Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Hedwig the Owl landed on the skylight of the underground Moriarty Labs earlier tonight and started to walk in small, frustrated circles, trying to get my attention. I sent Henchman Mongo up to retrieve her, and once I finally managed to retrieve her from his mouth (how he managed to fit her in completely, I'll never know), I found two messages, one tied to each leg. Ruffled and offended, she flew off before I could even feed her. Shame. She brought such interesting goodies for you.
First up is a report from NEWS OF THE WORLD:
Just read a report that Harry Potter is done filming and first edit weighs in at 4 hours long, about twice the length of a what would be considered a long child targeted movie. Colombus was trying to stick to the book as closely as possible and will now have to cut major plot and special effects (of which there are 500)to trim it down. So says the Warner Bros bosses. One wonders how long the 4th book, Goblet of Fire will be if made into a movie which is likely but depends on the success of the first two, the second of which is already greenlighted. Speculation is that it would be made as 2 movies to cover the one book but if this is any indication I'm thinking mini-series.
NEWS OF THE WORLD also reports that the movie cost £100 million which would be around US $166 million. Would that not make it the most expensive single movie ever made? Nobody's talking about that so it probably isn't but that occurred to me. Anyway, that heavy of an edit worries me. Entertainment Weekly (sorry, I got 4 free months) reports that Colombus and others involved in the film can't say enough about how good an actor is Daniel Radcliffe. Citing that he was very mature and credible in the part. I just hope I can find a midnight showing of it on opening night cause I can't wait to see it, but would rather not have to smell baby shit while eating popcorn.
I know you probably won't post this but if you should...
Call me Devolver
I saw this story myself the other day, and it is misinformation of fairly common type. I mean, after all, as another reader put it:
"I'm just reading the Harry Potter titbits, and I thought I'd better let you in on something we in Ireland and Britain have known for years. You know your celebrated shit-fest 'National Enquirer'? Well, over here, the equivalent is News Of The World - mate, I kid you not, believe NOTHING this sheet of bog-roll prints - in a world of questionable reporting, News Of The World stands teetering high above, a veritable bastion of moron-fodder and scantily clad SHITE.
Just thought I'd let you know :)"
While I don't know the paper myself, this struck me as a case where someone just doesn't understand the process of filmmaking. Assembly cuts of films tend to run very, very long. There was an eight hour assembly cut of BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, for goshsakes. TRUE LIES was almost an hour longer at one point. These edits aren't actual versions of the film you'd see in a theater. They're just footage put together, with multiple takes in many cases of the same thing. It's a change for a director to take an overview of what he's got to work with before getting down to the fine art of cutting. Word is Columbus' first draft was around two and a half hours, and the final cut is just ten minutes shorter than that. Sounds like Columbus has fit in everything he wanted to without having to make hard choices. Also sounds like fans should relax. You're not missing an hour or more of movie.
The other letter was from a "D. Malfoy," and seemed short and to the point:
Spielberg wants to make the third HARRY POTTER film. He says it's the only one worth making. Says the first one wasn't interesting. Bet Columbus is out on his ass.
D. Malfoy
This rumor was reported yesterday by sites like DARK HORIZONS and CHUD, but it was broken over the weekend by Empire Online, and I read the quotes attributed to Spielberg. They make me sad, mostly. Spielberg has been quoted about POTTER before. In fact, he's said a number of things about HARRY POTTER now, mostly while promoting A.I. around the world, and all in all, he's sounding like a Slytherin boy through and through. First, he makes cracks about how he passed on HARRY POTTER because it would have been "a guaranteed slam dunk... too easy." This from the man who botched HOOK completely, as sure a concept as I've ever seen, the same man who never did figure out how to make a completely successful JURASSIC PARK movie despite trying it twice. He's going to assume it was a slam dunk? There's a million ways to make a lousy HARRY POTTER film, and very few ways to make one that will satisfy both audiences already enchanted by the books and viewers like Harry who have never read a word. Spielberg had a shot at making SORCERER'S STONE, and he passed on it. I've heard several credible sources describe his reasons, including his distaste for the level of involvement Rowling would have and his insistence on using Haley Joel Osment in the lead. His constant sideways pot shots at Columbus, a former protege of his, seem like sour grapes to me, poor sportsmanship. I love Spielberg, and comments like this are below him. He should be celebrating what he's getting to do instead. He went off and made his dream project this year, A.I., and now he's working from a brilliant commercial script by Scott Frank to bring MINORITY REPORT to life. Why does he feel the need to piss on something that seems to be making Columbus so proud? Seems like the honorable thing to do would be wish Chris well and shut the hell up. But maybe that's just me...
"Moriarty" out.
