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[Boem]

Edit: Now confirmed with an actual article, instead of me having to relay information from friends who were at the event: http://www.theguardian.com/books/tv...to-adapt-terry-pratchett-collaboration-for-tv

This was just announced at the Terry Pratchett memorial, so articles will take a little while to get written. As of right now, they announced:

Neil Gaiman writing a 6-episode TV adaption of Good Omens, based on the book he wrote with Terry Pratchett.

Terry Rosio (Shrek, Aladdin) will write a movie adaption of Mort.

They confirmed they have a deal signed for the earlier announced adaption by Rhianna Pratchett, for her (probably animated) movie adaption of Wee Free Men. This was announced a while back, before Terry passed away. They didn't have a deal signed yet back then, but she continued writing it anyway, because Terry always wanted specifically her to adapt the Tiffany Aching books (as well as Nation), because of the special meaning those books have for their relationship. She finished her first draft in time to read to her father before he passed (he couldn't read himself anymore at that point), which is very touching to me.

They didn't offer any new news on The Watch, the tv series that was announced a couple of years back, based on the City Watch (but taking place after the books: so new stories), but they did confirm that they're still working on it and that it's still coming. This was the first project announced for Narrativia, the production company started by Terry, his daughter and his friends to protect the rights to Discworld after his death, and to continue making adaptions in the form of comics/movies/tv/games/etc. Terry always said he didn't want anyone else except his daughter to write actual novels after his passing (and she politely and wisely passed on that honor), but he always wanted his creations to continue on, as long as it happened with the creative oversights of the people in his circle of trust, after some unhappy earlier experiences with Hollywood. Terry actually did some early brainstorming on this before his disease got too bad, and it's said to take place after all the novels, and focus on some new recruits to the City Watch while they solve crimes and unravel the usual insane Discworldian adventures. I remember one of the new characters was supposed to be a female Igor who served as the Watch's mortician, for example.

All this is being done through Narrativia (which I explained in the description of The Watch), which so far has only produced the audio play of Good Omens (in which Gaiman and Pratchett both have cameos, and it's really well done. Has a pretty all-star cast too), and an upcoming Small Gods comic.


Move over Marvel and Star Wars. The Discworld is coming.

Bonus, sad/happy fact: They ended the memorial by getting Eric Idle (who voiced Rincewind in the 90s adventure games) to sing 'Always look on the bright side of life'.
Also, Neil Gaiman inherited Terry's hat. Fans will understand how big that is. He was handed the hat on-stage by Terry's best friend/assistant. I have a friend who was at the memorial tonight (tried to get tickets but I was out of luck), and she told me Gaiman just stood there, quivering with it. Didn't have the guts to put it on just yet.

 

[Volimar]

Did that Hogswatch Night miniseries ever come out?

Also, yay Wee Free Men! Ach, crivens!

 

[WPS]

I remember there was a story Terry shared where he'd been approached for a movie adaptation of Mort, and he'd gone into a meeting with the potential producers, and the first thing they'd said was "We love the book, but I think we need to lose the Death angle" (paraphrased).

If they mess this up I will be incredibly upset.

 

[Poona]

Good to hear more on this. I was disappointed when it seemed Disney abandoned Mort.

 

[infiniteloop]

Would love a Discworld TV/Movie universe.

 

[El Topo]

That would be the GOAT cinematic universe.

 

[Volimar]

I remember there was a story Terry shared where he'd been approached for a movie adaptation of Mort, and he'd gone into a meeting with the potential producers, and the first thing they'd said was "We love the book, but I think we need to lose the Death angle" (paraphrased).

If they mess this up I will be incredibly upset.

lolwut?

 

[WPS]

lolwut?

Hang on, I'll see if I can't find it somewhere.

 

[echoshifting]

Good Omens?? Don't fuck up Good Omens, Hollywood

 

[shinra-bansho]

Is Granny Weatherwax or Rincewind in any of these, I forget.

 

[Volimar]

I want Lords and Ladies done...oh and Wintersmith...

The Tiffany Aching books don't get enough love.

Good Omens?? Don't fuck up Good Omens, Hollywood

At least Gaiman is still around. Hopefully he won't let them fuck it up.

 

[Lucreto]

Still waiting on The Watch TV series. It was announced 5 years ago and very little has been said on it. Filming was meant to start last year but Terry's death must have slowed down production.

I expect it either this Christmas or next Christmas as it seems like a show BBC likes to premiere around that time. Dr Who and Sherlock for example.

 

[Boem]

I remember there was a story Terry shared where he'd been approached for a movie adaptation of Mort, and he'd gone into a meeting with the potential producers, and the first thing they'd said was "We love the book, but I think we need to lose the Death angle" (paraphrased).

If they mess this up I will be incredibly upset.

Yeah, that was Disney. They recently uncovered some concept art of that movie which actually looked nice, but it wouldn't have been Discworld.

Don't worry, that's exactly the story Terry always used to tell to explain why he started Narrativia. Full creative control to make sure the adaptions would stay true to the characters and world of the books.

 

[Boem]

Still waiting on The Watch TV series. It was announced 5 years ago and very little has been said on it. Filming was meant to start last year but Terry's death must have slowed down production.

I expect it either this Christmas or next Christmas as it seems like a show BBC likes to premiere around that time. Dr Who and Sherlock for example.

It'll take longer than that, they confirmed some months back that Terry's declining health and passing was the main reason for the project slowing down so much. Right now they're focusing more on the adaptions, as they want to take some extra time to make sure they get the new stories for the Watch completely right.

Edit: Sorry for the double post.

 

[Escape Goat]

I cant even think of a director that would be great for Good Omens. The cast would have to be phenomenal to carry the absurd plot. Its 6 episodes so they could conceivably get anyone.

 

[Boem]

Did that Hogswatch Night miniseries ever come out?

Also, yay Wee Free Men! Ach, crivens!

The Mob made live action tv adaptions of some of the books years ago. They did Hogfather, Colour of Magic (which also incorporated Light Fantastic) and Going Postal.

They made some great casting choices here and there (Tim Curry as Trymon, Christopher Lee as Death, and especially David Bradley as Cohen the Barbarian) and some terrible choices elsewhere (David Jason as Rincewind and Sean Astin as Twoflower being the worst). It's very hit or miss, it mostly showed how difficult these books are to make into movies, especially on a lower budget (I'll never forget the rubber monkey suit they used for the librarian...). Worth a look if you're a fan, but really not that great.

That was a completely different company though, and they've since lost the rights (even though they were planning adaptions of Sourcery and Unseen Academicals at the time). Now they're producing it inhouse, and nobody of that old team is working on it.

Is Granny Weatherwax or Rincewind in any of these, I forget.

No Rincewind, but Granny is in Wee Free Men.

Edit: actually, Rincewind has a tiny cameo in Mort, but it's so small that I wouldn't be surprised if they ignored it in the adaption.

I cant even think of a director that would be great for Good Omens. The cast would have to be phenomenal to carry the absurd plot. Its 6 episodes so they could conceivably get anyone.

Back in the day (think 10 years or more back) Terry Gilliam was very enthusiastic about it, but they couldn't get the funding right. Good Omens has been in production hell forever. That's why they rushed the radio adaption when it became clear that Terry didn't have long left, because he didn't want to leave without doing some sort of adaption.

 

[Apple Turnover]

Of that list, only read Good Omens, but I am so all over that. Hopefully it does the book justice

 

[WPS]

lolwut?

Found it!
http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/words-from-the-master.html

- Speaking of movies, what happened to the plans for a movie based on Mort?

"A production company was put together and there was US and Scandinavian and European involvement, and I wrote a couple of script drafts which went down well and everything was looking fine and then the US people said "Hey, we've been doing market research in Power Cable, Nebraska, and other centres of culture, and the Death/skeleton bit doesn't work for us, it's a bit of a downer, we have a prarm with it, so lose the skeleton". The rest of the consortium said, did you read the script? The Americans said: sure, we LOVE it, it's GREAT, it's HIGH CONCEPT. Just lose the Death angle, guys.

Whereupon, I'm happy to say, they were told to keep on with the medication and come back in a hundred years."

"The person also said that Americans "weren't ready for the treatment of Death as an amusing and sympathetic character". This was about 18 months/2 years before Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey."

"Currently, since the amount of money available for making movies in Europe is about sixpence, the consortium is looking for some more intelligent Americans in the film business. This may prove difficult.

It could have been worse. I've heard what Good Omens was looking like by the time Sovereign's option mercifully ran out -- set in America, no Four Horsemen... oh god."

"What you have to remember is that in the movies there are two types of people 1) the directors, artists, actors and so on who have to do things and are often quite human and 2) the other lifeforms. Unfortunately you have to deal with the other lifeforms first. It is impossible to exaggerate their baleful stupidity."

 

[Boem]

Of that list, only read Good Omens, but I am so all over that. Hopefully it does the book justice

I would be insanely happy if they just kept the radio cast. That had Mark Heap as Aziraphale and Peter Serafinowicz as Crowley in the leads. They were pretty much perfect.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Don't really have good feelings about any considering how book adaptations usually go. We'll see though.

 

[Alcoremortis]

If there was ever a book that screamed on screen adaptation to me, it would be Good Omens. That book read like a movie. A crazy movie, but I could always just see it translated on screen so easily.

I think I'd be easy to please with it as well. The only thing it needs to have to make me happy is the scene with Crawley in the flaming car. That's it.

 

[Violet_0]

YES

hopefully these adaptions get a decent budget this time around. The Watch, Death and Tiffany books are some of his best Discworld series

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Found it!
http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/words-from-the-master.html

Hahah, shiiiiet. Freakin' American film producers.

 

[Boem]

Here's a semi-relevant treasure: not too long ago some concept art of the cancelled animated Disney adaption of Mort was put online. Looks great to me, even though - given some rumors - the movie wouldn't have been a faithful adaption at all (which is why Terry bought the rights back with his own money). Probably for the best, Disney doesn't seem like a great fit. It's way too British for that.

Please note: this has nothing to do with the upcoming adaption. That's going to be something new.

All this comes from the portfolio of Disney's Claire Keane (who worked on Tangled and a thousand other Disney movies): http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/mor...ney-s-abandoned-terry-pratchett-film-surfaces

 

[Fireblend]

I swear, if they (whoever they are) fuck up Good Omens or Mort...

 

[Delusibeta]

The Good Omens adaption being specifically 6 episodes suggests it's a UK channel that's got the rights. I'm going to take a punt and predict that's going to be Sky.

 

[Boem]

The Good Omens adaption being specifically 6 episodes suggests it's a UK channel that's got the rights. I'm going to take a punt and predict that's going to be Sky.

Back when Terry was healthier and The Watch was in the news a bit more, the big channel that was rumored to be interested was the BBC. Could be Sky given the earlier Discworld adaptions, but they were also the ones who let the rights slip after Going Postal even though they had permission to do at least 2 more, and a production studio attached and everything. Sourcery even had an early script and David Jason attached as Rincewind. They were simply too expensive for them to keep making them, given that the majority of their audience more or less ignored them. (Hogfather was, for them, a big success, Colour of Magic much less so, and Going Postal was pretty much a flop (even though it was probably the best out of the three of them).

The BBC has its own problems right now with their budgets possibly/probably being heavily cut, but they're solving that by moving part of the production of shows like Doctor Who to the commercial BBC America. With the loss of old Top Gear and the risk of getting a new showrunner (and probably lead actor) for Doctor Who in the near future, they might be itching for a new flagship series.

I agree that it'll probably a UK network at least, unless they've gotten some of that Netflix money.

 

[atr0cious]

Just saw Zootopia, and all I could think about is how its just a furry Night Watch. Can't wait to see how the real things turn out, probably won't be half as good though.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

A Mort movie? Disney was trying to make that happen for a while, I wonder if they're involved.

EDIT: Guess not. Seemed obvious, but I thought it was worth asking.

 

[Delusibeta]

Back when Terry was healthier and The Watch was in the news a bit more, the big channel that was rumored to be interested was the BBC. Could be Sky given the earlier Discworld adaptions, but they were also the ones who let the rights slip after Going Postal even though they had permission to do at least 2 more, and a production studio attached and everything. Sourcery even had an early script and David Jason attached as Rincewind. They were simply too expensive for them to keep making them, given that the majority of their audience more or less ignored them. (Hogfather was, for them, a big success, Colour of Magic much less so, and Going Postal was pretty much a flop (even though it was probably the best out of the three of them).

The BBC has its own problems right now with their budgets possibly/probably being heavily cut, but they're solving that by moving part of the production of shows like Doctor Who to the commercial BBC America. With the loss of old Top Gear and the risk of getting a new showrunner (and probably lead actor) for Doctor Who in the near future, they might be itching for a new flagship series.

I agree that it'll probably a UK network at least, unless they've gotten some of that Netflix money.

Fair points, although it being only 6 episodes means I'm fairly confident in ruling out Netflix, since they'll probably ask for a minimum of 20 episodes.

Only other real contender would be Channel 4, and frankly I don't see them commissioning anything like Good Omens.

 

[Dead Man]

Who the hell do you cast for Carrot?

 

[Boem]

A Mort movie? Disney was trying to make that happen for a while, I wonder if they're involved.

Could be, given that the scriptwriter also did Aladdin (his history at least hints at it being animated), but Terry didn't like the direction Disney was going with it, so bought the rights back with his own money (the man was RICH). One other big problem would be that Disney would want the rights to all of the Discworld, and wouldn't allow other Discworld movies/tv shows/whatever being made at the same time. That was always a sore point, and after Terry got tired of having to fight to get the rights back to books studios were never going to do anything with so many times, he decided to start his own production company in order to ensure the rights would never leave the Pratchett estate again. So I don't think it's going to be Disney.

I don't see Disney as a great fit for Discworld anyway, even though the visuals could be spectacular, going by that concept part posted above.

 

[Nikodemos]

I remember the TV adaptations of Hogfather, Colour of Magic and Going Postal. Hogfather was surprisingly good, Going Postal was decent (but IIRC they cut a lot out due to budget constraints), and Colour of Magic was mostly miss, due to severely miscasting Rincewind and Twoflower. Rincewind was envisioned by Pratchett as a 30-something year-old "professional student", who somehow remained in the University despite not really being good at anything (though that's not exactly true: it is discovered he is actually quite good at anti-magic) and rarely attending courses (ironically, the other wizards eventually foist various positions nobody else wanted upon him, so he ends up with several simultaneous tenures).

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

Could be, given that the scriptwriter also did Aladdin (his history at least hints at it being animated), but Terry didn't like the direction Disney was going with it, so bought the rights back with his own money (the man was RICH). One other big problem would be that Disney would want the rights to all of the Discworld, and wouldn't allow other Discworld movies/tv shows/whatever being made at the same time. That was always a sore point, and after Terry got tired of having to fight to get the rights back to books studios were never going to do anything with so many times, he decided to start his own production company in order to ensure the rights would never leave the Pratchett estate again. So I don't think it's going to be Disney.

I don't see Disney as a great fit for Discworld anyway, even though the visuals could be spectacular, going by that concept part posted above.

Honestly, I'd imagine that if Disney were involved, they'd announce it themselves.

 

[Boem]

I remember the TV adaptations of Hogfather, Colour of Magic and Going Postal. Hoghfather was surprisingly good, Going Postal was decent (but IIRC they cut a lot out due to budget constraints), and Colour of Magic was mostly miss, due to severely miscasting Rincewind and Twoflower. Rincewind was envisioned by Pratchett as a 30-something year-old "professional student", who somehow remained in the University despite not really being good at anything (though that's not exactly true: it is discovered he is actually quite good at anti-magic) and rarely attending courses (ironically, the other wizards eventually foist various positions nobody else wanted upon him, so he ends up with several simultaneous tenures).

Yep, Rincewind and Twoflowers were the biggest miscasts in those movies. Someone here once suggested Mark Heap (Brian from Spaced) as Rincewind, and that would be perfect. He actually played him in a somewhat recent BBC radio adaption of Eric.

Casting Andrew Sachs (Manuel from Fawlty Towers) as Groat in Going Postal was a stroke of genius though.

Honestly, I'd imagine that if Disney were involved, they'd announce it themselves.

Yeah, that's a good point as well.

 

[marrec]

Exciting news, I've always wanted a "Discworld Cinematic Universe" but have simultaneously always thought that there is no one alive that could helm it properly. It needs to be handled with the utmost care.

Really excited for a (hopefully) good Mort adaptation.

 

[Pau]

An animated Discworld universe would make me so, so happy.

I could take live action but it's such a good fit for animation.

 

[weemadarthur]

I keep waiting for something to happen with The Watch.

 

[hamchan]

The City Watch series of books is so damn good and has so much potential for a good movie/tv show.

 

[Violet_0]

the animated movie needs to become hit so it can spawn a Tiffany Aching series that becomes progressively darker with every book they adapt. For YA literature, they're some of the best novels out there. The latter ones are practically indistinguishable from Pratchett's other Discworld works in terms of content and themes covered

 

[Jintor]

I'm ready for the Discworld.

I'm still surprised there's been no high budget game in what, the last two decades? Well not really, because PTerry seemed to keep a tighter watch on that kind of thing, but I've been dreaming about an Assassin's Creed* style game set in Ankh Morpork...

* but good

 

[Waikis]

goddamn good omen, it's been aaaaages since i read that book.

 

[Retromelon]

The City Watch series of books is so damn good and has so much potential for a good movie/tv show.

I am of the opinion that it will be hard for anything to recreate the magic of the books, but welcome the effort

 

[Boem]

There's apparrently another Discworld movie and/or tv series coming, and that one is going to be announced at San Diego Comic Con.

There will also be another, final Terry Pratchett documentary. They were filming for it during the memorial yesterday where they announced all this stuff. The old ones were amazing, if heart wrenching to watch - especially Choosing to Die.

The BBC was filming there as well, but I don't know if they broadcasted any of it.

 

[Tubobutts]

I hope these are good. I never watched any previous tv adaptations.

 

[tomtom94]

Gaiman writing his own adaptation of Good Omens? Fucking sold.

And of the books you could choose for a movie, yeah, Mort would definitely be up there. I'll believe that when I see it get out of development hell, though.

 

[Paertan]

Oh great! I really hope they are as good as the other adaptions. Love them!
Read/listened to all Discworld books this last year.

And yeah about that Watch tv series? I was looking forward to that =(

 

[Antiwhippy]

If they can do it well I really want to watch an adaptation of small gods.

 

[Boem]

If they can do it well I really want to watch an adaptation of small gods.

Yep, probably my favorite Discworld book along with Night Watch, and it would work really well in the right hands. I'd rather have a TV/Netflix miniseries than a movie though.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Hell, if they're breaking out of the discworld, I think nation would be fantastic.