What's the status on the rights to make a Redwall movie?

[Jukka the Sling]

What I mean is, have they been sold to some company or what? And when might a movie come out?

I'm really wondering about this, and writing Redwallabbey.com doesn't do much good. I emailed them several weeks ago and no reply yet. 

[JangoCoolguy]

The last anyone heard of it was a couple of years ago, with rumors of a company called "Imagen" having the rights to it. Turned out to be a total load of you know what.

http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:2011_Redwall_film_nonexistent

It will probably take a LONG time before such a film is made, if it ever is. To be honest, I think we're just better off forgetting about it until something actually comes of it--which will probably be never x_x

Problem is, bt Redwall (and its follow ups) are a hard sell for a movie. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's about cute & cuddly (and not so cute & cuddly) animals literally going medieval on each other with a lot of down and dirty violence like a nightmarish (for some) cross between Walt Disney and Mel Gibson. It's the sort of thing that most studio execs and general movie goers would likely avoid like the plague...  

It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility someone will get the nerve to make a Redwall movie someday. But it's a very long uphill battle and a lot could go wrong... >.>

I'll just stick to the TV show and Audiobooks, thanks  

[Osu]

The only film in the works I know of is happening via the Miller Brothers, who confirmed it on their website; Soma Games also confirmed this and said something about working together, as well. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's a relatively low budget production.

Whatever the case, I'm skeptical of any announcements on a Redwall movie apart from what the Miller Brothers/Soma Games are working on.

[Ungatt Trunn]

They're have been MANY attempts to make a Redwall movie...and only once was an attempt successivley. Several companise who wanted to make a Redwall movie got really close to making one, but there was usually one problem or another that stopped them. Though I wish that they could successfully make one.

[TW]

I have to agree with what people said previously. Most people would (wrongly) disregard a movie about animals that isn't for children. The series is too violent to be directly adapted to a children's movie. People would also complain if the movies were watered down, violence-wise. I can't agree with the last point, though. You hear complaints about the TV series being too watered down, but other than Skalrag's torture scene, I don't think that was a real problem. There are things you can do in books that you can't do in movies/TV shows and I think that the show handled it tastefully while still keeping the atmosphere of the books. Except for tickle torture.

To be honest, the only book I think would really work as a movie would be Redwall. Let me explain before I get attacked. In an ideal scenario, Redwall would be a pilot-esque movie and other books such as Mossflower, Martin the Warrior, and The Legend of Luke would be at television series. I think Redwall would work best as a movie because it mostly takes place in one or two areas and the events are rather packed together. Whereas most every book that followed it was a journey with some secondary storyline taking place back at Redwall. Those kind of stories, in my opinion, work better serialized. Does that make sense? I hope this sounds like a logical idea rather than my own personal wish. 

[Jukka the Sling]

Thank you everyone! 

[Ungatt Trunn]

Thank you everyone! 

Hope it was good enough for you.

[Blazemane]

I think Redwall would work best as a movie because it mostly takes place in one or two areas and the events are rather packed together. Whereas most every book that followed it was a journey with some secondary storyline taking place back at Redwall. Those kind of stories, in my opinion, work better serialized. Does that make sense? I hope this sounds like a logical idea rather than my own personal wish.  

I hear you, yeah. Pacing would be a huge obstacle for any of the movies to overcome, and I do think Redwall would be one of the best at it (even then, there's so much going in there, too). With that said, I would personally love to see how that challenge was handled. And I would love to see the pacing make it necessary for the films to extend into something around three hours, like the movies in The Lord of the Rings series.

[Ungatt Trunn]

@Blazemane & TW: Intresting talk about Redwall not "pacing" so much. Though, Doomwyte didn't have allot of pacing as well. Allot of it happened near Redwall, and all directions of the plot intertwined with each other quickly in Doomwyte.

[TW]

As much as I would love to see Peter Jackson Redwall (actually I'd much rather see Martin the Warrior or Mossflower), it's unlikely for Redwall to get The Hobbit treatment and be divided three ways. Actually, a good format for Redwall would be that of the TV movies based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It could go by either the 90s cartoons, which were extremely faithful to the books, or the newer live-action movies. For those unfamiliar, these are made-for-TV movies that are generally 3 to 3.5 hours long, but divided into two parts.

[Blazemane]

@Blazemane & TW: Intresting talk about Redwall not "pacing" so much. Though, Doomwyte didn't have allot of pacing as well. Allot of it happened near Redwall, and all directions of the plot intertwined with each other quickly in Doomwyte.

Yeah, Doomwyte did read pretty quickly for me. I think the plot isn't as centralized as Redwall's, but some thing or things in the way it was written lets the all of the details flow into each other really quickly. I don't think I can put my finger on all of what it was, yet, but what you said about the story happening near Redwall makes a lot of sense.

As much as I would love to see Peter Jackson Redwall (actually I'd much rather see Martin the Warrior or Mossflower), it's unlikely for Redwall to get The Hobbit treatment and be divided three ways.

And I'm glad for that, actually. I wouldn't want a single Redwall book to be divided in three parts--I didn't even want The Hobbit to be divided in three parts. But I would love to see one book made into one long movie (about the length of one Lord of the Rings movie; it worked for each book in that series, after all, and J.R.R. Tolkien was also a fan of extended detail).

As for preferring to see Martin the Warrior or Mossflower, I would prefer to see those, too. Mossflower, in fact seems like it'd be one of the other books with fewer pacing issues than the rest, simply because the entire story is essentially driven by the one central plot of overthrowing Kotir. Martin the Warrior, on the other hand, might be more of a challenge.

And... I mean, I would most want to see my favorite books in the series made into a movie. Lord Brocktree would be awesome (though this one would also have a few more pacing issues than some of the more direct stories). And, in my opinion, Taggerung could be powerful if it was done the right way, but the biggest problem there is that the Redwall universe needs to be established first in order for a later story like Taggerung to get away with its own plot elements and not worry about being an introduction for the audience.

So... yeah. I think the three you had mentioned--either Redwall, Mossflower or Martin the Warrior would definitely be the best options for where to start the series. But there are others, in the long run, I'd be looking forward to even more. Though now that I've gone off on a tangent, there is another thread which eventually delves into the question of which book would be the best place to start for the series' run in cinema:

http://redwallabbey.com/forum/index.php?topic=2952.0

It could go by either the 90s cartoons, which were extremely faithful to the books, or the newer live-action movies. For those unfamiliar, these are made-for-TV movies that are generally 3 to 3.5 hours long, but divided into two parts.

I've never heard of Diskworld before. Is it a series you'd recommend?

[TW]

As much as I would love to see Peter Jackson Redwall (actually I'd much rather see Martin the Warrior or Mossflower), it's unlikely for Redwall to get The Hobbit treatment and be divided three ways.

And I'm glad for that, actually. I wouldn't want a single Redwall book to be divided in three parts--I didn't even want The Hobbit to be divided in three parts. But I would love to see one book made into one long movie (about the length of one Lord of the Rings movie; it worked for each book in that series, after all, and J.R.R. Tolkien was also a fan of extended detail).

As for preferring to see Martin the Warrior or Mossflower, I would prefer to see those, too. Mossflower, in fact seems like it'd be one of the other books with fewer pacing issues than the rest, simply because the entire story is essentially driven by the one central plot of overthrowing Kotir. Martin the Warrior, on the other hand, might be more of a challenge.

I actually like how Jackson's splitting The Hobbit up. It gave him a chance to incorporate elements from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings that links the two trilogies together. The Hobbit is actually more faithful because nothing has been cut (to the best of my knowledge), just added. Whereas, The Lord of the Rings was trimmed to have a main plot (The Ring) and one side plot (Aragorn).

I don't think Redwall has enough material to make three movies either, but the three books would make an excellent start/stop points for a mini-series like I pointed out. With Mossflower, for example, each book could be an hour to an hour and ten minutes long and broadcasted over a couple of weeks. Since each book could get wrapped up in about three weeks, a two books could make one season since a lot of British shows are six one-hour episodes. It could be called something like Tales from Redwall: Mossflower or other such titles.

Redwall could operate as a pilot movie. A lot of shows get started as spin-offs of movies and a pilot movie could gauge interest in what kind of scenes are most popular, deciding which books are the most important to adapt. To be honest a Redwall adaptation could probably be trimmed without too much fuss from fans. I for one wouldn't mind if references to things Brian dropped such as domesticated animals and Ratdeath were cut. One or two of Cluny's attacks could probably be cut, too. Especially since Cluny's strategy was more of a cycle of attack/retreat rather than a Helm's Deep type siege. It worked for the book and the cartoon, but have four or five attacks in two hours and it will get repetitive.

It could go by either the 90s cartoons, which were extremely faithful to the books, or the newer live-action movies. For those unfamiliar, these are made-for-TV movies that are generally 3 to 3.5 hours long, but divided into two parts.

I've never heard of Diskworld before. Is it a series you'd recommend?

I would definitely recommend the Discworld series to any fans of fantasy or British humor. They are the funniest books I've ever picked up. It takes place on the Discworld, which is set on the back of 4 giant elephants standing on the shell of Great A'Tuin, the Star Turtle, drifting through space. The series is divided up into a number of miniseries such as Rincewind the worst wizard the multiverse, Death and his granddaughter Susan, con-artist turned civil servant Moist von Lipwig, and the Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg stories. Death is the best, and funniest. In one book, he takes over for the Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus.

If you're interested, here's the Welcome to the Discworld cartoon and the trailer for the movie The Color of Magic, based on the first two books, The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

Welcome to the Discworld (a short concept animation based on the first couple pages of Reaper Man)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIGv0tLPRUM
The Color of Magic trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7yr9jULfEk

[LordTBT]

As we announced about a year and a half ago
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:%22Redwall:_The_Adventure_Game%22_debuts_site

The Millers do indeed have the rights for a Redwall video game/movie.

Soma, in turn, is working with the Millers.
http://www.somagames.com/somaniloquy/2013/04/10/project_mouseworks/
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:LordTBT/News:Redwall_Adventure_Game_Update

They're have been MANY attempts to make a Redwall movie...and only once was an attempt successivley. Several companise who wanted to make a Redwall movie got really close to making one, but there was usually one problem or another that stopped them. Though I wish that they could successfully make one.

There has never been a successful attempt at making a Redwall movie. Yes, some selections from the Redwall TV series were edited into a DVD and called a "movie," but this is not an independent project...just the TV series re-formatted. History here:
http://redwall.wikia.com/wiki/Redwall_Film_Adaptations

[MeadowR]

That's a really interesting question. I'd like to see a decent attempt at a film someday. I mean it is one of few very successful book series that hasn't been adapted in some big way.

I just don't know how's best to go about it though. I wouldn't want it to be CGI, but I guess if they can make the characters look realistic rather than stupidly cartoony than it might be okay. 2D or even stop motion would only be a possibility if an independent company got it. Live-action with costumes might have been attempted years ago, but probably not now. XD

[Ungatt Trunn]

That's a really interesting question. I'd like to see a decent attempt at a film someday. I mean it is one of few very successful book series that hasn't been adapted in some big way.

I just don't know how's best to go about it though. I wouldn't want it to be CGI, but I guess if they can make the characters look realistic rather than stupidly cartoony than it might be okay. 2D or even stop motion would only be a possibility if an independent company got it. Live-action with costumes might have been attempted years ago, but probably not now. XD

Well, it took 75 years after The Hobbit was first pulished for it to be made into a major motion picture. And there were, like, three or so small cartoons of Hobbit that were released as much as around 30 years ago. Lets hope that we don't have to wait so long for a GOOD Redwall movie!