Does anyone else among the Royal Society of Rowling Readers wish that The Presence would attempt something akin to what the Indiana Jones’ film makers have done? Imagine a world in which every decade or five years saw Warner Brothers Discovery create and release a blockbuster movie, a one-off adventure rather than a series, set in the scenes we know well from their adaptations of the Hogwarts Saga novels and with one or two of the characters.
Feel free to explain in the comment boxes why this will never happen, especially if you’re glad it is impossible or you really dislike Harrison Ford’s ‘Indiana Jones’ legacy. Me? I rarely go to theaters to see films, but I think I will go to see ‘Dial of Destiny’ before I watch the third Fantastic Beasts film or read the ‘Original Screenplay,’ the only Rowling product I have not studied closely. Must be an old man thing!
I have speculated for a while that video series will supplant print series in popular entertainment consumption in just this way, for example, each HP book will have its own season. In this way the writers will be able to go into more depth and possibly retain more of the story than the film producers, who have to condense into just a 2.5-hr product.
I’m not saying I like that prospect, but the preferences of younger generations, who have not grown up with diving into a full book, are much more accepting of the visual eye candy.
At least a series, developed over multiple episodes, will give the storytellers more opportunity to tell more of the story visually. Each episode covers 2-3 chapters.
Think about how easily Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books became popular films and how closely the films followed the books. No, not perfectly, but I have no doubt her script-writing experience beforehand helped her craft a written story that was easier to adapt to film.
–an old Book Reader
Prof. Stauffer,
Well, in terms of any future that the current ongoing tent pole series format may have going for it, there may be signs that things are a lot more up in the air. For instance, I’ve stumbled across an article that details an issue that anyone who wants (or maybe it’s just that they have no real choice except to continue down this path) is going to have to struggle with.
It’s labeled as “Franchise Fatigiue”, and I’ll have to admit there do seem signs that the vast majority of “viewers” are succumbing to it. The article details seven reasons why Franchise formatting may be in some kind of trouble. I guess the best anyone can say about it is, “One can always hope. At least in terms of any series devoid of creative content”. Still, anyone who wants can read for themselves, and see what they make of it.
The article can be labeled as of some interest to this site, as it touches on Ezra Miller’s other flagship employer, Marvel Studios.
https://www.powerofpop.com/seven-reasons-why-franchise-fatigue-is-real/
Wayne Stauffer,
I liked the King Vidor War and Peace, and the American release (two consecutive weeks at the movies) Sergei Bondarchuk one more, the 1972 BBC one even more, but the library for the blind (or whatever) Alexander Scourby audiobook best of all – so far… I’m still astonished at how frequentyl C.S.Lewis reread it…