning to include the deleted ending on The Golden Compass DVD on the basis that it will appear in The Subtle Knife anyways. However, showing that ending now is important to demonstrate how magnificent The Subtle Knife will be, to captivate the public, to amaze old and new audiences, to prove that the His Dark Materials movies will be classics, to raise people's hopes that The Subtle Knife movie will be worth seeing again and again. Once the public watches this extended cut of The Golden Compass and realizes what a truly spectacular film Chris Weitz has made, the sequels' success will be assured. Releasing an extended edition of The Golden Compass movie on DVD would revive interest in the series to both fans and non-fans, and most importantly, revive interest in the sequels.
The His Dark Materials trilogy is the most colorful and intelligent and meaningful fantasy series the world has seen, a fount of discovery and globetrekking and metaphysical wonder. No other series in recent memory can match His Dark Material's synthesis of riveting storytelling, intellectual depth, novelty, and accessibility to readers of all backgrounds. Each novel has the potential to be translated into "the perfect film": at once artistically exquisite, deeply human, and widely appealing. Even at first glance, they easily dwarf The Hobbit in ambition and in human drama. Readers have long held the belief that a His Dark Materials movie franchise could have rivaled New Line's own remarkable The Lord of the Rings movie franchise -- if not surpass it -- simply owing to the sublime richness of the book's universe, the urgent passion of its characters, and its provocative themes. There is evidence to suggest that the His Dark Materials films could in fact have been that successful. Judging by the apparently high quality of Chris Weitz's original script, it is the belief of many in the fan community that director Chris Weitz could have made a film good enough to surpass the Narnia and Harry Potter films by a wide margin. Interviews with Chris Weitz have clealy demonstrated his devotion to making the best film he possibly can, and apparently, his original script came close. We in the fan community humbly encourage New Line Cinema to aid him in this endeavor and to support him in his decisions; because if he intends to make the best film he possibly can, and succeeds, then that film has the potential to match the success of The Lord of the Rings and more. The His Dark Materials novels have earned unprecedented international acclaim (considered to be "smarter" than The Lord of the Rings books and more "responsible" than Narnia), and an earnest & faithful adaptation of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by a devoted fan like Chris Weitz can achieve equal success -- and he now has the experience to make such a success possible. Weitz's original (i.e. more faithful) vision for the His Dark Materials film series should be nurtured, for it can still lead to a highly successful award-winning film trilogy in the image of The Lord of the Rings, a motion picture franchise to not only compete with the others... but to dominate them. And to dominate, it needs to be marketed as "adult" fare; His Dark Materials is serious adult literature and that is the reason for its irresistable appeal, and fortunately, audiences across North American are thirsty for the next big "adult" fantasy franchise. The next film can be magnificent, and The Subtle Knife needs to be taken in that direction at once; it deserves to be more daring in its content (violence & sorrow make for scathing drama), more mature in its presentation (for an older target audience), deeper in its intrigue (controversy is maddeningly exciting), with a more generous running-time to give justice to an important & satisfying story. Your company gave Peter Jackson incredible creative independence, and his' turned out to be the greatest success story in the history of motion picture. For all these reasons, I humbly ask that New Line Cinema put more faith in Chris Weitz's vision; based on all of the available evidence, Chris Weitz can go far with His Dark Materials, very far.
The honorable executives of New Line Cinema should be aware that you own the rights to -- potentially -- the most important book franchise of the modern world. Its filmmaker, in turn, wants to turn them into some of the greatest films of the decade; to achieve this end he will need greater autonomy (over the final cut, for instance). This decade has proven the undeniable appeal of serious fantasy filmmaking and its exciting potential for acclaim, popularity, and profitability. It is the hope of the fan community that New Line Cinema will soon own the two most successful film franchises of the century -- The Lord of the Rings and His Dark Materials. That is still our hope.
Sincerely,
- ***********
