The first and biggest news is yet to come. A key Hitchhiker's cast will be made soon (probably the narrator or Marvin's voice, both still uncasted). So I recommend listening to: Steve Lemacq’s radio 1 show, 'The Tomorrow People' on Monday 3rd Jan at 8pm (GMT)... listen online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.
The teaser, which first appeared in the US theaters with the release of National Treasure (a big hit starring Nicolas Cage which provided a big exposure for the teaser engrossing $141,064,753 in 6 weeks) seems now to be played before several other movies : "The Aviator" (the last Martin Scorcese's movie with Leonardo DiCaprio), "The life aquatic" (with Bill Murray) and "Phantom of the opera" (a romantic musical epic horror movie based on Gaston Leroux famous novel and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical). This are all very different movies and it should ensure that the teaser has been seen by a very broad public.
Regarding the movie tie-in editions of the Hitchhiker's novels, you can now see the US cover . There is a sticker on it that anounces a 64 pages long bonus section on the making of the movie. Robbie Stamp, executive producer of the movie, is the author of the introduction as anounced on this temporary (?) uk cover.
Oh, and a little goodies I missed on Duke's website. The 20th december, Nick Loven, aka Darthbastard on douglasadams.se forums, revealed that he was the guy who won a competition runed by Simon Mayo's show on BBC Five Live with a great winning prize : a role as an extra in the h2g2 movie. He tells us about his experience here. That's great. And Nick will write a full report for the international fan club fanzine ZZ9's Mostly Harmless.
Oh, and we're still waiting for the answers to your questions by Nick and Garth in mid-January. So stay tuned. I've got the feeling that 2005 will be a great year ;)
At last. As you know the movie will be released the 6th May in the US and England. But in other countries, this might be a little different. The movie release date in France will probably be the 13th July. This will let time for Disney France to introduce Douglas and Hitchhikers to the french public. Indeed in France, and in other countries like Italy, Douglas and Hitchhikers are not very well known. Of course this should change quickly once the movie will be released !
OH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY ! Thanks once again for your support.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
First movie screening review (updated) ! + the truth about Zaphod's second head
This is incredible but it seems we've got here the first review from someone who have seen an early copy of the movie. It seems that some guys from the production staff were allowed to see the movie (of course not the final cut with the special effects) with some other selected people. Ain't it cool news has posted an anonymous review that doesn't sound like a hoax but with not too much details anyway. Interesting fact, this review has been written by a guy who didn't know much about Hitchhikers before the screening:
"First, I need to preface this review by leaving my nerd credentials at the door. I have not read Douglas Adams’ series of books, nor have I heard the HITCHHIKER GUIDE TO THE GALAXY radio show. The only knowledge I had of Adams’ works is what I had read on-line prior to the screening, so that maybe I would be able to get some of the inside jokes.
Having said that, I loved this movie. For those of you who don’t know this is your basic boy meets girl, boy loses girl to president of the galaxy, boy’s planet is destroyed, boy finds girl and travels through the galaxy in search of the ultimate question. You know, the usual.
It must be said that if you’re expecting another epic classic in the same vein of LORD OF THE RINGS, then this is not that movie. What you have here is great British humor, amazing characters played superbly by an outstanding cast, and Sci-Fi that reminds me of DR. WHO and SPACE BALLS. So, if you’re not going to enjoy a movie that opens with a song about Dolphin’s leaving the planet with the message, “So long and thanks for all the fish.” Then you might want to stay home.
My biggest fear going into this film was Mos Def playing Ford Perfect. While his first few lines fall flat, once Arthur (Martin Freeman) and he go into the bar where Ford tells Arthur about the impending doom of planet Earth he fits comfortably into the character. Although there are a couple more spots where he falls a little flat, that's nothing a little over dubbing won’t fix.
Warwick Davis’ Marvin the depressed android steals the show. His perfect monotone cadence and pitiful attitude make for a great contrast for the rest of the Heart of Gold’s upbeat mood.
For a first screening the only elements of the film that were missing where some of the effects. Often times in a screening like this you can notice moments that need to be cut or lengthened, but with this the pacing is spot on. The fact that a lot of the F/X are practical definitely gave the film a more realistic look if that’s even possible.
My suggestion was this: Finish the F/X and you’re gold.
-Cracker Thompson"
UPDATE
Cracker Thomson posted that on Ain't it cool news to answer some of the questions that were being asked. He also revealed the truth about Zaphod's head !
"1) I was worried about Mos Def because the only thing I had ever see him do was General Cornrow Wallace on the Chappelle Show. Not because I didn't think he would screw up the character seeing as I haven't read the books. 2) Mos Def DOES NOT do a British accent in the movie. 3) Zaphod does have his third arm, and his second head DOES NOT come out of his nose, rather it comes from underneath his already existing head. 4) The only way the film is Spaceballsesque is in the cheeseball sci-fi. 5) Anything else?”
"First, I need to preface this review by leaving my nerd credentials at the door. I have not read Douglas Adams’ series of books, nor have I heard the HITCHHIKER GUIDE TO THE GALAXY radio show. The only knowledge I had of Adams’ works is what I had read on-line prior to the screening, so that maybe I would be able to get some of the inside jokes.
Having said that, I loved this movie. For those of you who don’t know this is your basic boy meets girl, boy loses girl to president of the galaxy, boy’s planet is destroyed, boy finds girl and travels through the galaxy in search of the ultimate question. You know, the usual.
It must be said that if you’re expecting another epic classic in the same vein of LORD OF THE RINGS, then this is not that movie. What you have here is great British humor, amazing characters played superbly by an outstanding cast, and Sci-Fi that reminds me of DR. WHO and SPACE BALLS. So, if you’re not going to enjoy a movie that opens with a song about Dolphin’s leaving the planet with the message, “So long and thanks for all the fish.” Then you might want to stay home.
My biggest fear going into this film was Mos Def playing Ford Perfect. While his first few lines fall flat, once Arthur (Martin Freeman) and he go into the bar where Ford tells Arthur about the impending doom of planet Earth he fits comfortably into the character. Although there are a couple more spots where he falls a little flat, that's nothing a little over dubbing won’t fix.
Warwick Davis’ Marvin the depressed android steals the show. His perfect monotone cadence and pitiful attitude make for a great contrast for the rest of the Heart of Gold’s upbeat mood.
For a first screening the only elements of the film that were missing where some of the effects. Often times in a screening like this you can notice moments that need to be cut or lengthened, but with this the pacing is spot on. The fact that a lot of the F/X are practical definitely gave the film a more realistic look if that’s even possible.
My suggestion was this: Finish the F/X and you’re gold.
-Cracker Thompson"
UPDATE
Cracker Thomson posted that on Ain't it cool news to answer some of the questions that were being asked. He also revealed the truth about Zaphod's head !
"1) I was worried about Mos Def because the only thing I had ever see him do was General Cornrow Wallace on the Chappelle Show. Not because I didn't think he would screw up the character seeing as I haven't read the books. 2) Mos Def DOES NOT do a British accent in the movie. 3) Zaphod does have his third arm, and his second head DOES NOT come out of his nose, rather it comes from underneath his already existing head. 4) The only way the film is Spaceballsesque is in the cheeseball sci-fi. 5) Anything else?”
Monday, December 13, 2004
Behind the scenes pics and vid online
It's HERE ! And we owe a lot of thanks to Chris Bainbridge who taped the BBC little vid which was broadcasted monday evening. It features a short behind the scene video with quite unvaluable pieces : Arthur, Ford, Zaphod (without a second head) and Trillian are all here. We can clearly see the Heart Of Gold set under construction.`
You can download the vid from my website. Just click here Oh, and you need windows media player to watch it (avalaible for free for mac and pc)
You can download the vid from my website. Just click here Oh, and you need windows media player to watch it (avalaible for free for mac and pc)
Sunday, December 12, 2004
slideshow in Austin (updated) the 13th) + making of book for april(?) + send your questions to Nick and Garth before 15th december
Saturday evening, it seems that a slideshow with concept art and behind the scenes pictures of the h2g2movie has been shown for the annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. BNaT is an annual non stop 24 hours movie event organised by Harry Knowles from Ain't it cool news. This is the 6th edition, and he often got some cool exclusive stuff to show.
FIRST UPDATE = Here is the reactions of the organizing staff regarding the Hitchhiker's slideshow : "This next exclusive presentation proved the incredible graciousness of the studio and filmmakers involved. We were treated to a slide show (a BNAT first) of production artwork and stills from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. We saw some beautiful shots of the Heart of Gold, Marvin, Deep Thought (imagine an enormous Buddha-like computer with it's monitor shaped head in it's hands resting in the middle of the jungle). We also saw the first look at the Vogons which looked, remarkably, exactly like Vogons, all the while without appearing at all how I pictured them. But I dig it. I dig it deep. This movie is going to own all of our puny non-planet sized brains soon enough". And another comment : "The HITCHHIKER'S slide show. My excitement for that one went up tenfold. I think Douglas Adams is in heaven right now grinning and nodding."
SECOND UPDATE = I got this fascinating email from Jay Knowles : "About an hour-long, the full theater screen show was narrated in person by the producer-friend of the creator. (Sorry his name escapes me - NB : IT'S ROBBIE STAMP!!) Extremely informatitive, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional... with outstanding shots of art, props, sets and some scenes (great close-up creature shots, too).
The BNAT crowd went crazy with a reception as big as any of the premiere films got. There was a Q&A of about 20 minutes also. Once again the visuals were stunningly beautiful. Everyone I talked to afterward is now a "foaming-at-the-mouth-can-t -wait-to-see-it-geek" concerning this flick. (not necessarily the case pre-show)."
Interesting new fact too, but not linked at all with the Austin event (!), the making of book of The Hitchhiker's movie should be published in april by Boxtree according to amazon.co.uk - It seems a bit early but I hope to give you more informations about that soon too.
Please remember that you can send me your questions for the Q&A with Nick and Garth (hammer & Tongs, you know the guys who make the movie) before the 15th december... So you haven't got much time left.
Oh, and sorry for the problems with the gallery page and the forum this week end. Now the problem seems to be solved.
FIRST UPDATE = Here is the reactions of the organizing staff regarding the Hitchhiker's slideshow : "This next exclusive presentation proved the incredible graciousness of the studio and filmmakers involved. We were treated to a slide show (a BNAT first) of production artwork and stills from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. We saw some beautiful shots of the Heart of Gold, Marvin, Deep Thought (imagine an enormous Buddha-like computer with it's monitor shaped head in it's hands resting in the middle of the jungle). We also saw the first look at the Vogons which looked, remarkably, exactly like Vogons, all the while without appearing at all how I pictured them. But I dig it. I dig it deep. This movie is going to own all of our puny non-planet sized brains soon enough". And another comment : "The HITCHHIKER'S slide show. My excitement for that one went up tenfold. I think Douglas Adams is in heaven right now grinning and nodding."
SECOND UPDATE = I got this fascinating email from Jay Knowles : "About an hour-long, the full theater screen show was narrated in person by the producer-friend of the creator. (Sorry his name escapes me - NB : IT'S ROBBIE STAMP!!) Extremely informatitive, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional... with outstanding shots of art, props, sets and some scenes (great close-up creature shots, too).
The BNAT crowd went crazy with a reception as big as any of the premiere films got. There was a Q&A of about 20 minutes also. Once again the visuals were stunningly beautiful. Everyone I talked to afterward is now a "foaming-at-the-mouth-can-t -wait-to-see-it-geek" concerning this flick. (not necessarily the case pre-show)."
Interesting new fact too, but not linked at all with the Austin event (!), the making of book of The Hitchhiker's movie should be published in april by Boxtree according to amazon.co.uk - It seems a bit early but I hope to give you more informations about that soon too.
Please remember that you can send me your questions for the Q&A with Nick and Garth (hammer & Tongs, you know the guys who make the movie) before the 15th december... So you haven't got much time left.
Oh, and sorry for the problems with the gallery page and the forum this week end. Now the problem seems to be solved.
Monday, December 6, 2004
Q&A with Hammer & Tongs + surprise on wednesday 8th
That's great news... and a big event. Hammer & Tongs (director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith) have done just an interview before and they will now answer by email to the best questions of submited by the fans. I will provide about 10-15 questions to the big guys. And I would really love if you submited me the best questions you can think of. I can't guarantee of course that all your questions will be answered, but I'll try to select the better ones.
Let me have your questions by end of Wednesday 15th December. The idea is to give them to Nick and Garth before christmas, and to get answers in the New Year.
You can post your questions on the forum, or if you're too shy you can send them to me by email.
Oh, and there will be a little surprise on Wednesday 8th at 5.30 PM (GMT time). So keep in touch.
Let me have your questions by end of Wednesday 15th December. The idea is to give them to Nick and Garth before christmas, and to get answers in the New Year.
You can post your questions on the forum, or if you're too shy you can send them to me by email.
Oh, and there will be a little surprise on Wednesday 8th at 5.30 PM (GMT time). So keep in touch.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
The BBC publishes details about the success of Hitchhikers on Internet
The 3rd phase of the Hitchhiker's, based on Life the Universe and Everything, has been broadcasted from 21st september to the 26th October both on the air and on Internet.
As you know, Radio 4 has made a great mini site about Hitchhikers to celebrate the new series attracting a lot of people (with a lot of great sections and even a new version of the famous Hitchhiker's text game). And the episodes were avalaible for listening during seven days on Internet.
Of course the success has been overwhelming but noone expected that more than one million persons would listen to the radio series on Internet and 40.000 players would be attracted by the new online edition of the old Infocom text game.
For the fist time, the BBC has published in october a press release with accurate details about their success on the web. In this press release, they say that "nearly six million people used the BBC's radio websites in October, listening to more than 10 million hours of radio via the internet and generating almost 160,000,000 page impressions, new figures reveal". Simon Nelson, Controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, said: "These are the first set of monthly statistics we have published and they show record numbers for both online listening and web traffic". In fact, one year before, the BBC radios attracted a little less than 4 million listeners. Two millions more in one year is not too bad, and obviously Hitchhikers had an effect on the BBC radio's success on line.
For october, Radio 4 got the first place in top 30 on demand programmes with 653.636 persons listening to Hitchhikers on the web (this include the four episodes broadcasted in october, the first and second episodes were broadcasted in september). Hitchhikers is far ahead the other programs. The classcial soap "Archers" gets the second place (still on Radio 4) with 382.726 listeners. Chris Moyle got 325.975 listeners on Radio 1. And all the other programs score less than 200.000 listeners.
Thanks to Hitchhikers, Radio 4 was in october the second most successful BBC radio network on Internet with 1.247.445 visitors. Radio 1 is still first with 2.352.366 visitors
As you know, Radio 4 has made a great mini site about Hitchhikers to celebrate the new series attracting a lot of people (with a lot of great sections and even a new version of the famous Hitchhiker's text game). And the episodes were avalaible for listening during seven days on Internet.
Of course the success has been overwhelming but noone expected that more than one million persons would listen to the radio series on Internet and 40.000 players would be attracted by the new online edition of the old Infocom text game.
For the fist time, the BBC has published in october a press release with accurate details about their success on the web. In this press release, they say that "nearly six million people used the BBC's radio websites in October, listening to more than 10 million hours of radio via the internet and generating almost 160,000,000 page impressions, new figures reveal". Simon Nelson, Controller of BBC Radio & Music Interactive, said: "These are the first set of monthly statistics we have published and they show record numbers for both online listening and web traffic". In fact, one year before, the BBC radios attracted a little less than 4 million listeners. Two millions more in one year is not too bad, and obviously Hitchhikers had an effect on the BBC radio's success on line.
For october, Radio 4 got the first place in top 30 on demand programmes with 653.636 persons listening to Hitchhikers on the web (this include the four episodes broadcasted in october, the first and second episodes were broadcasted in september). Hitchhikers is far ahead the other programs. The classcial soap "Archers" gets the second place (still on Radio 4) with 382.726 listeners. Chris Moyle got 325.975 listeners on Radio 1. And all the other programs score less than 200.000 listeners.
Thanks to Hitchhikers, Radio 4 was in october the second most successful BBC radio network on Internet with 1.247.445 visitors. Radio 1 is still first with 2.352.366 visitors
Sunday, November 21, 2004
New design and content for the official site
One week after the first big publicity for the Hitchhiker's movie with a new version of the trailer and artwork published on Yahoo, the official website has been redisigned and has got some new content.
The new design is based on the famous teaser first seen this summer. The movie logo welcomes you, and then there is a page where the teaser appears in small size with the official opening date, May 6, 2005. From this main page you can access to a download area (great deskstops, icons and poster), some concept art (the same already seen on yahoo), the new teaser in various sizes and medias, and the good old movie blog. So this is no revolution, but a good new version of the official site.
The blog has been updated with two news but nothing very new in fact. Anyway it's very funny that they have made a little wink to my site, explaining about the strange note (you know the one with the babel fish) which previously appeared on the site that "The sheer bloody-mindedness of the Vogons threatened to close our production blog down forever when they hacked onto the site, however, we have managed to bring it back in the form of "Official Movie News"." Ok, so no my website is not the only one that have been hijacked by Vogons!
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
The new design is based on the famous teaser first seen this summer. The movie logo welcomes you, and then there is a page where the teaser appears in small size with the official opening date, May 6, 2005. From this main page you can access to a download area (great deskstops, icons and poster), some concept art (the same already seen on yahoo), the new teaser in various sizes and medias, and the good old movie blog. So this is no revolution, but a good new version of the official site.
The blog has been updated with two news but nothing very new in fact. Anyway it's very funny that they have made a little wink to my site, explaining about the strange note (you know the one with the babel fish) which previously appeared on the site that "The sheer bloody-mindedness of the Vogons threatened to close our production blog down forever when they hacked onto the site, however, we have managed to bring it back in the form of "Official Movie News"." Ok, so no my website is not the only one that have been hijacked by Vogons!
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Three new pieces of concept artwork!
MJ Simpson, Duke (from Douglas Adams.se, h2g2 and me all got the luck today to get three new exclusive pieces of concept artwork to show you. That's of course great news, and I'm very proud to show them to you. The first pic is obvioulsy Arthur Dent among the ruins of his house. We can guess it's a Vogon spaceship just above his head. On the second one, our heroes wander on a dead planet (Magrathea?). And where is the guy with two heads? (mmh, make you think?). The third one is the most mysterious. Which are these creatures?
Friday, November 12, 2004
New teaser and pics on yahoo!
This is the first major step of the official marketing campaign of the Hitchhiker's movie. The international buzz campaign is kicking off with an exclusive partnership deal with Yahoo in the US, UK and Germany. They have been given a new version of the Comicon trailer - which is slightly different to the one we all have already seen. In fact, it's there is the first glimpse of the actual Guide at the end of the trailer. Nothing fabulously new but very nice anyway. At the end, you can see the official opening date : the 6th may. Alongside this, Yahoo have also been given eight pieces of very nice concept artwork (featuring the Heart of Gold and Marvin) to showcase along with the official teaser poster, brief synopsis and cast info.
The UK link was the first to be online and was quickly anounced from the main page! But it just features the trailer in windows media player version. If you want to see the pics and more infos you have to go on US yahoo here. You will be able to see also the trailer in Quicktime.
Of course, you have guessed that there is still no actual pictures of the movie! They really want to tease us as long as they can.
Let's remember anyway that MJ Simpson, Duke and myself will get something exclusive to show you soon, Tuesday the 16th.
The UK link was the first to be online and was quickly anounced from the main page! But it just features the trailer in windows media player version. If you want to see the pics and more infos you have to go on US yahoo here. You will be able to see also the trailer in Quicktime.
Of course, you have guessed that there is still no actual pictures of the movie! They really want to tease us as long as they can.
Let's remember anyway that MJ Simpson, Duke and myself will get something exclusive to show you soon, Tuesday the 16th.
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
About the Hotdog article + movie tie-ins editions + official movie website little update
First, sorry to everybody for the lack of updates last week but I was in holidays.
THE HOTDOG ARTICLE
We thought that noone would miss the first big article about Hitchhikers. But we didn miss it. Gladly, DarthBastard posted the article on Duke's forum. In its september issue , the UK film magazine "Hotdog" made a good small article about the upcoming movie.
it's not that long, but the article quotes Martin Freeman (Arthur), Sam Rockwell (Zaphod), Robbie Stamp (executive producer) and Garth Jenkins (director) !
According to Robbie Stamp, they have two distincts advantages to make the movie : 'I genuinely think finally we had a script that worked - writer Karey Kirkpatrick had access to Douglas' hard drive full of ideas, and the raw energy and enthusiasm of Nick and Garth who had absolutely a vision of how this could look".
Garth told the magazine that the film is a "peach of a project", "first and foremost a comedy" and not a typical CGI molested SF movie. It's with this idea in their head, that they decided to work with Jim Henson Creature Workshop to make the Vogons and Marvin.
According to the magazine, the movie will be a further evolution of Adams' universe with brand new features including the "Point of view gun" and Humma Kavula (played by John Malkovitch). And indeed I can say that the new features are quite important in the movie. That's Sam Rockwell's point of view too : "It's different from the book, the TV series and the radio play. But it is from Douglas Adams".
Speaking about their own parts, Martin Freeman says that "We didn't want to go for that Uncle Bulgaria look - apologies to fans of the Wombles... It's a bit more low key than that, as opposed to the 'I'm and uptight Englishman' look".
And Sam Rockwell tells about Zaphod that "A lot of it I'm ripping off from my mate Vince Vaughn, who has this fascination with doing Elvis Presley impressions... He's kind of like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High meets Beetlejuice, and alot of my stuff comes from Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley and a little bit of George W Bush." And what about Zaphod's head : "Ah... 'The Head Thing'. It's a surprise - there may not be a second head, all I can tell you is Zaphod has a lot of repressed energy."
You can see a scan of the article here( thanks to DarthBastard again).
MOVIE TIE-INS EDITIONS
MJ Simpson spotted on his website some days ago that there will be tie-ins editions of the five Hitchhikers books for the US and the UK market. There will be new covers of course but the most important thing about them is that there will be movie related introductions wrote by executive producer Robbie Stamp. Robbie informed MJ Simpson that "the piece, which covers the movie's development as much as its production, will include exclusive interviews with the principal cast". US editions will be published in april in both paperback and trade paperback formats by Del Rey.
SMALL UPDATE ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Not much but you can see a pop-up message written in strange language when you enter the official blog. In fact it's Pitman's shorthand. if you click on the drawing of what must be a Babel fish (it turns yellow when you pass the cursor over it), you will have the english translation “WAIT HERE – We apologise for any convenience.
THE HOTDOG ARTICLE
We thought that noone would miss the first big article about Hitchhikers. But we didn miss it. Gladly, DarthBastard posted the article on Duke's forum. In its september issue , the UK film magazine "Hotdog" made a good small article about the upcoming movie.
it's not that long, but the article quotes Martin Freeman (Arthur), Sam Rockwell (Zaphod), Robbie Stamp (executive producer) and Garth Jenkins (director) !
According to Robbie Stamp, they have two distincts advantages to make the movie : 'I genuinely think finally we had a script that worked - writer Karey Kirkpatrick had access to Douglas' hard drive full of ideas, and the raw energy and enthusiasm of Nick and Garth who had absolutely a vision of how this could look".
Garth told the magazine that the film is a "peach of a project", "first and foremost a comedy" and not a typical CGI molested SF movie. It's with this idea in their head, that they decided to work with Jim Henson Creature Workshop to make the Vogons and Marvin.
According to the magazine, the movie will be a further evolution of Adams' universe with brand new features including the "Point of view gun" and Humma Kavula (played by John Malkovitch). And indeed I can say that the new features are quite important in the movie. That's Sam Rockwell's point of view too : "It's different from the book, the TV series and the radio play. But it is from Douglas Adams".
Speaking about their own parts, Martin Freeman says that "We didn't want to go for that Uncle Bulgaria look - apologies to fans of the Wombles... It's a bit more low key than that, as opposed to the 'I'm and uptight Englishman' look".
And Sam Rockwell tells about Zaphod that "A lot of it I'm ripping off from my mate Vince Vaughn, who has this fascination with doing Elvis Presley impressions... He's kind of like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High meets Beetlejuice, and alot of my stuff comes from Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley and a little bit of George W Bush." And what about Zaphod's head : "Ah... 'The Head Thing'. It's a surprise - there may not be a second head, all I can tell you is Zaphod has a lot of repressed energy."
You can see a scan of the article here( thanks to DarthBastard again).
MOVIE TIE-INS EDITIONS
MJ Simpson spotted on his website some days ago that there will be tie-ins editions of the five Hitchhikers books for the US and the UK market. There will be new covers of course but the most important thing about them is that there will be movie related introductions wrote by executive producer Robbie Stamp. Robbie informed MJ Simpson that "the piece, which covers the movie's development as much as its production, will include exclusive interviews with the principal cast". US editions will be published in april in both paperback and trade paperback formats by Del Rey.
SMALL UPDATE ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Not much but you can see a pop-up message written in strange language when you enter the official blog. In fact it's Pitman's shorthand. if you click on the drawing of what must be a Babel fish (it turns yellow when you pass the cursor over it), you will have the english translation “WAIT HERE – We apologise for any convenience.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Amazon already sends CDs + My review of the new series
It seems that Amazon.co.uk has begun to ship the new Hitchhiker's radio series Audio CD a few days before the planned time. Good news for all of us who pre-ordered this new invaluable item. A good deal for the more impatient ones too because the last sixth episode will be only broadcasted monday, the 25th october.
And, unsurprisingly, the Audio CD sells well on Amazon. It is listed in the top sellers lists.
Is it worth the few quids it costs? Definitly yes. Dirk Maggs has done a wonderful job, and you'll appreciate a lot to be able to listen to the new series with a marvellous CD quality sound. And a great bonus has been added : the episodes have been specially extended for this CD. So you will hear brand new material you haven't heard on radio or/and the web.
It was a hugely difficul challenge for Dirk regarding the well known fact that the second series ended abruptly and that the following versions of Hitchhikers absolutley ignored what happened in this second series. So the fact that he found a solution to that is one of Dirk great ideas.
The hightlights of the new series are definitly the Agrajaf part played by Douglas in the Cathedral of Hate, Marvin helpless pivoting in circle in in the swamps of Squornshellous Zeta with a talkative mattress called Zem for only company, Arthur flying, Zaphod trying to save the world by arresting the Kikkrit robots, the party in the sky, or Trillian eating Ford's crisps while watching a documentary...
All the actors, the old and news ones, have done a wonderful job, and the magic from the original series is still here even if, of course, twenty five years later, it doesn't sound entirely the same ! Sound effects are very well done (they are of course far more realistic and present that in the original series), the music is nice, and important point too for the news series, William Franklyn does a fantastic job as Peter Jones' substitute.
And, unsurprisingly, the Audio CD sells well on Amazon. It is listed in the top sellers lists.
Is it worth the few quids it costs? Definitly yes. Dirk Maggs has done a wonderful job, and you'll appreciate a lot to be able to listen to the new series with a marvellous CD quality sound. And a great bonus has been added : the episodes have been specially extended for this CD. So you will hear brand new material you haven't heard on radio or/and the web.
It was a hugely difficul challenge for Dirk regarding the well known fact that the second series ended abruptly and that the following versions of Hitchhikers absolutley ignored what happened in this second series. So the fact that he found a solution to that is one of Dirk great ideas.
The hightlights of the new series are definitly the Agrajaf part played by Douglas in the Cathedral of Hate, Marvin helpless pivoting in circle in in the swamps of Squornshellous Zeta with a talkative mattress called Zem for only company, Arthur flying, Zaphod trying to save the world by arresting the Kikkrit robots, the party in the sky, or Trillian eating Ford's crisps while watching a documentary...
All the actors, the old and news ones, have done a wonderful job, and the magic from the original series is still here even if, of course, twenty five years later, it doesn't sound entirely the same ! Sound effects are very well done (they are of course far more realistic and present that in the original series), the music is nice, and important point too for the news series, William Franklyn does a fantastic job as Peter Jones' substitute.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
DON'T FORGET ! Meet or chat with Dirk Maggs + BBC competitions
You will have soon two opportunities to meet and/or chat with the new radio series director Dirk Maggs. The best luck for you would be to be in London the Saturday 30th September. You will be able to meet Dirk Maggs plus some members of the Hitchhikers radio cast (maybe five of them!) for a unique signing at the Forbidden Planet store during lunchtime hours. So be careful, phone and don't miss it!
And to celebrate the end of the Tertiary phase broadcast, Dirk Maggs will join the BBC Radio 4 webteam for a live webchat on October 26 at 7pm, immediatly after the broadcast of the final epsiode. The BBC webteam even invite you to send them alread your questions.
Oh, and while you're on the great Hitchhikers Radio 4 website, don't forget to look at all their goodies (the 25th anniversary Hitchhiker's adventure game edition, exclusive interviews,...). And let's remember that the BBC has launched two competions. A Guide Entry competition (you could win a digital radio - competition ends 31 October) and a Picture competition for the Adventure Game (with some great prizes including CDs of the Teritary phase or even a chance to take part in a recording for the next series in next january for a broadcast in may - competition ends 15 december). But bad luck for the rest of the world, this competitions are opened only to UK residents
And to celebrate the end of the Tertiary phase broadcast, Dirk Maggs will join the BBC Radio 4 webteam for a live webchat on October 26 at 7pm, immediatly after the broadcast of the final epsiode. The BBC webteam even invite you to send them alread your questions.
Oh, and while you're on the great Hitchhikers Radio 4 website, don't forget to look at all their goodies (the 25th anniversary Hitchhiker's adventure game edition, exclusive interviews,...). And let's remember that the BBC has launched two competions. A Guide Entry competition (you could win a digital radio - competition ends 31 October) and a Picture competition for the Adventure Game (with some great prizes including CDs of the Teritary phase or even a chance to take part in a recording for the next series in next january for a broadcast in may - competition ends 15 december). But bad luck for the rest of the world, this competitions are opened only to UK residents
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Simon Jones plays Magrathea Hologram
We already knew that Simon Jones (the legendary Arthur from the h2g2 TV and radio series) would play a role in the Hitchhiker's movie. But we didn't knew which part he would play. Finally, Simon Jones himself revealed the well kept secret in an interview with british SF mag SFX (thanks to MJ for spotting this). In this month's current issue, Simon Jones said he has recorded his part last august and that it was the Magrathea Hologram. The Hologram is already a well known part. In the TV and radio series, he coldly welcomes the Heart Of Gold when the spaceship approaches the dead planet, threatening the HoG crew with "fully armed nuclear warheads" guided missiles. Missiles, which, thanks to the Improbability Drive, will finally turn into a very surprised looking sperm whale and a bowl of petunias.
According to Simon Jones, the Hologram speech will be "largely the same as in previous versions".
Simon Jones seems very enthusiastic about the movie (and here i quote again MJ) : "Robbie Stamp knew Douglas pretty well in the latter years and he has been very, very careful and pretty rigid in sticking to the spirit of Douglas' humour," says Simon. "I don't think people will be particularly surprised that the film has a little more narrative drive, but I think they will like it, and it will be a great success. I have already said that I want a bigger part in the next one."
According to Simon Jones, the Hologram speech will be "largely the same as in previous versions".
Simon Jones seems very enthusiastic about the movie (and here i quote again MJ) : "Robbie Stamp knew Douglas pretty well in the latter years and he has been very, very careful and pretty rigid in sticking to the spirit of Douglas' humour," says Simon. "I don't think people will be particularly surprised that the film has a little more narrative drive, but I think they will like it, and it will be a great success. I have already said that I want a bigger part in the next one."
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Vogsphere location revealed
Last month, an unnoticed press release from Blaneau Gwent county council revealed that the h2g2 movie crew shooted some scenes in South Wales at Blaenau Gwent, in a disused quarry at Trefil near Tredegar. Filming took place during the summer with over 100 cast and crew descending on the area.
And this place is supposed to be Vogsphere, the Vogon's planet! “Obviously it will require a huge suspension of disbelief for those who know Blaenau Gwent to believe it could be the home of the Vogons but we are delighted that a major film has taken advantage of the excellent location and infrastructure available here, as well as the huge skill presence in the region" according to Richard Crook, Head of Business Services at Blaenau Gwent Council.
It's very important because in the books or radio series, no action takes place in that planet. I think that this news can be related to a post made by Jamie Freeman on his brother's official website during the first days of the summer: "Martin and the Hitchhikers movie crew have been in Wales, filming a short location scene. The scene was part of one of those ideas Douglas Adams had for the movie before his death, and it's quite an interesting plot development I must say. The wind was apparently howling through the rocky location, with the crew shivering in their puffa jackets... Martin, meanwhile, had to stand around in traditional Arthur Dent costume! Oh well, you've got to suffer for your art, that's what I say (although I suspect he had some Hollywood-grade thermals on underneath)."
And this place is supposed to be Vogsphere, the Vogon's planet! “Obviously it will require a huge suspension of disbelief for those who know Blaenau Gwent to believe it could be the home of the Vogons but we are delighted that a major film has taken advantage of the excellent location and infrastructure available here, as well as the huge skill presence in the region" according to Richard Crook, Head of Business Services at Blaenau Gwent Council.
It's very important because in the books or radio series, no action takes place in that planet. I think that this news can be related to a post made by Jamie Freeman on his brother's official website during the first days of the summer: "Martin and the Hitchhikers movie crew have been in Wales, filming a short location scene. The scene was part of one of those ideas Douglas Adams had for the movie before his death, and it's quite an interesting plot development I must say. The wind was apparently howling through the rocky location, with the crew shivering in their puffa jackets... Martin, meanwhile, had to stand around in traditional Arthur Dent costume! Oh well, you've got to suffer for your art, that's what I say (although I suspect he had some Hollywood-grade thermals on underneath)."
Vogsphere location revealed
Last month, an unnoticed press release from Blaneau Gwent county council revealed that the h2g2 movie crew shooted some scenes in South Wales at Blaenau Gwent, in a disused quarry at Trefil near Tredegar. Filming took place during the summer with over 100 cast and crew descending on the area.
And this place is supposed to be Vogsphere, the Vogon's planet! “Obviously it will require a huge suspension of disbelief for those who know Blaenau Gwent to believe it could be the home of the Vogons but we are delighted that a major film has taken advantage of the excellent location and infrastructure available here, as well as the huge skill presence in the region" according to Richard Crook, Head of Business Services at Blaenau Gwent Council.
It's very important because in the books or radio series, no action takes place in that planet. I think that this news can be related to a post made by Jamie Freeman on his brother's official website during the first days of the summer: "Martin and the Hitchhikers movie crew have been in Wales, filming a short location scene. The scene was part of one of those ideas Douglas Adams had for the movie before his death, and it's quite an interesting plot development I must say. The wind was apparently howling through the rocky location, with the crew shivering in their puffa jackets... Martin, meanwhile, had to stand around in traditional Arthur Dent costume! Oh well, you've got to suffer for your art, that's what I say (although I suspect he had some Hollywood-grade thermals on underneath)."
And this place is supposed to be Vogsphere, the Vogon's planet! “Obviously it will require a huge suspension of disbelief for those who know Blaenau Gwent to believe it could be the home of the Vogons but we are delighted that a major film has taken advantage of the excellent location and infrastructure available here, as well as the huge skill presence in the region" according to Richard Crook, Head of Business Services at Blaenau Gwent Council.
It's very important because in the books or radio series, no action takes place in that planet. I think that this news can be related to a post made by Jamie Freeman on his brother's official website during the first days of the summer: "Martin and the Hitchhikers movie crew have been in Wales, filming a short location scene. The scene was part of one of those ideas Douglas Adams had for the movie before his death, and it's quite an interesting plot development I must say. The wind was apparently howling through the rocky location, with the crew shivering in their puffa jackets... Martin, meanwhile, had to stand around in traditional Arthur Dent costume! Oh well, you've got to suffer for your art, that's what I say (although I suspect he had some Hollywood-grade thermals on underneath)."
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
Zooey talks about the Hitchhikers movie
In an interview with "action-adenture movies" website, Zooey talked a bit about Hitchhikers. No secret revealed ("I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be talking about it because they were very protective" she says during the interview), but it's a nice chat where Zooey said what she has to say about Hitchhikers : "It was great, it was so much fun to make that movie".
She recalls that they "had these seven foot tall alien Vogon puppets. They built four different alien planets, the Heart of Gold set, like the most amazing sets and all the actors were great".
We even learn a little about trillian's look in the movie : "I have a couple different costumes but the main one is this sort of aqua one piece suit, sort of like a karate one piece. It’s really cool".
When asked if the movie will be close to the book, she replies yes. "Most everything that was changed was Douglas Adams’ idea to begin with".
Interesting fact, she reveals that all main actors signed "sequel parts of the contract". Even if it's a bit early to say if there will be a sequel (it will depend on the Hitchhiker's movie success), everybody think of course about a possible sequel.
She also says that, although it's "a big movie", probably the biggest movie budget she's worked on, "the interesting thing about Hitchhiker’s is it’s also a character piece. It’s just within the context of all this fantasy".
She recalls that they "had these seven foot tall alien Vogon puppets. They built four different alien planets, the Heart of Gold set, like the most amazing sets and all the actors were great".
We even learn a little about trillian's look in the movie : "I have a couple different costumes but the main one is this sort of aqua one piece suit, sort of like a karate one piece. It’s really cool".
When asked if the movie will be close to the book, she replies yes. "Most everything that was changed was Douglas Adams’ idea to begin with".
Interesting fact, she reveals that all main actors signed "sequel parts of the contract". Even if it's a bit early to say if there will be a sequel (it will depend on the Hitchhiker's movie success), everybody think of course about a possible sequel.
She also says that, although it's "a big movie", probably the biggest movie budget she's worked on, "the interesting thing about Hitchhiker’s is it’s also a character piece. It’s just within the context of all this fantasy".
Saturday, September 25, 2004
First episode available online in surrond sound !
We had to wait a little, but now you can listen again to the first episode broadcasted last thursday on Radio 4' Hitchhiker website.
And you can even listen to the first episode in 5.1 surround sound ! And you can choose the player you want to use : real player or windows media player. That's great news if you have some 5.1 audio speakers plugged to your computer. But anyway, i think the sound should be better than with the stereo version. It's well worth a try if you've got a fast internet connection.
If you haven't heard the new radio series, let's say that this first episode is great, even if the action suffers from the fact that our favourite characters are all scattered around the universe. It's quite an emotion to hear this good old voices and even Peter Jones, the original narrator voice who sadly passed away. The new actors are wonderfull too : William Franklyn (the new narrator) Roger Gregg (Eddie), Andy Taylor (the Mattress)
The tertiary phase will be avalaible on cds and tapes the 25th october. On BBC shop you can pre-order them and see the CD artwork.
On the Radio 4 websites you'll find two competions : the Guide Entry Competition and the Picture Adventure game Competition. In this last competition, you can win a part in a recording for the next series and a script signed by the cast!! Sadly, as usual with the BBC, both competitions are "open to UK residents only. Overseas entries will not be considered".
And you can even listen to the first episode in 5.1 surround sound ! And you can choose the player you want to use : real player or windows media player. That's great news if you have some 5.1 audio speakers plugged to your computer. But anyway, i think the sound should be better than with the stereo version. It's well worth a try if you've got a fast internet connection.
If you haven't heard the new radio series, let's say that this first episode is great, even if the action suffers from the fact that our favourite characters are all scattered around the universe. It's quite an emotion to hear this good old voices and even Peter Jones, the original narrator voice who sadly passed away. The new actors are wonderfull too : William Franklyn (the new narrator) Roger Gregg (Eddie), Andy Taylor (the Mattress)
The tertiary phase will be avalaible on cds and tapes the 25th october. On BBC shop you can pre-order them and see the CD artwork.
On the Radio 4 websites you'll find two competions : the Guide Entry Competition and the Picture Adventure game Competition. In this last competition, you can win a part in a recording for the next series and a script signed by the cast!! Sadly, as usual with the BBC, both competitions are "open to UK residents only. Overseas entries will not be considered".
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
A book about Science and Hitchhiker's for summer 2005 at Macmillian
Macmillian will publish a book out next summer aka The Science of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, by Michael Hanlon. This book "will look at some of the key tropes in H2G2 (Time Travel, The End of The Universe, Babelfish) and see where the science really is now, and just how prescient Douglas Adams was".
Michael Hanlon is Senior Science Commentator on the Daily Mail. He has written two books already for Constable & Robinson, "The worlds of Galileo" and one coming out in soon about Mars.
The book will be published in "Macmillan Science" collection which gather popular science books from the publishers of "Nature".
It is of course a fantastic idea. Douglas has always been very respected by scientits like the neo-darwinist Richard Dawkins, or Stephen W Hawking ("A brief history of time") for his bright views about Life, the Universe and Everything.
Michael Hanlon is Senior Science Commentator on the Daily Mail. He has written two books already for Constable & Robinson, "The worlds of Galileo" and one coming out in soon about Mars.
The book will be published in "Macmillan Science" collection which gather popular science books from the publishers of "Nature".
It is of course a fantastic idea. Douglas has always been very respected by scientits like the neo-darwinist Richard Dawkins, or Stephen W Hawking ("A brief history of time") for his bright views about Life, the Universe and Everything.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
First episode of the third H2G2 series broadcasted today
Today is the great day. The first episode of the third series will be broadcasted today on the air and on Internet at 18h30 GMT. Like the other ones this episode will be repeated on air at 23h00 and be avalaible on the great radio series mini website during seven days. So you can't miss it !!
The new version of the Infocom adventure text game should be avalaible today on Radio 4 website too. As you maybe know already, this version playable online, will be illustrated by Rod Lord who made the famous guide entries graphics of the BBC TV series in 1981.
The new version of the Infocom adventure text game should be avalaible today on Radio 4 website too. As you maybe know already, this version playable online, will be illustrated by Rod Lord who made the famous guide entries graphics of the BBC TV series in 1981.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Media coverage for the third series
The new radio series is going to be broadcast in just a few days now and it's hard to stay calm. Of course some good media coverage has already been done. MJ Simpson has spotted several articles :
- The Times has written a good article that you can find on their website. Simon Jones (Arthur in the radio series) regards the director Maggs as "the Phil Spector of Radio 4"! The Times comments that "The sound is indeed extraordinary", but warns the upcoming listeners : "the need to shoehorn in years of back-story, coupled with Adams’s famous love of digression, make this first episode dense to the point of incomprehensibility. It takes until episode two to get warmed up". The newspaper bets that the new series will may be help to regulate the generation gap between the first listeners 26 years ago and their children !
- Of course Radio Times has also done something, in the issue dated 18th-24th September, but it seems a little disappointing. Sad, because we could have expected something great from the famous british radio TV program weekly.
- Director Dirk Maggs is interviewed in this month issue of "Cult times". Five page long so well worth a reading.
- Simon Jones (Arthur Dent) was interviewed in October issue of Dreamwatch, and in the BBC Programme information newsletter for week 38.
- It seems that the five page feature in Mail on Sunday published the 12th september was a little disappointing according to MJ Simpson. The journalist made a few mistakes and told nothing new.
- Roger Gregg (Eddie in the new series) wrote something in the Irish Times but sadly not available for free online. However I was lucky enough to read it (thanks roger!) and it is a quite good one page long insight report of the third series, with also a little history of the legend : "Everyone involved knows that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Tertiary phase is destined for radio history. As the documentary cameras run, Simon Jones passes a stack of scripts over a buttered croissant. He politely asks everyone to autograph them. He explains that, having been based in the US for many years and done his share of guest appearances on the sc-fi convention circuit, he is keenly aware of the radio series and their million of adoring fans. The stack of signed scripts he announces are for charity raffles : each will sell for several hundred dollars in the US, he says. This starts a whirlwind of script signing".
Of course, I think you can still find the TV Zone issue 180 which includes two lengthy articles about Hitchhiker’s Guide. 13 pages written by Andrew Pixley and Kevin Davies. You can't miss that one!
- The Times has written a good article that you can find on their website. Simon Jones (Arthur in the radio series) regards the director Maggs as "the Phil Spector of Radio 4"! The Times comments that "The sound is indeed extraordinary", but warns the upcoming listeners : "the need to shoehorn in years of back-story, coupled with Adams’s famous love of digression, make this first episode dense to the point of incomprehensibility. It takes until episode two to get warmed up". The newspaper bets that the new series will may be help to regulate the generation gap between the first listeners 26 years ago and their children !
- Of course Radio Times has also done something, in the issue dated 18th-24th September, but it seems a little disappointing. Sad, because we could have expected something great from the famous british radio TV program weekly.
- Director Dirk Maggs is interviewed in this month issue of "Cult times". Five page long so well worth a reading.
- Simon Jones (Arthur Dent) was interviewed in October issue of Dreamwatch, and in the BBC Programme information newsletter for week 38.
- It seems that the five page feature in Mail on Sunday published the 12th september was a little disappointing according to MJ Simpson. The journalist made a few mistakes and told nothing new.
- Roger Gregg (Eddie in the new series) wrote something in the Irish Times but sadly not available for free online. However I was lucky enough to read it (thanks roger!) and it is a quite good one page long insight report of the third series, with also a little history of the legend : "Everyone involved knows that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Tertiary phase is destined for radio history. As the documentary cameras run, Simon Jones passes a stack of scripts over a buttered croissant. He politely asks everyone to autograph them. He explains that, having been based in the US for many years and done his share of guest appearances on the sc-fi convention circuit, he is keenly aware of the radio series and their million of adoring fans. The stack of signed scripts he announces are for charity raffles : each will sell for several hundred dollars in the US, he says. This starts a whirlwind of script signing".
Of course, I think you can still find the TV Zone issue 180 which includes two lengthy articles about Hitchhiker’s Guide. 13 pages written by Andrew Pixley and Kevin Davies. You can't miss that one!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Roger Birnbaum speaks on official blog + Trillian half alien + movie release date remains uncertain
First, sorry guys (and girls) for my lack of updates in the news section. Apart from the fact that the production remains rather silent since the end of the shooting, the fact is that I was working on an other project (also related to Douglas Adams, but not to the h2g2 movie) also kept my mind occupied to something else. Anyway it's going to be a big surpise, and it's going to happen soon!
ROGER BIRNBAUM SPEAKS ON OFFCIAL BLOG
First news, the official blog has been updated the 16th with a letter from Roger Birnbaum, the Co-Chairman and CEO of Spyglass Films. Spyglass are the guys who fought for the movie since 1995, so if you meet Roger one day : shake his hands friendly and give him your favourite towel. Maybe you have noticed that the update is dated 10th september but this just gives a glimpse of some obvious spacio-temportal problems for the guys who make the updates on the site.
As Roger confirms it, the « team is in active post-production with editing, visual effects and music ». Roger gives an hommage to Douglas’ widow (who encouraged us to move forward with the film), Karey Kirkpatrick (who was was hired to complete the work Douglas had started) and Spike Jonz (it was « at the suggestion of the avant-garde director that we met Hammer and Tongs »).
Roger also remembers how he was hooked on the movie in late 1995 when one of the executives of his company Derek Evans brought the book to his attention : « After several meetings with Douglas Adams and Robbie Stamp, we had Disney purchase the rights on behalf of ourselves and for the director, Jay Roach, who was enjoying enormous success with his hit "Austin Powers" and who had an equally strong passion for the Hitchhikers movie ».
Roger concludes his letter with an tribute to the « generation of fans all over the world for whom hitchhiking has a special meaning », saying that Spyglass his proud to be associated with this film.
This is of course a great letter from Spyglass top executive. Clearly, Spyglass is very happy with Hammer & Tongs’ work on the movie.
TRILLIAN IS HALF ALIEN
This rumour appeared in the September issue of Premiere Magazine in an interview with actress Zooey Deschanel. The article speaks of « the half-human, half-alien scientist Trillian in the long-awaited screen version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ». MJ Simpson recently announced it had been confirmed by « informed source ». This is of course a surprising annoucement because we all know that in the Hitchhiker’s previous versions Trillian has always been a human being just like Arthur. But we also know for sure that Trillian’s character has been deepened a lot because it was a weak part in the radio-tv series and in most of the Hitchhiker’s books (but the last one). So some things about here might have changed a little. Anyway, the fact that she has some some extraterrestrial DNA does simply clear up a minor plot hole. Maybe the fact that Arthur would be then the only one to have the answer to the final question in his brain ? Who knows ?
Interinstingly, she adds about Hitchhikers in the same interview that “We did a scene where these enemy Vogons fire at us,” she says of Hitchhiker’s. “I got hit by one of the fake bullets – it broke the skin, and I have a big welt. But” – her voice perks up, gears changing again – “I feel sort of proud of it. It’s like my little battle scar.”’
THE MOVIE RELEASE DATE REMAINS UNCERTAIN
One of the hottest subject is to know when the movie will be out on the movie screens. Till know rumour was about the 3rd of june. But according to Comingsoon.net the release date has been brought forward a month to 6th may ! On Imdb, they bet on UK opening for the 6th may, in US the 3rd june, in France the 8th june, and in Netherlands the 30th june. Don’t know where they did get that dates, but they really seem wrong. A UK opening one month before the US and at the same time than the Star Wars release ?! UK and US releases will certainly be simultaneous, and will also depend on the real opening dates of other long awaited movies (including of course the last Star Wars).
You can also read my old news : « Summer of '05 is shappin' up in movie theatres »
ROGER BIRNBAUM SPEAKS ON OFFCIAL BLOG
First news, the official blog has been updated the 16th with a letter from Roger Birnbaum, the Co-Chairman and CEO of Spyglass Films. Spyglass are the guys who fought for the movie since 1995, so if you meet Roger one day : shake his hands friendly and give him your favourite towel. Maybe you have noticed that the update is dated 10th september but this just gives a glimpse of some obvious spacio-temportal problems for the guys who make the updates on the site.
As Roger confirms it, the « team is in active post-production with editing, visual effects and music ». Roger gives an hommage to Douglas’ widow (who encouraged us to move forward with the film), Karey Kirkpatrick (who was was hired to complete the work Douglas had started) and Spike Jonz (it was « at the suggestion of the avant-garde director that we met Hammer and Tongs »).
Roger also remembers how he was hooked on the movie in late 1995 when one of the executives of his company Derek Evans brought the book to his attention : « After several meetings with Douglas Adams and Robbie Stamp, we had Disney purchase the rights on behalf of ourselves and for the director, Jay Roach, who was enjoying enormous success with his hit "Austin Powers" and who had an equally strong passion for the Hitchhikers movie ».
Roger concludes his letter with an tribute to the « generation of fans all over the world for whom hitchhiking has a special meaning », saying that Spyglass his proud to be associated with this film.
This is of course a great letter from Spyglass top executive. Clearly, Spyglass is very happy with Hammer & Tongs’ work on the movie.
TRILLIAN IS HALF ALIEN
This rumour appeared in the September issue of Premiere Magazine in an interview with actress Zooey Deschanel. The article speaks of « the half-human, half-alien scientist Trillian in the long-awaited screen version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ». MJ Simpson recently announced it had been confirmed by « informed source ». This is of course a surprising annoucement because we all know that in the Hitchhiker’s previous versions Trillian has always been a human being just like Arthur. But we also know for sure that Trillian’s character has been deepened a lot because it was a weak part in the radio-tv series and in most of the Hitchhiker’s books (but the last one). So some things about here might have changed a little. Anyway, the fact that she has some some extraterrestrial DNA does simply clear up a minor plot hole. Maybe the fact that Arthur would be then the only one to have the answer to the final question in his brain ? Who knows ?
Interinstingly, she adds about Hitchhikers in the same interview that “We did a scene where these enemy Vogons fire at us,” she says of Hitchhiker’s. “I got hit by one of the fake bullets – it broke the skin, and I have a big welt. But” – her voice perks up, gears changing again – “I feel sort of proud of it. It’s like my little battle scar.”’
THE MOVIE RELEASE DATE REMAINS UNCERTAIN
One of the hottest subject is to know when the movie will be out on the movie screens. Till know rumour was about the 3rd of june. But according to Comingsoon.net the release date has been brought forward a month to 6th may ! On Imdb, they bet on UK opening for the 6th may, in US the 3rd june, in France the 8th june, and in Netherlands the 30th june. Don’t know where they did get that dates, but they really seem wrong. A UK opening one month before the US and at the same time than the Star Wars release ?! UK and US releases will certainly be simultaneous, and will also depend on the real opening dates of other long awaited movies (including of course the last Star Wars).
You can also read my old news : « Summer of '05 is shappin' up in movie theatres »
Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Duke's own movie set visit report is now online
enz Kjellberg aka The Duke of Dunstable, webmaster of the fabulous Douglasadams.se website, has just put online his own set visit report after the visit we did together with fellows Nick Webb and an other fan called Simon Hall. Duke shares his enthusiasm with us, and I'm sure that after reading so many eager movie set visits (including mine), you won't ever have any doubts about the fact that the movie is in good hands. As Duke says : "It’s tight, it makes sense, it’s a new angle with new scenes and characters, and it’s funny. I am 100 per cent confident, and all these people involved are so dedicated it brings tears to ones eyes."
Besides the fact that i look like a "a young but balding Robert De Niro" (i take that as a compliment), Duke reveals that we indeed saw the movie trailer a few days before everybody. It looked fabulous on their big flat TV set of course! He also reveals a lot of interesting bits like the "Vogon arse print in a special “throne”,... That one is also quite good : "I felt warm to discover that a new item invented by Douglas and which I have been talking about earlier is indeed still in the script, and not only that; it plays quite an essential part". Indeed, even if he can't talk much more about it, Mr Duke has been really a prophesier on this one. And it is a great concept.
Of course, you would still complain about the obvious fact that we can't give you a lot of details about the movie, but well, it would spoil the suprise, wouldn't it?
Besides the fact that i look like a "a young but balding Robert De Niro" (i take that as a compliment), Duke reveals that we indeed saw the movie trailer a few days before everybody. It looked fabulous on their big flat TV set of course! He also reveals a lot of interesting bits like the "Vogon arse print in a special “throne”,... That one is also quite good : "I felt warm to discover that a new item invented by Douglas and which I have been talking about earlier is indeed still in the script, and not only that; it plays quite an essential part". Indeed, even if he can't talk much more about it, Mr Duke has been really a prophesier on this one. And it is a great concept.
Of course, you would still complain about the obvious fact that we can't give you a lot of details about the movie, but well, it would spoil the suprise, wouldn't it?
The BBC will revive the Hitchhiker's old computer game to celebrate the third radio series broadcast
The BBC makes a great job to celebrate the broadcast of the third radio series. The Hitchhikers Radio 4's website is really great. And it will be even better from the 21st september, day of the first broadcast of the new episodes. This peculiar day, Radio 4's website will feature the 20th anniversary edition of one of the most popular text adventures from the begining of the eighties. Published by Infocom in 1984, this computer based on the first book, written by Douglas Adams himself, has been a huge success.
The old game refusted to die. It's been online on douglas adams official website, and The Digital Village even made a wap version in 1999. And now it will be revived in a enhanced version with Rod Lord, the man who made the illustrations for the book entries in the BBC TV series. According to MJ Simpson, "in addition, fans will be encouraged to submit their own illustrations to accompany the events of the game".
The old game refusted to die. It's been online on douglas adams official website, and The Digital Village even made a wap version in 1999. And now it will be revived in a enhanced version with Rod Lord, the man who made the illustrations for the book entries in the BBC TV series. According to MJ Simpson, "in addition, fans will be encouraged to submit their own illustrations to accompany the events of the game".
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Simon Jones in the movie + Empire photo with Ford and Arthur on line
Well, this sounds like a great news, doesn't it? Simon Jones, the original Arthur from the radio and TV series, will play a small part in the Hitchhiker's movie (but which one? That is the question). BBC apparently made an unvoluntary scoop on their Hitchhiker's third phase radio series website, in Simon Jones' biography, "Among his film credits are Privates on Parade; Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life; Brazil; Miracle on 34th Street (the 1994 remake); Twelve Monkeys; The Devil’s Own; and the forthcoming The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” MJ Simpson jumped on the news and here it is ! We can suspect that Robbie was speaking about Simon when Robbie Stamp wrote some weeks ago in his production update on the official blog that we should soon "look out for news about an old friend.".... Of course we're still waiting for the confirmation of Stephen Moore playing Marvin's voice. Come on guys!
British magazine "Empire" has scooped the first picture with Martin Freeman (Athur) and Mos Def (Ford). This picture could come from the scene where they are knocking down Arthur's house. Anyway the picture (thanks to Gusty who sent it to me) doesnt look like a picture from the movie, but rather a behind the scene picture taken while the actors were quietly chating just after a scene. of course they are dressed like the actual characters.
British magazine "Empire" has scooped the first picture with Martin Freeman (Athur) and Mos Def (Ford). This picture could come from the scene where they are knocking down Arthur's house. Anyway the picture (thanks to Gusty who sent it to me) doesnt look like a picture from the movie, but rather a behind the scene picture taken while the actors were quietly chating just after a scene. of course they are dressed like the actual characters.
J enz Kjellberg aka The Duke of Dunstable, webmaster of the fabulous Douglasadams.se website, has just put online his own set visit report after the visit we did together with fellows Nick Webb and an other fan called Simon Hall. Duke shares his enthusiasm with us, and I'm sure that after reading so many eager movie set visits (including mine), you won't ever have any doubts about the fact that the movie is in good hands. As Duke says : "It’s tight, it makes sense, it’s a new angle with new scenes and characters, and it’s funny. I am 100 per cent confident, and all these people involved are so dedicated it brings tears to ones eyes." Besides the fact that i look like a "a young but balding Robert De Niro" (i take that as a compliment), Duke reveals that we indeed saw the movie trailer a few days before everybody. It looked fabulous on their big flat TV set of course! He also reveals a lot of interesting bits like the "Vogon arse print in a special “throne”,... That one is also quite good : "I felt warm to discover that a new item invented by Douglas and which I have been talking about earlier is indeed still in the script, and not only that; it plays quite an essential part". Indeed, even if he can't talk much more about it, Mr Duke has been really a prophesier on this one. And it is a great concept. Of course, you would still complain about the obvious fact that we can't give you a lot of details about the movie, but well, it would spoil the suprise, wouldn't it?
That's great news. First, "each episode will be available for 7 days following the Thursday evening repeats" on Radio 4's amazing website. So you can't even miss one episode, even if you're very absentiminded.
And of course you will absolutly want the episode on tapes or even better on CDs (well you can buy both too!). They are already available in pre order on BBC shop. The release date is next 25 october, so you won't have to wait long! The CD version (3 cds) cost 11£99 (you get 4£ off the usual price 15£99) and the tapes version (3 tapes) costs 14£99. As notice MJ Simpson on his website, they are worth buying because they are longer edits. In total there is about 21 minutes of extra material – which is nearly an entire other episode!"
You'll have to wait a little more to get your hands on the scriptbook, but you'll get the whole new series (14 episodes, "So long" and "Mostly Harmless" will be broadcasted next spring in eight episodes). It's going to be published by Pan Macmillan the 1st July 2005.
Of course, the press is going to cover the radio series broadcast. You've got to buy a copy of this month' TV Zone. Some great articles have been writen in this issue by Hitchhiker's legend Kevin Davies (see his interview here) and Andrew Pixley, a researcher into archive TV and radio. As Raymond Daley wrote on afda : "Get off your arses and speed your way to your nearest newsagaents to buy Tv Zone #180. It has an article about the hikers original radio series (some very nice pictures there) and stuff about the NEW radio series transmitting in September.Well worth a look, LOTS of nice pix to look at. and a mention of a special dvd for the new series (I'll say no more, read the mag!)".
The Mail on Sunday plans to publish some good stuff too. MJ Simpson wrote on his site that "Dirk Maggs tells me that he was recently interviewed about the Tertiary Phase for the Night and Day section of the Mail on Sunday. This article will be published in the paper on 12th September".
And of course you will absolutly want the episode on tapes or even better on CDs (well you can buy both too!). They are already available in pre order on BBC shop. The release date is next 25 october, so you won't have to wait long! The CD version (3 cds) cost 11£99 (you get 4£ off the usual price 15£99) and the tapes version (3 tapes) costs 14£99. As notice MJ Simpson on his website, they are worth buying because they are longer edits. In total there is about 21 minutes of extra material – which is nearly an entire other episode!"
You'll have to wait a little more to get your hands on the scriptbook, but you'll get the whole new series (14 episodes, "So long" and "Mostly Harmless" will be broadcasted next spring in eight episodes). It's going to be published by Pan Macmillan the 1st July 2005.
Of course, the press is going to cover the radio series broadcast. You've got to buy a copy of this month' TV Zone. Some great articles have been writen in this issue by Hitchhiker's legend Kevin Davies (see his interview here) and Andrew Pixley, a researcher into archive TV and radio. As Raymond Daley wrote on afda : "Get off your arses and speed your way to your nearest newsagaents to buy Tv Zone #180. It has an article about the hikers original radio series (some very nice pictures there) and stuff about the NEW radio series transmitting in September.Well worth a look, LOTS of nice pix to look at. and a mention of a special dvd for the new series (I'll say no more, read the mag!)".
The Mail on Sunday plans to publish some good stuff too. MJ Simpson wrote on his site that "Dirk Maggs tells me that he was recently interviewed about the Tertiary Phase for the Night and Day section of the Mail on Sunday. This article will be published in the paper on 12th September".
Friday, August 27, 2004
Launching of DouglasAdams.info
Launching of this website. This website is of course dedicated to the memory of Douglas Adams. Most of the content have been translated in english by Bruno Barwise from my french website about Douglas and Hitchhikers. But I've updaded, corrected and added new material.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
The radio adaptation of "Life, the Universe and Everything" will be aired on Radio 4 from the 21st september. It will be broadcast on Tuesdays at 18.30hrs and then repeated the following Thursday in each case at 23.00hrs.
First episode : 21st Sept at 18.30h + 23rd at 23h Second episode : 28th Sept at 18.30h + 30th at 23h Third episode : 5th Oct at 18.30h +7th at 23h Fourth episode : 12th Oct at 18.30h +14th at 23h Fifth episode : 19th Oct at 18.30h +21st at 23h Sixth episode : 26th Oct at 18.30h +28th at 23
If you're in UK, you can obviously listen to the radio show on your old radio set, but if you're an internet geek, and if you're not currently living in UK, you can of course listen to the the new Hitchhiker's radio show on Radio 4 website. Just make sure you've got the right plug ins before the show if you don't want to miss the begining.
And to celebrate this broadcast, Radio 4 website had already launch a section regarding the h2g2 radio series. We could see a little making of (made by Kevin Davies) and listen to a preview. We have now a new great design and a lot of other amazing stuff so go there NOW !
First episode : 21st Sept at 18.30h + 23rd at 23h Second episode : 28th Sept at 18.30h + 30th at 23h Third episode : 5th Oct at 18.30h +7th at 23h Fourth episode : 12th Oct at 18.30h +14th at 23h Fifth episode : 19th Oct at 18.30h +21st at 23h Sixth episode : 26th Oct at 18.30h +28th at 23
If you're in UK, you can obviously listen to the radio show on your old radio set, but if you're an internet geek, and if you're not currently living in UK, you can of course listen to the the new Hitchhiker's radio show on Radio 4 website. Just make sure you've got the right plug ins before the show if you don't want to miss the begining.
And to celebrate this broadcast, Radio 4 website had already launch a section regarding the h2g2 radio series. We could see a little making of (made by Kevin Davies) and listen to a preview. We have now a new great design and a lot of other amazing stuff so go there NOW !
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Official blog update : Douglas family set visit report + new pics
A great update today on the official blog. James Thrift, Douglas' brother, has posted a report about the last Douglas familly visit on the set some weeks ago. Douglas' brother, sisters, mum and daughter even joined the cast for the day.
A saturday morning at the end of july, the 2nd unit was filming on location in London at Moorgate tube station. They shoot several street scenes as the Vogon fleet arrive overhead. And among the crowd, in panic, several members from Douglas Adams familly have been filmed with even a close-up! The familly have been also filmed by "the crew making a documentary for the DVD, and another crew from Disney who will be filming us throughout the day". So they can boast now that they are some true movie stars !
They also had the opportunity to see the long awaited trailer (and not the teaser we all already know!) : "hey join us as we take over a little café on the corner so see a sneak preview of the first movie trailer. How can I describe it without giving anything away, despite being only 30 seconds long, it’s a big trailer for a big film, but unmistakeably Hitchhikers. Does that make sense? It’s the sort of thing that Douglas would pull out his laptop to show to a complete stranger in the street'. We can presume they will show it to the rest of the world quickly. Hope so anyway!
So read James'full and detailed report here. You will see also the picture with goes with the update : a behind the scenes picture with director Garth Jennings, Ed Victor (Douglas' litterary agent) and Jane Belson (Douglas' widow).
An other behind the scenes picture can be found in the gallery. I don't recognize everybody, but you can see the Hammer & Tongs team, producer Nick Goldsmith and Director Garth Jennings. And we also see the back of a creature that could look like a Vogon.
A saturday morning at the end of july, the 2nd unit was filming on location in London at Moorgate tube station. They shoot several street scenes as the Vogon fleet arrive overhead. And among the crowd, in panic, several members from Douglas Adams familly have been filmed with even a close-up! The familly have been also filmed by "the crew making a documentary for the DVD, and another crew from Disney who will be filming us throughout the day". So they can boast now that they are some true movie stars !
They also had the opportunity to see the long awaited trailer (and not the teaser we all already know!) : "hey join us as we take over a little café on the corner so see a sneak preview of the first movie trailer. How can I describe it without giving anything away, despite being only 30 seconds long, it’s a big trailer for a big film, but unmistakeably Hitchhikers. Does that make sense? It’s the sort of thing that Douglas would pull out his laptop to show to a complete stranger in the street'. We can presume they will show it to the rest of the world quickly. Hope so anyway!
So read James'full and detailed report here. You will see also the picture with goes with the update : a behind the scenes picture with director Garth Jennings, Ed Victor (Douglas' litterary agent) and Jane Belson (Douglas' widow).
An other behind the scenes picture can be found in the gallery. I don't recognize everybody, but you can see the Hammer & Tongs team, producer Nick Goldsmith and Director Garth Jennings. And we also see the back of a creature that could look like a Vogon.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Shooting finished + Hitchhiker's movie composer Joby Talbot interviewed in The Guardian
Just this short mesage to say that the shooting for the movie seems to be now finished. The 19th august, one knowledgeable user posted on my forum that "The final shot for main unit was shot this afternoon at Shepperton, the model shoot has one more day of shooting. Drinks all round". Shepperton is a studio close from Elstree where they made all the main filming. In Shepperton, they shot all the scenes which required some digital effects afterwards, using some blue walls.
JOBY TALBOT INTERVIEWED IN THE GUARDIAN
Once again we owe many thanks to MJ Simpson who spotted the interview in today's UK newspaper "The Guardian". As you certainly know, Joby Talbot ("The League of Gentlemen") is currently writting The Hitchhiker's movie soundtrack. Joby is a real Hitchhiker's fan : "Some people can recite the Koran. I can recite The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... During meeting with the producers, somebody would mention a line and I would have to stop myself from reciting the whole scene for fear that they would assume I was a stalker. I can't quite believe I'm working on the film of it, which is going to be brilliant".
Joby loves classical music but also pop music. Ant both could learn from eachother : "The famous statement about classical music is that it's 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. I beg to differ. Having worked with all these pop musicians, I've realised that the initial inspiration is all-important. Too much concert music is based on technique and no idea. And pop music should try and appreciate originality a bit more."
Joby likes a lot different things. In his teenage years, he was really into Yes and Jeff Wayne. He listened also to Van Halen and Aerosmith, which seems a little difficult for him to assume now! "Mahler, Shostakovich and Stravinsky are among Talbot's favourite composers, and he discovered modern composers such as John Adams and Steve Reich at the age of 18".
Anyway, his love for music is not new! "He has been playing classical music since the age of four, when he picked up piano and oboe, and has studied at the Guildhall and worked with Michael Nyman... At the age of nine, Talbot wrote his first piano piece". Precocious? "It was rubbish!" answers Tolby.
JOBY TALBOT INTERVIEWED IN THE GUARDIAN
Once again we owe many thanks to MJ Simpson who spotted the interview in today's UK newspaper "The Guardian". As you certainly know, Joby Talbot ("The League of Gentlemen") is currently writting The Hitchhiker's movie soundtrack. Joby is a real Hitchhiker's fan : "Some people can recite the Koran. I can recite The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... During meeting with the producers, somebody would mention a line and I would have to stop myself from reciting the whole scene for fear that they would assume I was a stalker. I can't quite believe I'm working on the film of it, which is going to be brilliant".
Joby loves classical music but also pop music. Ant both could learn from eachother : "The famous statement about classical music is that it's 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. I beg to differ. Having worked with all these pop musicians, I've realised that the initial inspiration is all-important. Too much concert music is based on technique and no idea. And pop music should try and appreciate originality a bit more."
Joby likes a lot different things. In his teenage years, he was really into Yes and Jeff Wayne. He listened also to Van Halen and Aerosmith, which seems a little difficult for him to assume now! "Mahler, Shostakovich and Stravinsky are among Talbot's favourite composers, and he discovered modern composers such as John Adams and Steve Reich at the age of 18".
Anyway, his love for music is not new! "He has been playing classical music since the age of four, when he picked up piano and oboe, and has studied at the Guildhall and worked with Michael Nyman... At the age of nine, Talbot wrote his first piano piece". Precocious? "It was rubbish!" answers Tolby.
Monday, August 16, 2004
The Hitchhiker's movie merchandising "not an enormous retail opportunity"
In an interview granted to Financial Times, and published this morning, Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney's consumer products division, said that, altrough it should translate well into a computer game, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would not be "an enormous retail opportunity". Lack of confidence or realism?
In this interview, Andy Mooney talks mainly about the new movie version of Narnia stories, an other story from a British author, CS Lewis. "The chronicles of Narnia : the lion, the witch and the wardrobe", a live-adaptation of the first of the seven Narnia books, is due to be released at Christmas this year. "On a successful animated movie it is not unusual to do $500m to $1bn in retail sales for the lifetime of the product... We would except Narnia to be bigger than that because we have the advantage of phenomenal awarness around the world. The lifetimes (retail) revenues could be in the multi-bilion dollar range". Aware of the "Phantom Menace" phenomenon (shops were left with unsold merchandise), Mr Mooney said the Narnia ties-in woul begin with interactive computer games before the launch of the film but would not turn into such a flood that consumers tired of the auction figures, stationery and other products well before the seventh and final instalment".
Anyway, Hitchhiker's movie merchandising will maybe go on after the theatrical release if it's a hit. Variety reported last june that Andy Mooney "told a group attending the Licensing Show in Gotham (...) that big retailers have started hawking certain film-based toys more aggressively at DVD launch than at theatrical release. A proven property that's already a hit in theaters is less risky, he said, and chains can also cross-sell discs and related product". It seems that Disney's consumer products division missed a good opportunity with the "Finding Nemo" DVD release, ant they obviously don't want to make the same mistake twice.
Right now, we still don't know what kind of merchandise we'll get for the Hitchhiker's movie. It seems rather obvious that there will be a video game, and that a company should already work on this game if they want it in the shops at the same time, or even a few weeks before the movie's theatrical release. And we already know that NECA will make some collectibles. But even if there won't be some masssive merchandising, which is not a bad thing, we can expect other products to be anounced soon.
In this interview, Andy Mooney talks mainly about the new movie version of Narnia stories, an other story from a British author, CS Lewis. "The chronicles of Narnia : the lion, the witch and the wardrobe", a live-adaptation of the first of the seven Narnia books, is due to be released at Christmas this year. "On a successful animated movie it is not unusual to do $500m to $1bn in retail sales for the lifetime of the product... We would except Narnia to be bigger than that because we have the advantage of phenomenal awarness around the world. The lifetimes (retail) revenues could be in the multi-bilion dollar range". Aware of the "Phantom Menace" phenomenon (shops were left with unsold merchandise), Mr Mooney said the Narnia ties-in woul begin with interactive computer games before the launch of the film but would not turn into such a flood that consumers tired of the auction figures, stationery and other products well before the seventh and final instalment".
Anyway, Hitchhiker's movie merchandising will maybe go on after the theatrical release if it's a hit. Variety reported last june that Andy Mooney "told a group attending the Licensing Show in Gotham (...) that big retailers have started hawking certain film-based toys more aggressively at DVD launch than at theatrical release. A proven property that's already a hit in theaters is less risky, he said, and chains can also cross-sell discs and related product". It seems that Disney's consumer products division missed a good opportunity with the "Finding Nemo" DVD release, ant they obviously don't want to make the same mistake twice.
Right now, we still don't know what kind of merchandise we'll get for the Hitchhiker's movie. It seems rather obvious that there will be a video game, and that a company should already work on this game if they want it in the shops at the same time, or even a few weeks before the movie's theatrical release. And we already know that NECA will make some collectibles. But even if there won't be some masssive merchandising, which is not a bad thing, we can expect other products to be anounced soon.
Saturday, August 7, 2004
H2G2 movie collectibles soon ! + the ANNIMATED movie trailer
J Simpson got the news that, during the San Diego Comic Con, a company called NECA got the licence to produce action figures and collectables based on the Hitchhiker’s movie characters and designs. According to ICV2.com they've been told by a NECA official that the "company was producing action figures and vehicles along with a range of other collectibles, which could include statues and props, though the complete program has not yet been finalized". I hope to bring you more infos about this soon.
NECA (The National Entertainment Collectibles Association) has already worked for a lot of big movies like "lord of the rings", "Spiderman", "pirates of Caribbean", "Kill Bill", "the nighmare before Christmas". It was founded in 1997 to manufacture high quality licensed collectibles. Over the past 5 years NECA has evolved into a major manufacturer with over 60 licenses from the worlds of sports, music, television, and film. Everything from retro style tin lunchboxes, resin bobbing heads, snow globes, and action figures.
THE ANIMATED MOVIE TRAILER !
As you all know, we've got already an official movie teaser. But Kevin, convinced that it should be an animated movie, has made a funny cartoon movie trailer. In his "dream theater", you will find parodic versions of Peter Jackson's gore movie "Bade taste 2", "Casablanca 2025", "the lord of the bings", "The binch", "Pokemon Evil Dead"... and many others !
NECA (The National Entertainment Collectibles Association) has already worked for a lot of big movies like "lord of the rings", "Spiderman", "pirates of Caribbean", "Kill Bill", "the nighmare before Christmas". It was founded in 1997 to manufacture high quality licensed collectibles. Over the past 5 years NECA has evolved into a major manufacturer with over 60 licenses from the worlds of sports, music, television, and film. Everything from retro style tin lunchboxes, resin bobbing heads, snow globes, and action figures.
THE ANIMATED MOVIE TRAILER !
As you all know, we've got already an official movie teaser. But Kevin, convinced that it should be an animated movie, has made a funny cartoon movie trailer. In his "dream theater", you will find parodic versions of Peter Jackson's gore movie "Bade taste 2", "Casablanca 2025", "the lord of the bings", "The binch", "Pokemon Evil Dead"... and many others !
Monday, August 2, 2004
Official blog update : Douglas family set visit report + new picd
We're pleased to confirm that the City of London, along with the rest of planet earth, was destroyed between 7am and 6pm on Saturday 17th July."
The official Douglas Adams website is not often updated but it can be very informative sometimes. Yesterday, the guys who update douglasadams.com gave us a little report of one fascinating day of filming. The Movie's second unit was at Moogate tube Station in London from 7am to 6pm, to film the destruction of earth! A group of former employees of The Digital Village (the former dotcom company founded by Douglas Adams and Robbie Stamp) was here with Douglas' family (including his brother James).
Confirming what i've seen the day before in Elstree Studios, and told you in my own set visit report, the TDV guys report that "the production team was determined that everything had to be perfect and packed with detail - from familiare faces rushing for the not-so-safety of the Underground station, to posters in tea-shop windows and street signs."
Of course, i'm really disappointed. I missed this bit of anthology though I was in London that day and spent the day before in the studios. But, well, we cant see everything.
If you want to read the whole report, it's here!
A NEW MOVIE SET VISIT REPORT FROM MARTIN FREEMAN'S BROTHER
Jamie Freeman, who runs his brother's official website, have already been on the set months ago. And around the 22th of july, Jamie was again on the movie set, this time in central London, at the Masonic Hall just off Covent Garden. "The scenes being shot were related to new character Humma Kavala, played by the inimitable John Malkovitch...This particular plot development, while not in the earlier books and series, is very interesting, and makes great play of the inner struggle that Zaphod faces – and just how far he will go to get what he wants, for that matter."
And like everybody who has been on the set, Jamie was quite impressed by the attention to details : "But there are superb little references to HHGG lore everywhere; the entire production is completely steeped in it..... And there are tributes to Douglas Adams literally everywhere in this scene, if one knows where to look. It's these sort of touches, which might mean nothing to lots of viewers, that are keeping the film grounded in his original vision and will give us (ie, the crazy ones) something to talk about for years to come. It's simply not being diluted; it's the real deal."
Well, anyway you can read the full report here
PRODUCTION UPDATE FROM ROBBIE STAMP
An other website have been updated with info and it's no less than the official blog. Executive producer, Robbie Stamp, wrote a production update. It is online now but it is apparently from the 28th july. He tells us about his emotion to see the movie coming alive. He also adds that, as we could guess from the douglasadams.com update, some members of douglas' family will appear in the movie. His mother and sisters and brother and his daughter are all extras in the scene when earth learns of its impending destruction!
He remembers fondly the recording of Humma's hymn, reason why this update is illustrated with a new picture from this special day.
We learn too that the movie staff is currently working in Elstree on the Vogon' poetry scene!
And he announces aldready the next official blog' updates : "Keep an eye on the photo gallery in the coming weeks - look out for news about an old friend and we may just be providing an insight into what the HHGG crew eats to keep its energy levels high, courtesy of Garth Jennings' Mum"!!!
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THIS WEBSITE
I've launched this website ten months ago when the movie was greenlit by Disney. It grew a lot, and is now, I hope, a rather not too bad looking website. I know the weak points : this website is a lot smaller that my french douglas adams website, the design is rather poor, as my english. But i'm going to work a lot, as much as i can, to improve it.
This first ever h2g2 movie website begun its life with around a 50 visitors per day. It rose to 500, then 2000, and it already attracted more than 4000 visitors in one day. And without even one single picture of a naked girl!
I think that the excitement around the movie will grow a lot till summer 05. And I'd really love that this website is not going to explode when 2000 visitors try to connect at the same time. Last sunday, a few hours after I posted the movie trailer, this website was out of service. It's easy to understand. I'm hosted freely by my Internet provider.
If I want to make a solid website, I will have to choose a professional web hoster. And of course it's not free. I will have to spend about 150 euros per year just for that. And even if it's not that expensive, I can't afford to pay this amount of money for this website. I already spend a lot of time to run it. So for me, the problem is this one. If I dont find the money, my website will stay here, but will remain fragile OR I find some money and buy some webspace. To find some money, there are not one thousand ways. Pulicity and Donations. So I've decided to launch a "Support us" section. You can help me, if you wish and if you can, by clicking on the amazon.com banner and buying some stuff there, or by giving me a few quids thanks to Paypal.com. Of course, it's not a matter of life and death, and you can decide to support Save the Rhino or The Dian Fossey Gorilla fund instead!
The official Douglas Adams website is not often updated but it can be very informative sometimes. Yesterday, the guys who update douglasadams.com gave us a little report of one fascinating day of filming. The Movie's second unit was at Moogate tube Station in London from 7am to 6pm, to film the destruction of earth! A group of former employees of The Digital Village (the former dotcom company founded by Douglas Adams and Robbie Stamp) was here with Douglas' family (including his brother James).
Confirming what i've seen the day before in Elstree Studios, and told you in my own set visit report, the TDV guys report that "the production team was determined that everything had to be perfect and packed with detail - from familiare faces rushing for the not-so-safety of the Underground station, to posters in tea-shop windows and street signs."
Of course, i'm really disappointed. I missed this bit of anthology though I was in London that day and spent the day before in the studios. But, well, we cant see everything.
If you want to read the whole report, it's here!
A NEW MOVIE SET VISIT REPORT FROM MARTIN FREEMAN'S BROTHER
Jamie Freeman, who runs his brother's official website, have already been on the set months ago. And around the 22th of july, Jamie was again on the movie set, this time in central London, at the Masonic Hall just off Covent Garden. "The scenes being shot were related to new character Humma Kavala, played by the inimitable John Malkovitch...This particular plot development, while not in the earlier books and series, is very interesting, and makes great play of the inner struggle that Zaphod faces – and just how far he will go to get what he wants, for that matter."
And like everybody who has been on the set, Jamie was quite impressed by the attention to details : "But there are superb little references to HHGG lore everywhere; the entire production is completely steeped in it..... And there are tributes to Douglas Adams literally everywhere in this scene, if one knows where to look. It's these sort of touches, which might mean nothing to lots of viewers, that are keeping the film grounded in his original vision and will give us (ie, the crazy ones) something to talk about for years to come. It's simply not being diluted; it's the real deal."
Well, anyway you can read the full report here
PRODUCTION UPDATE FROM ROBBIE STAMP
An other website have been updated with info and it's no less than the official blog. Executive producer, Robbie Stamp, wrote a production update. It is online now but it is apparently from the 28th july. He tells us about his emotion to see the movie coming alive. He also adds that, as we could guess from the douglasadams.com update, some members of douglas' family will appear in the movie. His mother and sisters and brother and his daughter are all extras in the scene when earth learns of its impending destruction!
He remembers fondly the recording of Humma's hymn, reason why this update is illustrated with a new picture from this special day.
We learn too that the movie staff is currently working in Elstree on the Vogon' poetry scene!
And he announces aldready the next official blog' updates : "Keep an eye on the photo gallery in the coming weeks - look out for news about an old friend and we may just be providing an insight into what the HHGG crew eats to keep its energy levels high, courtesy of Garth Jennings' Mum"!!!
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THIS WEBSITE
I've launched this website ten months ago when the movie was greenlit by Disney. It grew a lot, and is now, I hope, a rather not too bad looking website. I know the weak points : this website is a lot smaller that my french douglas adams website, the design is rather poor, as my english. But i'm going to work a lot, as much as i can, to improve it.
This first ever h2g2 movie website begun its life with around a 50 visitors per day. It rose to 500, then 2000, and it already attracted more than 4000 visitors in one day. And without even one single picture of a naked girl!
I think that the excitement around the movie will grow a lot till summer 05. And I'd really love that this website is not going to explode when 2000 visitors try to connect at the same time. Last sunday, a few hours after I posted the movie trailer, this website was out of service. It's easy to understand. I'm hosted freely by my Internet provider.
If I want to make a solid website, I will have to choose a professional web hoster. And of course it's not free. I will have to spend about 150 euros per year just for that. And even if it's not that expensive, I can't afford to pay this amount of money for this website. I already spend a lot of time to run it. So for me, the problem is this one. If I dont find the money, my website will stay here, but will remain fragile OR I find some money and buy some webspace. To find some money, there are not one thousand ways. Pulicity and Donations. So I've decided to launch a "Support us" section. You can help me, if you wish and if you can, by clicking on the amazon.com banner and buying some stuff there, or by giving me a few quids thanks to Paypal.com. Of course, it's not a matter of life and death, and you can decide to support Save the Rhino or The Dian Fossey Gorilla fund instead!
Friday, July 30, 2004
Summer of '05 is shappin' up in movie theaters
Incredible MJ has spotted on Magrathea website an interesting article from Hollywood Reporter where the magazine makes a preview of the summer' 05 openings in theatre. Of course, the dates are due to change, and the opening date of June the 3rd for Hitchhikers is not sure at all. But it gives us a good overview of the movie openings in Summer 05, and see who will be the h2g2 competitors.
So let's face the truth. Competition will be harsh. There are a lot of big possible blockbusters for this summer. In the SF category, h2g2 will have to compete with Star Wars III (May the 19th)! And some other long awaited movies will open this summer : Batman begins, Mission impossible 3, The Ring 2... And there will be some big comedies of course : "The Pink Panther" and "Fun with Dick and Jane" (star Jim Carrey). But these ones are quite differents from the Hitchhiker's universe and tone.
I think he strong point of Hitchhiker's will be his originality. The SF background can be a plus, with the third Star Wars movie opening a few weeks earlier. If the Star Wars movie is good, it can rise the public's interest regarding SF. Of course, the possible negative effect is that Hitchhiker's could be seen as a Star Wars' spoof.
MAY 6 - "Kingdom of heaven", (dir/Ridley Scott, star/Orlando Bloom), action adventure epic, 20th Century fox 6 - "The Ring 2" (dir/Hideo Nakata, star/Naomi Watts), horror, Dreamworks 13- "Kicking & Screaming" (dir/Jesse Dylan, star/Will Ferrell), comedy, Universal 13- "XXX : State of the Union" (dir/Lee Tamahori, star/Ice Cube), thriller, Revolution studios/Columbia 19 - "Star Wars III" (dir/George Lucas, star/Ewan Mc Gregor), Lucasfilm/Fox 27- "The longest Yard" (dir/Peter Segal, star/Adam Sandler), comedy, Paramount 27- "Madagascar" (dir/Eric Darnel & Tom McGrath), animated comedy family, Dreamworks
JUNE 3 - "The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" ! 3 - "The sisterhood of the traveling pants" (dir/Ken Kwapis, star/Amber Tamblyn) teenage drama comedy, Warner Bros 3 - "Tru Blu" (dir/Antoine Fuqua, star/Denzel Washington), drama, Imagine Entertainment/universal 10- "The adventures of Sark Boy and Lava Girl", (dir/Robert Rodriguez), action adventure 10- Untittled (dir/Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher), social comedy, Columbia 11- "Batman Begins" (dir/Christopher Nolan, star/Christian Bale), Warner Bros 24- "Fun with Dick and Jane" (dir/Dean Parisot, star/Jim Carrey) Columbia 29 - "Mission Impossible 3" (dir? star/Tom Cruise) Paramount
JULY 1 - "Chicken little" (dir/Mark Dindal), animated family film, Buena Vista/Disney 8- "Bewitched" (dir/Nora Ephron, star/Nicole Kidman), comedy, Columbia 15- "Charlie and the chocolate factory" (dir/Tim Burton, star Johnny Depp), family fantasy, Warner Bros 22 - The pink panther (dir/Shawn Levy, star. Steve Martin), comedy, MGM 29 - Shaggy Dog (dir/Brian Robins, star. Tim Allen), family comedy, Buena Vista/Disney 29 - Stealth (Dir/Rob Cohen, star. Josh Lucas), SF adventure, Columbia
So let's face the truth. Competition will be harsh. There are a lot of big possible blockbusters for this summer. In the SF category, h2g2 will have to compete with Star Wars III (May the 19th)! And some other long awaited movies will open this summer : Batman begins, Mission impossible 3, The Ring 2... And there will be some big comedies of course : "The Pink Panther" and "Fun with Dick and Jane" (star Jim Carrey). But these ones are quite differents from the Hitchhiker's universe and tone.
I think he strong point of Hitchhiker's will be his originality. The SF background can be a plus, with the third Star Wars movie opening a few weeks earlier. If the Star Wars movie is good, it can rise the public's interest regarding SF. Of course, the possible negative effect is that Hitchhiker's could be seen as a Star Wars' spoof.
MAY 6 - "Kingdom of heaven", (dir/Ridley Scott, star/Orlando Bloom), action adventure epic, 20th Century fox 6 - "The Ring 2" (dir/Hideo Nakata, star/Naomi Watts), horror, Dreamworks 13- "Kicking & Screaming" (dir/Jesse Dylan, star/Will Ferrell), comedy, Universal 13- "XXX : State of the Union" (dir/Lee Tamahori, star/Ice Cube), thriller, Revolution studios/Columbia 19 - "Star Wars III" (dir/George Lucas, star/Ewan Mc Gregor), Lucasfilm/Fox 27- "The longest Yard" (dir/Peter Segal, star/Adam Sandler), comedy, Paramount 27- "Madagascar" (dir/Eric Darnel & Tom McGrath), animated comedy family, Dreamworks
JUNE 3 - "The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" ! 3 - "The sisterhood of the traveling pants" (dir/Ken Kwapis, star/Amber Tamblyn) teenage drama comedy, Warner Bros 3 - "Tru Blu" (dir/Antoine Fuqua, star/Denzel Washington), drama, Imagine Entertainment/universal 10- "The adventures of Sark Boy and Lava Girl", (dir/Robert Rodriguez), action adventure 10- Untittled (dir/Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher), social comedy, Columbia 11- "Batman Begins" (dir/Christopher Nolan, star/Christian Bale), Warner Bros 24- "Fun with Dick and Jane" (dir/Dean Parisot, star/Jim Carrey) Columbia 29 - "Mission Impossible 3" (dir? star/Tom Cruise) Paramount
JULY 1 - "Chicken little" (dir/Mark Dindal), animated family film, Buena Vista/Disney 8- "Bewitched" (dir/Nora Ephron, star/Nicole Kidman), comedy, Columbia 15- "Charlie and the chocolate factory" (dir/Tim Burton, star Johnny Depp), family fantasy, Warner Bros 22 - The pink panther (dir/Shawn Levy, star. Steve Martin), comedy, MGM 29 - Shaggy Dog (dir/Brian Robins, star. Tim Allen), family comedy, Buena Vista/Disney 29 - Stealth (Dir/Rob Cohen, star. Josh Lucas), SF adventure, Columbia
Sunday, July 25, 2004
First h2g2 movie teaser shown in San Diego and now avalaible on the net ! + pic of special towel and dvd
The first Hitchhiker's movie teaser has been shown at the comic-con convention in San Diego this Friday. It has been shown with Pixar's "The Incredible". According to Travis Averey, one of the lucky bast****, who was kind enough to send me an email, Disney "gave (them) a DVD with the trailer on it and also a towel" ! Some got a poster! Lucky ones! These three items are already collectors. I really wish I had been in san Diego this Friday. Damn! But if you're a hardcore fan, you can always try Ebay. MJ Simpson spotted some of them on sale. Beware. Prices can rise very fast!
Here is a pic of the towel plus dvd the lucky ones got in San Diego ! (Note from Travis : "the towel isn't very impressive. It's more of a washcloth, but I wouldn't give it up if, well, the world ended.") :
Here is a poster :
And here is a pic from the teaser :
Travis did put an avi file on his webiste but due to heavy trafic, he had to stop. Now you can download it from my website (avi) or here (real media) !
Just watch it and you'll really understand what the word "cool" means! Just a word to finish : Some websites keep saying that the movie is due in theatres on June 3, 2005. Let's just say the h2g2 movie release date has not been decided yet. Of course it will be in summer 2005, but we can't say much more right now.
Here is a pic of the towel plus dvd the lucky ones got in San Diego ! (Note from Travis : "the towel isn't very impressive. It's more of a washcloth, but I wouldn't give it up if, well, the world ended.") :
Here is a poster :
And here is a pic from the teaser :
Travis did put an avi file on his webiste but due to heavy trafic, he had to stop. Now you can download it from my website (avi) or here (real media) !
Just watch it and you'll really understand what the word "cool" means! Just a word to finish : Some websites keep saying that the movie is due in theatres on June 3, 2005. Let's just say the h2g2 movie release date has not been decided yet. Of course it will be in summer 2005, but we can't say much more right now.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Good stuff in "Mostly Harmless 93" + info about my visit to Elstree studios
I received some days ago the last issue of "Mostly Harmless", the magazine of ZZ9, the official Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy Aprreciation Society. I wanted to tell you that as usual there is some really good stuff inside. MJ Simpson has written a long article about his visit to Elstree studios. He also made an interesting interview with Derek Evans, who is executive producer of the movie and Executive vice president of Spyglass Entertainment.
Otherwise, there are also some good non movie news : some sound info about "the h2g2 25th aniversary deluxe edition" (release 1st october) and the complete rundown of everthing that's on the BBC-three CDs set "Douglas Adams at the BBC" (release in september).
There is also the sequel of a big interview with Dirk Maggs, the director of the third radio series that will be broadcasted on Radio 4 from 21st september. If you want to know more about the third radio series (and the upcoming fourth and five radio series too) you can go on this page . You can even download a video preview thanks to Kevin Davies (you know him, it's the man who made the tv series' making of, and he was alsor Art Director of the Illustrated h2g2).
But well if I've go an advise for you, it's just : BECOME A ZZ9er! You'll get "Mostly harmless" plus you will gain access to some nice exclusive merchandise! (t-shirts, the towel, the world (in)famous Beelebears,...)
MY VISIT TO ELSTREE STUDIOS
In a few hours, I will take the Eurostar train to go to London. And the 16th, I'll go to Elstree studios to visit the movie set!! I'll share this incredible moment with two great guys : Nick Webb (author of the "Wish You Were Here. The Official Biography of Douglas Adams") and Jenz from "www.douglasadams.se". Of course, I will publish a report on this site as soon as I can. I'll come back at home on the 19th (day of my 33th birthday), so don't expect an update on this site before!
Otherwise, there are also some good non movie news : some sound info about "the h2g2 25th aniversary deluxe edition" (release 1st october) and the complete rundown of everthing that's on the BBC-three CDs set "Douglas Adams at the BBC" (release in september).
There is also the sequel of a big interview with Dirk Maggs, the director of the third radio series that will be broadcasted on Radio 4 from 21st september. If you want to know more about the third radio series (and the upcoming fourth and five radio series too) you can go on this page . You can even download a video preview thanks to Kevin Davies (you know him, it's the man who made the tv series' making of, and he was alsor Art Director of the Illustrated h2g2).
But well if I've go an advise for you, it's just : BECOME A ZZ9er! You'll get "Mostly harmless" plus you will gain access to some nice exclusive merchandise! (t-shirts, the towel, the world (in)famous Beelebears,...)
MY VISIT TO ELSTREE STUDIOS
In a few hours, I will take the Eurostar train to go to London. And the 16th, I'll go to Elstree studios to visit the movie set!! I'll share this incredible moment with two great guys : Nick Webb (author of the "Wish You Were Here. The Official Biography of Douglas Adams") and Jenz from "www.douglasadams.se". Of course, I will publish a report on this site as soon as I can. I'll come back at home on the 19th (day of my 33th birthday), so don't expect an update on this site before!
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Two competitions to be an extra in the movie. The winners are known
Simon Mayo from Five Live Radio asked two questions during his show to win an extra part in the hitchhiker's movie. According to MJ Simpson, the price was "won by Nick Loven from Lincolnshire. Listeners were asked to invent a drink to rival the Pangalactic Gargleblaster and Nick’s suggestion was called the Viltvodle Charmhammer. Here’s his recipe:
Leave a glass of orange juice in the sun for half a day. Any sun will do, just don’t leave it too close to the centre or you’ll never be able to retrieve it. Add two drops of Jatravartid armpit sweat and as much Viltvodka as you can acquire. Finally pour the drink into a hollowed-out watermelon – sentient or non-sentient variety, depending on personal taste. Stir it with whiskers freshly plucked from an Arcturan Mega-leopard and decorate it with a Tananglian Zoopleflower – and an olive".
The question was posted too on Five Live's website.
And now the h2g2.com competition's winner : Adrian Cockle from Surrey! What a lucky boy. His photography was the one, among one hundred pictures, that got the attention of the judge... Martin Freeman!
h2g2.com will soon add "some of the best submissions to the Edited Guide so even if you didn't win you might still see your picture illustrating h2g2... And even better, for those non-UK Researchers who were unable to enter, we'll soon be launching a brand new photography scheme on h2g2 that will be open to all." Great! But they dont say fi the prize will be again an extra part in the hitchhiker's movie
Leave a glass of orange juice in the sun for half a day. Any sun will do, just don’t leave it too close to the centre or you’ll never be able to retrieve it. Add two drops of Jatravartid armpit sweat and as much Viltvodka as you can acquire. Finally pour the drink into a hollowed-out watermelon – sentient or non-sentient variety, depending on personal taste. Stir it with whiskers freshly plucked from an Arcturan Mega-leopard and decorate it with a Tananglian Zoopleflower – and an olive".
The question was posted too on Five Live's website.
And now the h2g2.com competition's winner : Adrian Cockle from Surrey! What a lucky boy. His photography was the one, among one hundred pictures, that got the attention of the judge... Martin Freeman!
h2g2.com will soon add "some of the best submissions to the Edited Guide so even if you didn't win you might still see your picture illustrating h2g2... And even better, for those non-UK Researchers who were unable to enter, we'll soon be launching a brand new photography scheme on h2g2 that will be open to all." Great! But they dont say fi the prize will be again an extra part in the hitchhiker's movie
Friday, July 2, 2004
An other chance to win a part in the movie as extra this monday on BBC Radio Five live
Yeah. After H2g2, it's Simon Mayo from Five Live Radio that will offer a small part in the hitchhiker's movie Monday on his show (from 1 to 4pm BST): "Five Live is offering one lucky person the chance to act alongside Hollywood stars in the new Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie. The winner of the competition which will be launched on the Simon Mayo programme on Monday 5 July will spend a day on location and could be in the final cut of the film!"
An extract of the terms and conditions are here : "The winner must be over 18 years. The winner must be able to attend a costume fitting session on either July 8 or 9 and attend full days shooting in London July 19. The winner will receive £100 to cover travel expenses. The extra's role may not appear in the final version of the film. The decision of the film's Director is final" It's not said if you've got to live in UK to participate, but well i guess that was the case too with the h2g2 competition.
An extract of the terms and conditions are here : "The winner must be over 18 years. The winner must be able to attend a costume fitting session on either July 8 or 9 and attend full days shooting in London July 19. The winner will receive £100 to cover travel expenses. The extra's role may not appear in the final version of the film. The decision of the film's Director is final" It's not said if you've got to live in UK to participate, but well i guess that was the case too with the h2g2 competition.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Humma's Song recroded in London last week. A copy of Humma's hymn sold on ebay!
As MJ Simpson revealed some days ago, the 19th june "a hymn was recorded for the Hitchhiker’s movie soundtrack, to be sung by followers of the missionary Humma Kavula. It was recorded in St Michael’s Church, Highgate, London (interestingly, not far from where Douglas Adams’ ashes are interred) by a 500-strong choir of non-professional singers – the intention being to sound like a congregation rather than a professional choir... The hymn was written by Joby Talbot from The Divine Comedy who also writes the music for The League of Gentlemen as well as being a respected classical composer."
And on ebay, a copy of the song has been sold. It has already reached 24 hours before the end of the auction, an amount of around 38 dollars/euros, and had finished at 56 dollars/euros. Not bad for a single leaf of paper!
Here is the text you can read on the auction page. Sadly no picture avalaible!
"19th June 2004 in a church in Highbury, London.
"Humma's Hymn" was recorded for the movie of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by a congregatioon of church goers and Hitch Hikers fans. The hymn will be used in the movie and on the soundtrack. And this is a hymnsheet from that event. With notation and lyrics, it's a traditional-style hymn from the Jatravartids, to their great creator Arkleseizure, who sneezed the universe out of a nostril.
The only copies of these were available to the congregation on that day. Most were crumpled and scrumpled in the performance, this is a clean flat version.
Here's a lyrical snippet.
Through empty void & vacuum your mighty sneeze was blown
And from it's far-flung remnants the universe was grown
This bound-to-be-incredibly-sought-after movie souvenir ships worldwide. Shipping is £1.50 for the UK, £2 for Europe, £3 for the USA. Payment with Paypal is accepted , as is cash and UK cheques."
And on ebay, a copy of the song has been sold. It has already reached 24 hours before the end of the auction, an amount of around 38 dollars/euros, and had finished at 56 dollars/euros. Not bad for a single leaf of paper!
Here is the text you can read on the auction page. Sadly no picture avalaible!
"19th June 2004 in a church in Highbury, London.
"Humma's Hymn" was recorded for the movie of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy by a congregatioon of church goers and Hitch Hikers fans. The hymn will be used in the movie and on the soundtrack. And this is a hymnsheet from that event. With notation and lyrics, it's a traditional-style hymn from the Jatravartids, to their great creator Arkleseizure, who sneezed the universe out of a nostril.
The only copies of these were available to the congregation on that day. Most were crumpled and scrumpled in the performance, this is a clean flat version.
Here's a lyrical snippet.
Through empty void & vacuum your mighty sneeze was blown
And from it's far-flung remnants the universe was grown
This bound-to-be-incredibly-sought-after movie souvenir ships worldwide. Shipping is £1.50 for the UK, £2 for Europe, £3 for the USA. Payment with Paypal is accepted , as is cash and UK cheques."
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
A new picture on the official website! The Vogons are not happy about it !
Well, a new picture on the official website is still a big event. Of course because there's now two of them in the official gallery! And the h2g2 movie team has decided to get on our nerves!
After "the squared wheels bike", we have now a picture of a clapper and some stuff alongside we can hardly recognize. The girl might be Trillian or a production assistant. As you want. And the bits of something that could be creatures could be Vogons ! Yes, Vogons! And that's where it's not unfunny at all. Because i just got rid of these creatures, and now they want to come back.
So if the producers could get in touch directly with the Vogons, it would be very nice, thanks! In the meanwhile here is their news on their dedicated webspace.
PS (sept 09) : the hijacked versions of my website are still online. You can get the links in the movie section of douglasadams.info
After "the squared wheels bike", we have now a picture of a clapper and some stuff alongside we can hardly recognize. The girl might be Trillian or a production assistant. As you want. And the bits of something that could be creatures could be Vogons ! Yes, Vogons! And that's where it's not unfunny at all. Because i just got rid of these creatures, and now they want to come back.
So if the producers could get in touch directly with the Vogons, it would be very nice, thanks! In the meanwhile here is their news on their dedicated webspace.
PS (sept 09) : the hijacked versions of my website are still online. You can get the links in the movie section of douglasadams.info
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Win a part in the Hitchhiker's movie thanks to h2g2.com !
That's a great gift that h2g2.com will do to one of you (well one that live in the uk at least), no less than a small part in the Hitchhiker's movie!
"Ever wanted to be in a movie? Take a photo for the real Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and be in with a chance to be an extra in the film version!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the radio show and book that inspired h2g2) began with the Earth being destroyed by aliens who were clearing the way for a new hyperspace bypass. With the movie version of HHGTTG now in production, Earth is once again at risk. Now the entire globe is classified 'Last Chance to See...'
But what if you could save one part of the planet Earth for the rest of the Universe to see? Which bit do you think aliens would be most enthralled by? Which bit stands out as the best achievements of Mother Nature or the Human race?
How to Enter
The mission of the real-life Hitchhiker's Guide - h2g2 - is to catalogue the planet Earth, its life forms, cultures, history and technology - everything in fact. Everyday people from all over the world write entries for the guide on all manner of subjects. But now we've decided that we don't just want to read about the planet - we want to see it! To do this, we need photographs of some of Earth's best bits. Here's where you come in: we want you to send us a photograph of the place on Earth you think deserves to survive the planet's destruction:
Maybe there's a building that you think is awe-inspiring
It might be a breathtaking vista from the top of a mountain or bowl of a valley
Perhaps you have a picture of an animal in its natural habitat that blows you away
Or it might be a warning to other planets against pollution and over-industrialisation
The short-listed pictures will be shown in a gallery that will become part of the h2g2 guide. But one lucky photo will be chosen - with the help of our judges - as representative of the best the planet Earth has to offer to our galactic neighbours. The prize-winning photographer of that picture will be invited to be an extra in the movie of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Just imagine it - you could be one of the first people in the world to see behind the scenes on one of the most eagerly-awaited films in the history of everything!"
If you want to know how to enter the competition, and read the competition Rules : here you go!
"Ever wanted to be in a movie? Take a photo for the real Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and be in with a chance to be an extra in the film version!
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the radio show and book that inspired h2g2) began with the Earth being destroyed by aliens who were clearing the way for a new hyperspace bypass. With the movie version of HHGTTG now in production, Earth is once again at risk. Now the entire globe is classified 'Last Chance to See...'
But what if you could save one part of the planet Earth for the rest of the Universe to see? Which bit do you think aliens would be most enthralled by? Which bit stands out as the best achievements of Mother Nature or the Human race?
How to Enter
The mission of the real-life Hitchhiker's Guide - h2g2 - is to catalogue the planet Earth, its life forms, cultures, history and technology - everything in fact. Everyday people from all over the world write entries for the guide on all manner of subjects. But now we've decided that we don't just want to read about the planet - we want to see it! To do this, we need photographs of some of Earth's best bits. Here's where you come in: we want you to send us a photograph of the place on Earth you think deserves to survive the planet's destruction:
Maybe there's a building that you think is awe-inspiring
It might be a breathtaking vista from the top of a mountain or bowl of a valley
Perhaps you have a picture of an animal in its natural habitat that blows you away
Or it might be a warning to other planets against pollution and over-industrialisation
The short-listed pictures will be shown in a gallery that will become part of the h2g2 guide. But one lucky photo will be chosen - with the help of our judges - as representative of the best the planet Earth has to offer to our galactic neighbours. The prize-winning photographer of that picture will be invited to be an extra in the movie of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Just imagine it - you could be one of the first people in the world to see behind the scenes on one of the most eagerly-awaited films in the history of everything!"
If you want to know how to enter the competition, and read the competition Rules : here you go!
Friday, June 11, 2004
Two new set visit reports and a gallery on the official website
After Jamie Freeman' visit to the movie set some weeks ago, it's now the h2g2 editor Jim Lynn and Douglas number one fan MJ Simpson who had the luck to see the movie set. These two guys had already the luck to inerview the Hammer & Tong team.
They are kind enough to share some informations about the movie. If MJ Simpson still waited to be okayed from the producers, Jim Lynn has already published a report on h2g2.com. They have been on the set this week. You can read Jim's report here. Robbie Stamp, executive producer, has shown him "a wall with a set of storyboards and production drawings showing the story from start to finish". They have seen the Vogon's heads "amazing - huge and extremely detailed, right down to the facial hair". Then they went "to the George Lucas stage, where we entered the Heart of Gold". And Garth (the director) showed them around the set : "The Vogon ships, the Heart of Gold, Deep Thought, all of them are nothing like I would have imagined, but once you see them they seem utterly correct. I keep waiting to see or hear something that makes me think 'Oh no, that's not right at all' but it hasn't happened yet. I can't wait for Summer 2005."
We should get news from the MJ's report soon. So watch this place!
At last, i just wanted to add that on the official website you can now find a brand new gallery. Well, it has just one picture right now (a square wheeled bike!!) but more should come. Life can be so surprising sometimes !
They are kind enough to share some informations about the movie. If MJ Simpson still waited to be okayed from the producers, Jim Lynn has already published a report on h2g2.com. They have been on the set this week. You can read Jim's report here. Robbie Stamp, executive producer, has shown him "a wall with a set of storyboards and production drawings showing the story from start to finish". They have seen the Vogon's heads "amazing - huge and extremely detailed, right down to the facial hair". Then they went "to the George Lucas stage, where we entered the Heart of Gold". And Garth (the director) showed them around the set : "The Vogon ships, the Heart of Gold, Deep Thought, all of them are nothing like I would have imagined, but once you see them they seem utterly correct. I keep waiting to see or hear something that makes me think 'Oh no, that's not right at all' but it hasn't happened yet. I can't wait for Summer 2005."
We should get news from the MJ's report soon. So watch this place!
At last, i just wanted to add that on the official website you can now find a brand new gallery. Well, it has just one picture right now (a square wheeled bike!!) but more should come. Life can be so surprising sometimes !
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
At last something to see?
H2G2 have published on its movie page a short behind the scenes video made at the begining of the shooting some weeks ago. Nothing to get really excited about sadly because we dont see much, but well it's still the first video to appear on the web since the one with the Marvin prototype.
The guys who make the updates on Douglasadams.com had the luck to take some pictures on the set ! "The DouglasAdams.com webcreatures were lucky enough to scamper about the film set this week. The photos are due back from the chemist next week, so be prepared for some highly improbable impressions!". So we just hope they didnt only took pictures of Garth' new shoes!
As usual, MJ Simpson gives on his Magathea website some interesting info. Jerome Blake, a british actor who played in the last two Star Wars movies, will also play a Vogon Guard in the Hitcchiker's movie. He seems to like SF a lot, 'cause he also played a part in the awful Luc Besson's SF movie "The fifth element". Commenting on the fact that Hitchhiker’s is being shot at Elstree, where Star Wars was made, Blake said: “When I work there I get the sense that history is creeping out of its very walls.”
And again a news from our incredible MJ : "The massively over-rated Ain’t It Cool News has a report that a scene from the HHGG movie will be filmed in Moorgate underground station this Sunday night (6th June). Allegedly the scene will be a shop full of TVs showing the destruction of Earth, with Douglas’ family among the extras." BUT MJ adds that "anything reported only on that site should be treated with caution unless or until it is reported elsewhere. So this story may be true, partly true, or complete nonsense"... Finally it was complete nonsense !
The guys who make the updates on Douglasadams.com had the luck to take some pictures on the set ! "The DouglasAdams.com webcreatures were lucky enough to scamper about the film set this week. The photos are due back from the chemist next week, so be prepared for some highly improbable impressions!". So we just hope they didnt only took pictures of Garth' new shoes!
As usual, MJ Simpson gives on his Magathea website some interesting info. Jerome Blake, a british actor who played in the last two Star Wars movies, will also play a Vogon Guard in the Hitcchiker's movie. He seems to like SF a lot, 'cause he also played a part in the awful Luc Besson's SF movie "The fifth element". Commenting on the fact that Hitchhiker’s is being shot at Elstree, where Star Wars was made, Blake said: “When I work there I get the sense that history is creeping out of its very walls.”
And again a news from our incredible MJ : "The massively over-rated Ain’t It Cool News has a report that a scene from the HHGG movie will be filmed in Moorgate underground station this Sunday night (6th June). Allegedly the scene will be a shop full of TVs showing the destruction of Earth, with Douglas’ family among the extras." BUT MJ adds that "anything reported only on that site should be treated with caution unless or until it is reported elsewhere. So this story may be true, partly true, or complete nonsense"... Finally it was complete nonsense !
Friday, May 28, 2004
Karey Kirkpatrick, h2g2's screenwriter, interviews himself on the official movie blog
At last. We all wanted more informations about Karey's work. Karey's been hired by the director Jay Roach in september 2002 to rewrite the draft Douglas has just finished before he died.
It's a quite fascinating self interview. But, to tell the truth, I have been quite annoyed to read that he decided to interview himself because "noone has asked to interview (him)". I try to get an interview with him for now around eight months!! Damn guy!
Karey decided to choose humour for this interview. In the first questions, he dreams up a very wrathful fan who asks him harsh questions. And we learn that if he was "an avid Monty Python fan", he "had never read the book or any Douglas Adams before I was told this assignment". After reading Douglas' script, his first reaction was "I cant write this, this guy's a genius and I'm no genius". But, after meeting Jay, he decided to say ok. "I mean, how can you not get excited talking about poetry as torture or nuclear missiles that turn into a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias? Assignments like this dont come every day. Actually they never come along".
To familiarize with the material, he then started with the radio play and then the book "with pen and highlighter in hand". So "When I started writing, I had the novel on one side of my G4 laptop and the radio play scripts on the other side".
Robbie Stamp, co-producer of the movie and close friend of Douglas, "became an integral ally in my writing process of this film". He sent Karey "electronic copies of HHGG files from Douglas' hard drive, notes on his drafts, notes from him to the studio, random ideas and bits of dialogue exchanges....". He was also eager to know more about the man. So he read biographies, articles and seen Joel Greengrass' documentary.
He wanted his implication to be subtle : "My goal in the writing was to be like an editor on a feature film. If an editor has done his job well, you dont feel his or her presence.... Naturally there were holes (in Douglas' script) that needed to be filled so some new material and dialogue was required. But I was always going to the source material to find the right voice and tone."
Finally "I have never enjoyed writing a script more. And it is all because I had such amazing source material (and collaborators)... I started knowing little about this wholly remarkable book and have become a devoted fan".
Of course, Karey speaks also about Hammer & Tongs (some "incridble visual thinkers") and the three drafts he made (in the first one, too long, he mainly cut some narrator parts, and he tried to pay "a certain amount of attention to character, character relantionships and emotions").
Read the whole interview here
Friday, May 14, 2004
Martin's brother visits the movie set and adds a game to MF official website
Jamie Freeman, Martin's brother, is web designer and has made his brother's official website. He is also a true h2g2 fan, so he has opened a h2g2 section on Martin's website with some news. He also anounced he was working on a little silly online game, and that he soon going to visit the h2g2 movie set. Well, some guys have all the luck!
And now he wrote a quite detailed review of his visit, and has put online the long awaited h2g2 game.
I'll let you discover the first h2g2 movie game by yourself. It's a quite funny little thing. Regarding Jamie's text, let's say he spent a whole afternoon last week on the Lucas sound stage at Elstree studios, with such guides as Nick Goldsmith (the producing head of Hammer & Tongs) . According to Jamie, everything is "jaw-dropping" from the Heart of Gold design to Zaphod's second head, without forgeting the ugly vogons! Jamie had also the luck to talk a lot with Warwick Davis (Marvin) "a gent'', and he met Sam Rockwell (Zaphod) "a charming, funny man", and also (briefly) Mos Def (Ford) who seems to "get on really well" with Martin.
He also saw Zooey Deschanel (Trillian) at work (she's "fantastic on screen") and saw Garth Jenning's directing her : "Every take is different, always some variation in inflection, timing or expression. It means the director will end up with half a dozen different takes to choose from when it's time to edit, rather than 6 identical ones".
All the actors seem to be perfect in their parts : "I saw a bit of video playback with Mos as Ford Prefect with Zaphod and Arthur and I must say they looked great together. "
There's a lot more informations in Jamie's text so go to Martin's official website now.
Check out the h2g2 section on Martin's official website : IT'S HERE
And now he wrote a quite detailed review of his visit, and has put online the long awaited h2g2 game.
I'll let you discover the first h2g2 movie game by yourself. It's a quite funny little thing. Regarding Jamie's text, let's say he spent a whole afternoon last week on the Lucas sound stage at Elstree studios, with such guides as Nick Goldsmith (the producing head of Hammer & Tongs) . According to Jamie, everything is "jaw-dropping" from the Heart of Gold design to Zaphod's second head, without forgeting the ugly vogons! Jamie had also the luck to talk a lot with Warwick Davis (Marvin) "a gent'', and he met Sam Rockwell (Zaphod) "a charming, funny man", and also (briefly) Mos Def (Ford) who seems to "get on really well" with Martin.
He also saw Zooey Deschanel (Trillian) at work (she's "fantastic on screen") and saw Garth Jenning's directing her : "Every take is different, always some variation in inflection, timing or expression. It means the director will end up with half a dozen different takes to choose from when it's time to edit, rather than 6 identical ones".
All the actors seem to be perfect in their parts : "I saw a bit of video playback with Mos as Ford Prefect with Zaphod and Arthur and I must say they looked great together. "
There's a lot more informations in Jamie's text so go to Martin's official website now.
Check out the h2g2 section on Martin's official website : IT'S HERE
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
The official website is now online !
The official website has opened the 11th may, just three years after douglas adams' death. The website opens with a funny flash animation of the earth destruction (in fact there are three animations available so you can try to enter again on the website once you've seen it to see the other animation). I like too what could be the movie's motto « The greatest adventure in the universe begins when the world ends ».
As promised, the website will be a blog, and will be (we hope) often updated to keep the fans in touch with the latest news avalaible from the better source you could dream of. It's great because i dont think they often do that kind of things for Hollywood movies.
The first entry is about douglas' death anniversary. All the staff made a one minute silence and were brought together for a great familly picture.
Thanks to this first entry, we also learn to that they've just began a scene in the heart of gold, after some muddy stuff in the british countryside.
To go to the official blog : http://hitchhikersmovie.com/
As promised, the website will be a blog, and will be (we hope) often updated to keep the fans in touch with the latest news avalaible from the better source you could dream of. It's great because i dont think they often do that kind of things for Hollywood movies.
The first entry is about douglas' death anniversary. All the staff made a one minute silence and were brought together for a great familly picture.
Thanks to this first entry, we also learn to that they've just began a scene in the heart of gold, after some muddy stuff in the british countryside.
To go to the official blog : http://hitchhikersmovie.com/
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Hugh Grant was not douglas' first choice
Honestly, I quite hesitated to put this news on my site. Thanks to "Ireland On line", this old rumour rose again. Not really a first choice rumour anyway. But it apparently came from a Bill Nighy's declaration. According to "Ireland On line", Nighy says of Freeman's casting in the role Adams wished for Grant : "They're both first class. Adams probably thought having Hugh on board would have got the film made."
So let's be clear about that. Douglas certainly though about Hugh Grant who is the most well known British actor. But his first choice, in the nineties, was undoubtedly Hugh Laurie (Blackaddder, Stuart Little, Fry and Laurie...). As, in the eighties, he still hoped to get Simon Jones (the original Arthur in the radio and tv series) on board.
It's not the first time that Hugh Grant's name is quoted when talking about the movie. In January 2002, Ed Victor (Douglas' agent and friend) announced that the movie was not buried, despite Douglas'death and that "Douglas thought Hugh Grant would make a marvelous Arthur and one of the Hollywood actors that's been tracking this for a long time, who wanted top play Zaphod Beeblebrox was Jim Carrey. So if you put those two together perhaps you could see a film there."
In fact an other choice of movie has been made. So there is a kind of opposition between a movie made by and with
Antony Jay (Austin Powers) + Hugh Grant + Jim Carrey
and what we've got now
Garth Jennings (Hammer & Tongs) + Martin Freeman + Sam Rockwell
Personally I've made my choice, even if it's the less commercial one.
So let's be clear about that. Douglas certainly though about Hugh Grant who is the most well known British actor. But his first choice, in the nineties, was undoubtedly Hugh Laurie (Blackaddder, Stuart Little, Fry and Laurie...). As, in the eighties, he still hoped to get Simon Jones (the original Arthur in the radio and tv series) on board.
It's not the first time that Hugh Grant's name is quoted when talking about the movie. In January 2002, Ed Victor (Douglas' agent and friend) announced that the movie was not buried, despite Douglas'death and that "Douglas thought Hugh Grant would make a marvelous Arthur and one of the Hollywood actors that's been tracking this for a long time, who wanted top play Zaphod Beeblebrox was Jim Carrey. So if you put those two together perhaps you could see a film there."
In fact an other choice of movie has been made. So there is a kind of opposition between a movie made by and with
Antony Jay (Austin Powers) + Hugh Grant + Jim Carrey
and what we've got now
Garth Jennings (Hammer & Tongs) + Martin Freeman + Sam Rockwell
Personally I've made my choice, even if it's the less commercial one.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
First week of shooting has ended
Robbie Stamp, exclusive producer on the movie, sent us an email about the first week of shooting : "I have just got back home after our first week having seen my first edited pieces. There is something very cool brewing over here. It was a very moving moment for me on Monday and the sense at the end of the week was pretty wonderful too. "
Still regarding this first week of shooting, we can find some informations on Martin Freeman's official Website, managed by his brother Jamie : "Filming – which doesn't follow the cronology of the script – got under way with the party scene where Arthur meets Trillian.Filming – which doesn't follow the cronology of the script – got under way with the party scene where Arthur meets Trillian."
Still regarding this first week of shooting, we can find some informations on Martin Freeman's official Website, managed by his brother Jamie : "Filming – which doesn't follow the cronology of the script – got under way with the party scene where Arthur meets Trillian.Filming – which doesn't follow the cronology of the script – got under way with the party scene where Arthur meets Trillian."
Monday, April 19, 2004
MJ Simpson and Jim Lynn scoop a long interview with Hammer & Tongs dream team !
MJ Simpson promised us a major exclusivity for today (first day of shooting in London) on his site, and here it is : a long interview with Nick, Garth and Robbie Stamp ! Notice that the Interview has been recorded at the end of january.
Here are a few extracts :
Martin Freeman : "He has just been extraordinary. He has reinvented it so it’s still Arthur but it’s a very new, fresh take on it" (Garth)
Mos Def : "You wait till you meet him, you’ll love him. He’s perfect for Ford. We didn’t know much about Mos before we went to meet him; since meeting him and investigating everything he’s done, it was almost no question – it had to be him." (Garth)
Zooey Deschanel : "The last thing we wanted was the token female, and Zooey more than fitted the bill" (Garth)
Sam Rockweell : "He’s the only man I know who can go from a high karate kick, straight into the splits without pulling a muscle and still look cool!" (Garth)
Bill Nighy : "Bill’s just perfect for Slartibartfast and we never bothered even considering anyone else" (Garth)
About the script : "We thought that it would be the typical, Hollywood, ruin-everything thing and we actually told our agent not to send us the script... I went into the toilet to read it, expecting to come out quite quickly, and 45 minutes later I appeared, saying to my wife, ‘This is actually rather good." (Garth)
"There’s an awful lot of new Douglas stuff. There’s some wonderful inventions – characters and creatures and devices. I don’t think we’ve put anything in. Karey’s main role has been ordering and editing and making sense of it. We never once had to invent something."
About h2g2 : "both Nick and I were fans when we were younger."
Budget "It’s a very, very decent amount of money to make this film but it’s not necessarily up there with the Harry Potters and the Batmans and things like that' (Nick)
Character's design : "All our thoughts as far as designs of characters go, we always go to the book, go to Douglas for reference. We read a lot of the descriptions and also the ethos behind some of them" (nick)
DVD : "I don’t think there’s ever been a film more suited to the DVD format"(garth)
Their hope : “The most important thing for us is that we’ve captured the spirit of the work, that we’ve captured what made it so special to all of us. And that they just enjoy it. We hope it’s a really great film for everybody. Is that too little an answer for such a big question?” (garth)
You can also read a slightly different script on h2g2 : : CLICK HERE !!
Here are a few extracts :
Martin Freeman : "He has just been extraordinary. He has reinvented it so it’s still Arthur but it’s a very new, fresh take on it" (Garth)
Mos Def : "You wait till you meet him, you’ll love him. He’s perfect for Ford. We didn’t know much about Mos before we went to meet him; since meeting him and investigating everything he’s done, it was almost no question – it had to be him." (Garth)
Zooey Deschanel : "The last thing we wanted was the token female, and Zooey more than fitted the bill" (Garth)
Sam Rockweell : "He’s the only man I know who can go from a high karate kick, straight into the splits without pulling a muscle and still look cool!" (Garth)
Bill Nighy : "Bill’s just perfect for Slartibartfast and we never bothered even considering anyone else" (Garth)
About the script : "We thought that it would be the typical, Hollywood, ruin-everything thing and we actually told our agent not to send us the script... I went into the toilet to read it, expecting to come out quite quickly, and 45 minutes later I appeared, saying to my wife, ‘This is actually rather good." (Garth)
"There’s an awful lot of new Douglas stuff. There’s some wonderful inventions – characters and creatures and devices. I don’t think we’ve put anything in. Karey’s main role has been ordering and editing and making sense of it. We never once had to invent something."
About h2g2 : "both Nick and I were fans when we were younger."
Budget "It’s a very, very decent amount of money to make this film but it’s not necessarily up there with the Harry Potters and the Batmans and things like that' (Nick)
Character's design : "All our thoughts as far as designs of characters go, we always go to the book, go to Douglas for reference. We read a lot of the descriptions and also the ethos behind some of them" (nick)
DVD : "I don’t think there’s ever been a film more suited to the DVD format"(garth)
Their hope : “The most important thing for us is that we’ve captured the spirit of the work, that we’ve captured what made it so special to all of us. And that they just enjoy it. We hope it’s a really great film for everybody. Is that too little an answer for such a big question?” (garth)
You can also read a slightly different script on h2g2 : : CLICK HERE !!
Friday, April 16, 2004
New names for the movie. Malkovitch to star in « Hitchhiker’s guide » !
According to Los Angeles’ Hollywood Reporter, John Malkovitch will star in the h2g2 movie. This has been officially confirmed. He will play a brand new character, « a religious cult leader called Humma Kavula, created by the late author especially for the long-gestating film ». Robbie Stamp, executive producer, told me that John will play a “crazed missionary” now living on the planet Viltvodle". The character could have something to do with the Great Green Arklesiezure story.
This is of course great news, and a funny coincidence too. Let’s remember it’s « Being John Malkovitch » director, Spike Jonz, that recommanded Hammer & Tongs to Disney. Maybe Spike has helped his protégés to convince the american actor to thumb a ride on the h2g2 movie.
A british actress is also due to star in the h2g2 movie according Bill Nighy who let slip the info in a recent interview. Her name is Anna Chancelor and is best known as « Duckface » in « Four weddings and a funeral ». She also played parts in Heart, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Staggered... She has been confirmed later today and we know she will play Questular, the vice-president of the galaxy... which is also a new part!
It's also great to think that Douglas have created a new version of the Guide before he died, with brand new characters, rather than just a too faithful adaptation.
This is of course great news, and a funny coincidence too. Let’s remember it’s « Being John Malkovitch » director, Spike Jonz, that recommanded Hammer & Tongs to Disney. Maybe Spike has helped his protégés to convince the american actor to thumb a ride on the h2g2 movie.
A british actress is also due to star in the h2g2 movie according Bill Nighy who let slip the info in a recent interview. Her name is Anna Chancelor and is best known as « Duckface » in « Four weddings and a funeral ». She also played parts in Heart, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Staggered... She has been confirmed later today and we know she will play Questular, the vice-president of the galaxy... which is also a new part!
It's also great to think that Douglas have created a new version of the Guide before he died, with brand new characters, rather than just a too faithful adaptation.
Karey and Martin enjoy the movie thing!
According Martin Freeman's offcial website runed by his brother Jamie, Martin is very happy with the reharsals. Listen to what Jamie says : "Work has started on rehearsals for the movie. Martin is rehearsing his role as Arthur Dent in London along with other cast members. It's actually happening, people! :-) Martin has told me he's really enjoying the rehearsals, heaping praise upon his fellow cast members".
In the meantime, MJ Simpson on his own site, tell us that "Kirkpatrick was in fact at Elstree Studios this week and flew back to the USA only yesterday. “The film was in fantastic shape when I last left it on Wednesday evening,” he told me, “with the cast sinking into their roles really nicely. I saw Vogons practising their marching in formation. Awesome. I think people are going to be very happy.”
So if the main actor and the script writer are happy with what is going on we can guess everything's fine. ;)
In the meantime, MJ Simpson on his own site, tell us that "Kirkpatrick was in fact at Elstree Studios this week and flew back to the USA only yesterday. “The film was in fantastic shape when I last left it on Wednesday evening,” he told me, “with the cast sinking into their roles really nicely. I saw Vogons practising their marching in formation. Awesome. I think people are going to be very happy.”
So if the main actor and the script writer are happy with what is going on we can guess everything's fine. ;)
Monday, April 5, 2004
Steve Pemberton will play Prosser
Casting goes on! The new actor officially casted in the movie is british actor Steve Pemberton who will play Prosser, employee of the local concil, who wants to destroy Arthur Dent's house. He's also a direct male-line descendant of Genghis Kahn, though he has no idea of this.
Like Martin Freeman, Steve Pemberton is a british actor mainly known for being one of the main actors of a famous BBC TV series. He plays several parts in "The league of gentlemen" series, which he also directs and writes for. As said on imdb, it's a "Bizzare comedy sent in the fictional English town of Royston Vasey, whose inhabitants include a transexual taxi driver, a family obsessed with cleaness that despise masurbation, an apathetic priest, a gypsy who kidnaps women to be his wives and a psychotic couple who run a local shop for local people....". And for the BBC "The League Of Gentlemen - the comedy troupe of the same name - are Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, an exceptionally talented team who created, write and (with the exception of Dyson) play all the major roles, male and female. (This is one reason why the different characters play out their stories in serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each other's storylines.) Theirs is a gothic-comedy, inspired (in places) by horror films in general, especially the work of Hammer Studios, and by The Wicker Man (1973) in particular.
Steve is now working on the movie adaptation of the "league of gentlemen" and will play in "Life and death of Peter Sellers" and "Churchill : The Hollywood years".`
And here is Steve in "the league of gentlemen"! Very sexy. He could play Trillian too for sure!
Like Martin Freeman, Steve Pemberton is a british actor mainly known for being one of the main actors of a famous BBC TV series. He plays several parts in "The league of gentlemen" series, which he also directs and writes for. As said on imdb, it's a "Bizzare comedy sent in the fictional English town of Royston Vasey, whose inhabitants include a transexual taxi driver, a family obsessed with cleaness that despise masurbation, an apathetic priest, a gypsy who kidnaps women to be his wives and a psychotic couple who run a local shop for local people....". And for the BBC "The League Of Gentlemen - the comedy troupe of the same name - are Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, an exceptionally talented team who created, write and (with the exception of Dyson) play all the major roles, male and female. (This is one reason why the different characters play out their stories in serialised sketches, rarely crossing into each other's storylines.) Theirs is a gothic-comedy, inspired (in places) by horror films in general, especially the work of Hammer Studios, and by The Wicker Man (1973) in particular.
Steve is now working on the movie adaptation of the "league of gentlemen" and will play in "Life and death of Peter Sellers" and "Churchill : The Hollywood years".`
And here is Steve in "the league of gentlemen"! Very sexy. He could play Trillian too for sure!
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Casting for extras is speeding
According to Lloyd Gilbert, a regular poster on the google forum, "I have it on reasonably believable authority that a colleague of a friend of mine is going to be in The Movie. She's cast as an alien. Via the medium of emailing my friend, who then emailed his colleague, who then emailed back to my friend, who then emailed back to me, I've been able to ascertain the following information:
1. She doesn't yet know what sort of alien she will be. 2. She got the part via the means of: "some scout found my info from iam.bmezine.com" 3. She'll be filming in June/July kind of time, on a set in London on Carnaby Street. 4. She's not sure what scene(s) she will be in.
When I asked if it was OK to use her name in this posting, the reply was : "Nope no publicity please.. or you could say Bravo's world of pain girlie does hitchhikers.. " Which my friend translates this to mean that his colleague has been on TV before, apparently she "had a branding" done."
It's of course not an isolated or surprising case. Let's remember that the shooting starts the 19th april in London. MJ Simpson, well known Douglas' biographer and fan, has told in the same thread that "A friend of a friend of mine has been cast as a Vogon". Wow! I really dont want to see what he looks like!
1. She doesn't yet know what sort of alien she will be. 2. She got the part via the means of: "some scout found my info from iam.bmezine.com" 3. She'll be filming in June/July kind of time, on a set in London on Carnaby Street. 4. She's not sure what scene(s) she will be in.
When I asked if it was OK to use her name in this posting, the reply was : "Nope no publicity please.. or you could say Bravo's world of pain girlie does hitchhikers.. " Which my friend translates this to mean that his colleague has been on TV before, apparently she "had a branding" done."
It's of course not an isolated or surprising case. Let's remember that the shooting starts the 19th april in London. MJ Simpson, well known Douglas' biographer and fan, has told in the same thread that "A friend of a friend of mine has been cast as a Vogon". Wow! I really dont want to see what he looks like!
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Various little news from Hollywood and beyond !
Sorry for the lack of news' updates these last weeks but there was nothing terribly exciting going on in Hollywood regarding our (already) beloved movie (and i was honestly a little busy !). Of course it could be only calm before the tempest. The beginning of the shooting is still due to begin the 19th April so in now less than one month !
SOME NEW NAMES
The biggest news was certainly the announcement on imdb.com of two new persons being involved in the movie thing. The director of Photography Igor Jadue-Lillo (an English guy who has already worked a lot with Hammer & Tongs) and English editor Niven Howie (The Hole, Dawn of the Dead...) are the newcomers. Niven Howie has won a Bafta for the Best editing (Lock, Stock and two smocking barrels) a Grammy award (for a video with Sting) and has been nominated for an Emmy Awards with "Back in the USA - Paul McCartney tour" (which would have certainly pleased Douglas a lot - Douglas was a great fan of McCartney). As you have maybe already noticed, I have of course updated straight away the "who'who in the movie" page.
DOUGLAS' FAMILY VISIT THE STUDIO
Douglas’ family (mother, sisters, brother and daughter) came to the Studio on Friday 12th march and, according to executive producer Robbie Stamp, they "were very moved and delighted by what they saw. I think its fair to say that we have the Estate/Family’s full support for what is going on!".
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE STILL ON THE WAY
Robbie Stamp is still closely working on the official h2g2 movie website with the guys at Disney. We should see the result of their work soon online.
MARTIN FREEMAN GIVES LITTLE AWAY ABOUT H2G2 IN HIS INTERVIEWS
Martin Freeman (Arthur) did some interviews lately, but is still not talking much about h2g2. His interview in The Observer at the end of February was interesting but he talked mainly about The Office' incredible success ("the most significant British sitcom since Fawlty Towers" according to the journalist). About the hitchhiker's guide, he just says that “We had the books at home when I was a kid and I’d always liked it without being mental about it, which I think is probably the best way to approach the film, because it means I’m not deferring to it too much. I think it’s a good story rather than the thing I’ve been waiting all my life to play.”
SOME NEW NAMES
The biggest news was certainly the announcement on imdb.com of two new persons being involved in the movie thing. The director of Photography Igor Jadue-Lillo (an English guy who has already worked a lot with Hammer & Tongs) and English editor Niven Howie (The Hole, Dawn of the Dead...) are the newcomers. Niven Howie has won a Bafta for the Best editing (Lock, Stock and two smocking barrels) a Grammy award (for a video with Sting) and has been nominated for an Emmy Awards with "Back in the USA - Paul McCartney tour" (which would have certainly pleased Douglas a lot - Douglas was a great fan of McCartney). As you have maybe already noticed, I have of course updated straight away the "who'who in the movie" page.
DOUGLAS' FAMILY VISIT THE STUDIO
Douglas’ family (mother, sisters, brother and daughter) came to the Studio on Friday 12th march and, according to executive producer Robbie Stamp, they "were very moved and delighted by what they saw. I think its fair to say that we have the Estate/Family’s full support for what is going on!".
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE STILL ON THE WAY
Robbie Stamp is still closely working on the official h2g2 movie website with the guys at Disney. We should see the result of their work soon online.
MARTIN FREEMAN GIVES LITTLE AWAY ABOUT H2G2 IN HIS INTERVIEWS
Martin Freeman (Arthur) did some interviews lately, but is still not talking much about h2g2. His interview in The Observer at the end of February was interesting but he talked mainly about The Office' incredible success ("the most significant British sitcom since Fawlty Towers" according to the journalist). About the hitchhiker's guide, he just says that “We had the books at home when I was a kid and I’d always liked it without being mental about it, which I think is probably the best way to approach the film, because it means I’m not deferring to it too much. I think it’s a good story rather than the thing I’ve been waiting all my life to play.”
Douglas' brother tells us more about Douglas' family visit to Elstree Studio
As I told in the previous news, Douglas’ family (mother, sisters, brother and daughter) came to Elstree Studio on Friday 12th march and, according to executive producer Robbie Stamp, they "were very moved and delighted by what they saw. I think its fair to say that we have the Estate/Family’s full support for what is going on!".
James Thrift, Douglas' brother, kindly told me more about this event : "We were at Elstree about 2 weeks ago and spent the morning with Robbie, Nick and Garth. It must be very hard for these guys to finally put something down on film that has been the product of so many imaginations for so many years; we all have "the real" Arthur Dent in our heads.
Well Nick and Garth have to give us their view of Arthur, Ford and all the others, and just hope that the wider world out there are entertained by the product. They also had to share it all with Douglas' family, those of us who have been with this "thing" since it emerged from the room at the end of the corridor all those years ago, and you must remember that until now very few if any major hitchhiker projects have occurred where Douglas has not held considerable control.
Well, as Robbie has said, we all loved it, the ideas, the casting, the whole project and those working on it seem to have a very Douglas feel to them. Everyone seems so determined to create something he would have loved.
We have a saying of having "Douglas" moments, moments when something happens that "is just so Douglas". Recently Robbie Mcintosh getting the Norah Jones gig, that was a very Douglas moment, he would have been ecstatic.
I had suspected that I might see things on the set/ in the art department that wouldn't be my "image" of that scene, not my take on that situation, and sure enough there were a couple. What I did not expect was to leave feeling so comfortable inside that this film is in safe, or should I say the best hands.
So sit back, put your feet up, and get ready for a 2 hour Douglas moment at a cinema near you soon. "
James Thrift, Douglas' brother, kindly told me more about this event : "We were at Elstree about 2 weeks ago and spent the morning with Robbie, Nick and Garth. It must be very hard for these guys to finally put something down on film that has been the product of so many imaginations for so many years; we all have "the real" Arthur Dent in our heads.
Well Nick and Garth have to give us their view of Arthur, Ford and all the others, and just hope that the wider world out there are entertained by the product. They also had to share it all with Douglas' family, those of us who have been with this "thing" since it emerged from the room at the end of the corridor all those years ago, and you must remember that until now very few if any major hitchhiker projects have occurred where Douglas has not held considerable control.
Well, as Robbie has said, we all loved it, the ideas, the casting, the whole project and those working on it seem to have a very Douglas feel to them. Everyone seems so determined to create something he would have loved.
We have a saying of having "Douglas" moments, moments when something happens that "is just so Douglas". Recently Robbie Mcintosh getting the Norah Jones gig, that was a very Douglas moment, he would have been ecstatic.
I had suspected that I might see things on the set/ in the art department that wouldn't be my "image" of that scene, not my take on that situation, and sure enough there were a couple. What I did not expect was to leave feeling so comfortable inside that this film is in safe, or should I say the best hands.
So sit back, put your feet up, and get ready for a 2 hour Douglas moment at a cinema near you soon. "
Slartibartfast has officially been cast
After months of wait, the british actor Bill Nighy (recently seen in "Love Actualy") will definitly and officially play our old planet designer, Slartbibartfast.
As Nighy said to BBCi films when his name was first anounced : "I'm a big fan of the book and the people who are making it are very cool people and I think they're going to do a good job," says Nighy. "It's a really good script. It's really, really faithful (to the book). All the jokes are there and they're big fat jokes. It's wonderful. And with all the technology we have now, it can not only be a big satisfying comedy but I figure it could be quite exciting as well."
As Nighy said to BBCi films when his name was first anounced : "I'm a big fan of the book and the people who are making it are very cool people and I think they're going to do a good job," says Nighy. "It's a really good script. It's really, really faithful (to the book). All the jokes are there and they're big fat jokes. It's wonderful. And with all the technology we have now, it can not only be a big satisfying comedy but I figure it could be quite exciting as well."
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