The Dark is Rising (film)
From The Dark is Rising Wikia
The Dark is Rising film, based on the The Dark is Rising book, is scheduled for US theatrical release on October 5, 2007. Filming is being done in Romania. As of July 27, 2007, the film is called The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising.
- Director: David L. Cunningham
- Writer: John Hodge
- Producer: Marc E. Platt
- Distributor: 20th Century Fox & Walden Media
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[edit] Cast
- Alexander Ludwig - Will Stanton
- Christopher Eccleston - The Rider
- Ian McShane - Merriman Lyon
- Wendy Crewson - Mary Stanton
- Gregory Smith - Max
- Jonathan Jackson - The Walker
- James Cosmo - Dawson
- Amelia Warner - Maggie Barnes
- Frances Conroy - Miss Greythorne
- John Benjamin Hickey - John Stanton
- Jim Piddock - George
- Drew Tyler Bell - James
- Mark Donovan - Fight Promoter
- Emma Lockhart - Gwen
- Gary Entin - Robin Stanton
- Edmund Entin - Paul Stanton
- Stephen Evans - Trickster
[edit] Official Summary
The Dark is Rising is the first film adaptation of the Susan Cooper's acclaimed The Dark Is Rising Sequence. The film tells the story of Will Stanton, a young man who learns he is the last of a group of warriors who have dedicated their lives to fighting the forces of the Dark. Traveling back and forth through time, Will discovers a series of clues which lead him into a showdown with forces of unimaginable power. With the Dark once again rising, the future of the world rests in Will's hands.
[edit] Controversy
While the original story clearly is about British characters in Britain, the film will have the Stanton family as Americans living in Britain. Because of this adaptation of the story, fans are already concerned about the accuracy of the film.
Those who have read the books are also extremely concerned that the screenwriter has taken out all reference to King Arthur - the integral part of the whole series.
The main character Will Stanton has also been turned into a 14 year-old instead of 11 year-old. Among a myriad of other changes, his father has gone from being a jeweller to a physics professor - another change which totally goes against the storyline as the fact he was a jeweller is an important part in the early stages of The Dark Is Rising.
On cast and crew knowledge of their roles and the story, the screenwriter John Hodge admits to never having read the books other than The Dark is Rising, stating, "I haven't dipped into the other books at all." The director, founder of "The Film Institute", an offshoot of the conservative Christian evangelist group "Youth with a Mission"(YWAM) has never read the books, just the screenplay, but says that Susan Cooper "has mixed feelings about the movie". One artist's production sketch clearly depicts a rider inconsistent with the imagery of the book. Amelia Warner is one crew member whose mother has read the entire series, she stopped when she read her own character's description, she found the difference between the book and film confusing. Eccleston has read the book, saying, "I read the book for this and enjoyed it very much. And obviously it's close to me because it's couched in Celtic mysticism and it's a very, very intensely British book." Jonathan Jackson read the book and was surprised at the differences with the script. Ian McShane expressed some difficulty with the prose which he describes as dense, written in Old English, and from the 70's. Ludwig makes it clear from his interviews that he has not read the story either.
Additionally, The Walker, portrayed by Jonathan Jackson, has been rewritten as a younger person with a different plot about the loss of his soul. The twins now feature as semi-bully characters, exploiting their little brother, with Max, the uni student, now protrayed as a jealous inverted university drop-out.
This lack of interest in the storyline and the context of the book within the series changes the entire ethos of the film. The central characters seem to have been re-written to appeal to the pre-pubescent American market, the script-writers adding in stereotypical English mannerisms and speech patterns.
[edit] Film Posters
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[edit] Trailers
Trailer 1
Trailer 2
