Redwall optioned for film

[Wylder Treejumper]

I'm a bit wary about this...

[Lutra]

We knew someone had the rights and intended to use them because they shut down that DA group trying to make their own film.  When you get a cease and desist notification, obviously something big will be happening, otherwise they wouldn't worry about fans releasing a film.

If we're looking at studios to supply animation, if you can get Blu-Sky Studios to do it, I think they would do a good job with it.  They would be edgy enough not to give us a film minus the violent nature of the rats, and yet wouldn't go too nuts with pop culture like Dreamworks.  My first thought was to let Animal Logic animate it, but they're more into birds than mammals.

[Rusvul]

       Being "realistic," is just the facade put on by a pessimist to make it more socially acceptable. There are some places where facts must be faced, but a single statement is all that is need. Not consistent negative comments.

80% of the time that I'm hyped for something it either doesn't happen, it doesn't work for some reason, or it's not as good as I thought it would be. Have you heard of Cube World? It's a game that came out a few years ago. When it first came out, my computer was too slow to run it. Disappointment. I finally upgraded a year after it came out. I enjoyed it for a few days, then it got really stale and I realized it had very little content. Disappointment. Another game came out recently- Wildstar. I was really hyped, my computer can't run the game because even the upgrade was below par and too slow. A friend of mine played it, they found the content really boring and repetitive.

Now that's not to say that a potential Redwall movie would be the same- But it could be. So... Forgive me for being wary. If it's not appreciated, I'll discontinue with this topic.

[The Skarzs]

You're ten cents is appreciated as you clearly show your view on the subject. Despite any of our hopes, this might turn out for naught, and those who are careful and, as you put it, realistic about it will have less to be disappointed for than those who are taking this hook, line and sinker.

[JangoCoolguy]

. Despite any of our hopes, this might turn out for naught, and those who are careful and, as you put it, realistic about it will have less to be disappointed for than those who are taking this hook, line and sinker.

Exactly.
We shouldn't get our hopes up until we've seen more.

[Cornflower MM]

Well, I will and am.

[JangoCoolguy]

Well, here we are, 4 months later and notta word since

Has anyone heard ANYTHING, or has it withered on the vine yet again 

[Conrad the Painless]

I have a STRONG feeling that this movie is gonna happen, horrible or not. But in all seriousness, if this movie came out I would be so excited. It's one of those things I won't even consult the internet about, I'll just watch it. You know, even if it's kind of 'meh' I would appreciate the attempt at least. One thing reminds me of something though, The Secret of Nimf was a pretty good movie. Maybe the Redwall movie could be kind of like that?

[Dannflower Reguba]

       There's a big difference between being prepared for something to not live up to your expectations, and expecting it to not be what you want. I'm trying to avoid the positive point of this topic being mired in a negative aura just because certain people are pessimistic. I'm personally really hopeful about this, not counting on it 100%, but hopeful. I'm sure no one minds if you state your view on the subject, but if you're going to keep posting, could you please try and bring up points? And different ones at that.

       Again, just trying to keep the positive feelings that this topic brings to the board.

[LordTBT]

Well, here we are, 4 months later and notta word since

Has anyone heard ANYTHING, or has it withered on the vine yet again 

Withered? Movie projects take time! And this is only for a film OPTION, which I think was made pretty clear. There's no updates.

[Izeroth]

 If they do go through with this, I'd hope they do a sort of cgi style. This could help increase Redwall popularity, but, at the same time, if they change lots of the lore and everything, we'll have a bunch of people who only know Redwall from the movie and have the wrong ideas about lore. This has, somewhat, happened with the Lotr community.

[Søren]

Yeah CGI is the way to go. Like the Ga'Hoole movie style of CGI and animation.

[Dannflower Reguba]

Yeah CGI is the way to go. Like the Ga'Hoole movie style of CGI and animation.

       That movie was very well done, aside from the extreme change to the story and characters. I'd love to see a Redwall movie like that. Also, the fact that Guardians got a movie should serve as hope for Redwall, as they have some similar characteristics, hence why I loved both series. (Though Brians writing was better, the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books were a bit more child-friendly as far as reading goes)

[Captain Tammo]

And if im not mistaken, Redwall was more popular than Ga'Hoole before the movie. It was about as well known as the Narnia series before those were made into movies, and look how well those did! I think a Redwall movie, if given the right CGI or animation design, would be fantastic!

Do you think there'd be major changes to the story if they made a film? How do you think everything would be portrayed?

[James Gryphon]

I don't think I'd agree that the Redwall series is as popular as the Chronicles of Narnia; C.S. Lewis is definitely a more famous author than Mr. Jacques, and the Chronicles are probably his best-known work (although he has written other notable books).

As far as changes, expect the same kinds of things that were done in the TV series, except more so -- characters will get merged like crazy, and everything that doesn't have a direct relation to the adventure plot will get cut. If you have trouble fitting all the book into an entire television series, don't expect the film to be any better at that.

If we're making a book about Redwall: I think we lose everything about the tapestry theft. The only villains that the film would really have room to cover are Cluny, Asmodeus, Sela and Chickenhound; all the others are going to have to get very limited time. No Cheesethief, etc. The battles are probably largely glossed over; not only would showing that stuff in detail increase the rating, but there isn't really time for it anyway. The scabbard quest, the imprisonment by King Bull Sparra, etc. all has to be cut. The puzzle-solving and all of that has to be cut as much as possible, so as to keep Matthias moving from one place to another.

Honestly, though, I think a better book to adapt for this kind of thing might be Outcast. It has a great rivalry thing going -- the main hero and his sidekick, and the villain with his sidekick. If you get rid of all the stuff about Veil and Redwall Abbey then the events in the main plot are practically made for an epic film. There are lots of little anecdotes in the book that can be cropped out without even harming the main plot. Of course, the ending would have to be changed to account for not having Veil, Bryony, et al, but that isn't unduly hard.

Mariel would probably also be a great candidate; if you cut out the "attack on Redwall" thing it seems to be made to order. It pretty much follows the exact pattern used by many adventure films, and there are a lot of little things that can be chopped out of the story without hurting the quest any.