# An Elric Movie? YES PLEASE



## Vegetta (Sep 24, 2008)

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/05/30/weitz-brothers-sign-on-for-fantasy-epic-elric/#comments

So it would seem that the Weitz brothers have a thing for sweeping fantasy epics. Empire online reports that Chris and Paul Weitz have signed to adapt the fantasy series Elric of Melniboné written by Michael Moorcock. The novels (and there are over a dozen of them) center on an albino emperor who is forever cursed with a sword called Stormbringer that is the source of his supernatural powers, but unfortunately the sword also sucks life force leaving Elric weak and sickly. That hardly sounds like the ideal protagonist for a big budget Hollywood film, but a lot could happen in the re-write process. The Weitz's sound like big fans of the books, saying "Of the great classic fantasy series, it is the one that hasn't been done yet".

Chris Weitz (with brother Paul producing) has just finished work on the adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig; he served as both co-writer and director. Already another film is in the works from the series (there are three Compass-related books in total), but that film will be working from a Hossein Amini script. Chris has also signed on to adapt the big-screen version of Nick Flynn's brutally funny memoir Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City for Fox. The Elric Saga is a tricky story to tackle in one film, and the project has yet to attach a director, but Paul is already hinting at a little nepotism, saying, "I'd really like it if my brother directed them".


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 24, 2008)

This would be awesome if it was done well, BUT...

1) There's already a glaring mistake there...Elric is already weak and sickly before he finds Stormbringer. Before the sword, he relies on medicine and potions to sustain himself, but the sword uses the souls it sucks from its victims to sustain him, so he doesn't need them while he's wielding it. Pedantic mode over. [pedantic mode off]

2) As they said, there's a hell of a lot of material in the books to turn into one film. A trilogy would be much better.

3) I don't have much faith that Hollywood will treat the source material with a great amount of respect.


Sorry if the above sounds pretty negative, but I do love the Elric books, and would hate to see a bad film made of them.

Y'know I've often thought a manga or animated film would be a better way of bringing the character to the screen rather than a live action film...


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## Vegetta (Sep 24, 2008)

distressed_romeo said:


> This would be awesome if it was done well, BUT...
> 
> 1) There's already a glaring mistake there...Elric is already weak and sickly before he finds Stormbringer. Before the sword, he relies on medicine and potions to sustain himself, but the sword uses the souls it sucks from its victims to sustain him, so he doesn't need them while he's wielding it. Pedantic mode over. [pedantic mode off]
> 
> ...



Wendy Pini (Elfquest) tried doing an animated version that failed in production. I have a few Elric Graphic novels (reprinted from Heavy Metal) that are very good


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## Karl Hungus (Sep 24, 2008)

Chris Weitz really messed up The Golden Compass, I'd be very sceptical about this one.


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## distressed_romeo (Sep 24, 2008)

Vegetta said:


> Wendy Pini (Elfquest) tried doing an animated version that failed in production. I have a few Elric Graphic novels (reprinted from Heavy Metal) that are very good



Have you got the 'Making of a Sorceror' prequel that Moorcock did for DC?

It was a great read, and the art was a great fit with the style of the novels.


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## The Dark Wolf (Sep 24, 2008)

This sounds nice... although, like DR pointed out, the juxtaposing of Elric's weakness/Stormbringer with the story's bent leaves me decidedly uncertain on that account...

Man, if they do it right, it could RULE! I could see FX channel's 'SOn's of ANarchy' (great fucking show) star Charlie Hunnam as Elric. He played an albino in 'Cold Mountian', and he's a pretty good actor.


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## sakeido (Sep 24, 2008)

Karl Hungus said:


> Chris Weitz really messed up The Golden Compass, I'd be very sceptical about this one.



Did he ever... I can't totally hate that movie, since it made me read the books. Except I really, really love the books and the movie is just so weak compared to the source material. Very impressive technically, great visual design, but he took massive liberties with the story.


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## Karl Hungus (Sep 24, 2008)

sakeido said:


> Did he ever... I can't totally hate that movie, since it made me read the books. Except I really, really love the books and the movie is just so weak compared to the source material. Very impressive technically, great visual design, but he took massive liberties with the story.



Well, it wasn't terrible, and there were parts of the film that I enjoyed very much, but on the whole it was just a bad movie. So, I just can't get excited about any project this guy is involved in, regardless of the source material.


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## Vegetta (Sep 28, 2008)

Karl Hungus said:


> Well, it wasn't terrible, and there were parts of the film that I enjoyed very much, but on the whole it was just a bad movie. So, I just can't get excited about any project this guy is involved in, regardless of the source material.




I read the book but only half watched the movie TBH I didnt find the book to be all that great,,,


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## technomancer (Sep 28, 2008)

Given that they've already hosed a major plot point in the synopsis, this just has disaster waiting to be released written all over it.


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