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Pratchett's 'Good Omens' On The Big Screen 131

Posted by emmett from the gaiman-and-gilliam-rock-my-world dept.
martial writes "The book 'Good Omens' is in the process to be adapted for the big screen. The book was reviewed on Slashdot before. The book was written by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) and Neil Gaiman and speaks about the apocalypse in a pretty funny way. For the movie version, little is known other than Terry Gilliam (Monty Python member and director of 12 Monkeys and Brazil) is going to be the director. The information about the movie is available at the Internet Movie Database." Until this goes into something other than pre-production, it is a rumor and should be treated as such.
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Pratchett's 'Good Omens' On The Big Screen More

Pratchett's 'Good Omens' On The Big Screen

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  • well i don't really know much about this movie, but ANYTHING done by anybody related to monty python HAS to be good. I mean... just think about the holy grail. =)
  • All the movies that Terry has done so far have a very distinctive feel to them. (Even if they flopped). I remember being blown away by Brazil when I first saw it. The closer the future comes the more I think it will end up like Brazil.

    Not to mention that I saw Fear and Loathing about 4 or 5 times.
  • As a complete movie freak I have to say that I think Gilliam is just about the only director these days who can do Pratchet correctly. He's got just the right odd view on the world that would see all the great humor that runs deep in Pratchet's work. Although I haven't read this book, I think I'll have to pick it up.

    There's not one Gilliam film that I didn't like.

    I can't wait for this film.
    ----
    "War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left"

  • An amazing book (Score:4)

    by Outlyer ( 1767 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2000 @09:44PM (#1381037) Homepage
    Good Omens is a just plain brilliant book. And you can't tell me that Kevin Smith didn't read a little of it when he wrote the script for his excellent Dogma (they both deal with similar 'heavy' religious subject matter, in a light-hearted manner) The book itself is nothing like Sandman, if that's what you're used to from Gaimen, it reads more like Douglas Adams, with the peculiar sort of humour that seems so silly, but so damn funny. If you haven't read it yet, you're missing out. That said, I think the director (even Terry Gilliam) has his work cut out for him.
  • They're going to have to do an amazing job at it if they're going to avoid the standard criticism that the movie wasn't as good as the book.
  • What is Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas about?

    And can they compare to one of the best movies ever Time Bandits, also directed by Terry Gilliam?
  • As a play and it was excellent. Definately would want to see the movie. Bonus haveing a good director.
    I just can't see where he would fit a frensel lense in this time?

    I recently finished reading 'The Fifth Elephant', is there a next one comming out?

    cya, Andrew...

  • Thats a standard complaint just because most people don't realize that your not going to be able to fit much more than a short story into a movie without removing parts, and the parts that are removed people suddenly cling to as the good parts. However, some movies cannot do what the book did, as in Sphere. I like the movie for the sole reason that I like the book. Most people did not like the movie because it was long with little development, but nowhere near as long as the book. Oh well.
  • Hey, no matter what way you cut it more people see movies than read books. So when an author gets his/her book movie-ized, its like a fast-track to success. To refuse to do that would keep you books only popular in the niche market that reads them. But something like this, most people who see the movie probably wont be aware that there is a book behind it.
  • Bill and Ted's excellent adventure?
    Monty Python and The Meaning of Life?
    Even Ernest goes to Jail had a shadow of the reaper on the wall just before he was going to get killed. If they do cut it out, it would most likely be to condense the book into a movie, not because they don't like to meet the reaper.
  • Maybe as the Witchfinder...

    I was thinking more Ralph Fiennes (Avengers) for Crowley...

  • Tough one... (Score:5)

    by Nimmy ( 5552 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2000 @10:09PM (#1381047) Homepage
    I have to admit, I usually dislike movies based on my favorite books. And _Good Omens_ is one of my most favorite books. It is just about the funniest book I have ever read. Just ahead of The _Hitchhiker's Guide_ 'Trilogy'.

    But Good Omens will be even harder to put into a movie than other favorites like _Ender's Game_. Why? Well, one of the best things about _Good Omens_ is the language. Full of nuance and wit, the narration tells more than the dialog or actions.

    On the other hand, Gilliam is an excellent director and knows his way around wit. Still, I'm not sure if he is quite suited to the part. Omens is very understated in many ways (I think the best humor is understated humor), whereas Gilliam tends to go for overstatement. Certainly in his older work, and to some degree in his more modern works. (If you don't think so, watch Brazil again, talk about overstated)

    Nevertheless, no matter how much of a let down the movie is or isn't it will make me remember the book, and that can't be a bad thing. I will certainly see the movie when (and if) it ever comes out.

    For anyone who as not read _Good Omens_, DO IT NOW! It is easily the funniest book I have ever read, and ranks up there in the 10 best books I have read (and I have read quite a lot, never had a TV past 5th grade, so...). Do not wait for the movie, you will lose out if you see the movie first, no matter how good it is.

    Damnit, I just realized I lent out my copy of Good Omens and never got it back. Now I want to read it again (for about the 5th time).

    --Nick
  • Funny as HELL!! And Hell is quite funny in Good Omens. :-) Imagine the "tortured" characters of Gaimen along with the insane crazy antics of Pratchet, a very odd and hilarious combination. If this is true, and I hope it is, this movie will kick SO MUCH ASS. I absolutely LOVE Time Bandits and Baron Munchausen. I also love 12 Monkeys, which is a horribly sad and depressing movie, but lovingly and wonderfully beautiful. I saw it at a film house followed by Fear and Loathing which got kind of annoying after a while, but the first 30 minutes of a Jonny Depp tripped-out drug binge are an excellent chaser to 12 Monkeys.

    A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."
  • People who have that little knowledge about either of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman or Terry Gilliam usually keep their ognorance to themselves instead of posting it for all to see.
  • Let's hope they'll stay faithful to the book. A few years ago, AFAIR, terry pratchett was saying in one of his newsgroups that they had tried to make a film out of one of his discworld novels. Unfortunately the Hollywood producers wanted to change too much of it and at the end it looked like something happening in a small suburban part of the USofA. The producers did not even want the four horsemen of the apocalypse! So they never did it.

    From what I remember of Good Omens (I have to read it again) it is (like all terryP books) full of references to some other events, like the Boston tea party for instance. The big risk here is that they will try to dumb it down to make these references less obscure.

  • yeah, but also think about 'fierce creatures.'

  • Some actual information.. (Score:5)

    by Andrev ( 10032 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2000 @11:03PM (#1381054) Homepage
    This story looked much like a rumour to me, so I searched the net a little to find where it came from..

    Found this on Discworld Monthly [ufbs.co.uk]

    Neil Gaiman confirmed that Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Time Bandits) will write and direct the feature film version of Good Omens, the novel Gaiman co-authored with Terry Pratchett. Gaiman told SCI FI Wire that Gilliam will write the screenplay with Tony Grisoni, who worked with Gilliam on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Peter Samuelson, Marc Samuelson (Arlington Road) and Chuck Roven will produce the film, and talks are ongoing with several studios to develop the project.

    Gaiman said he plans to keep his distance from the film. "Terry Pratchett and I have elected not to get involved--we both got our fingers burned some years ago trying to write a Good Omens movie for Sovereign Pictures, for producers who bought Good Omens and then immediately began trying to turn it into something else. We decided that this time around we would give the book to people who seemed to understand it and let them make the film."

    Gaiman also had high praise for Gilliam and the Samuelsons. "We turned down a lot of producers before the Samuelsons came along, and they impressed us by understanding what the book was about (and not just understanding what happened in it and the meaning of several of the longer words)," Gaiman said. "I think Terry Gilliam is the perfect director for Good Omens in every way, and I've been an enormous fan of his since Jabberwocky."

    Gaiman added that he is "really looking forward to going and eating popcorn at the premiere. Or those little raisin things with chocolatey stuff on them."

    Good Omens: or, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is a tongue-in-cheek telling of the Apocalypse from the viewpoint of an angel and a devil who realize their best interests lie in working together to postpone the Day of Reckoning.

    I guess that makes the whole thing a bit less of a rumour :)

  • I've gotten into the habit lately of buying all of Pratchett's books from Amazon UK [amazon.co.uk]. They're happy to ship to the US and have great customer service. I'd gotten tired of waiting a year or so for his books to be published on this side of the Atlantic.

    Or can't you tell I'm a Pratchett fan?

  • Re:Gilliam & Pratchet (Score:3)

    by CaptainCarrot ( 84625 ) on Tuesday January 11, 2000 @11:24PM (#1381057)
    I agree comptelely. I can only describe the feel of Gilliam's films as chaotic. They always feel as if the world is not quite stable and that the walls can come crashing in at any time - as they often do! There is no other director who can do justice to Pratchett.

    Good Omens is well worth reading. Normally I can't stand Gaiman's work, but under Pratchett's influence he's quite readable.

  • As a resident of the SF Bay Area, I can assure you that on first viewing most Merkins will understand completely the evil inherent in the M25.
  • I hope they don't Americanify it (i.e. have it take place here in the States as opposed to England) or leave out Death (I remember reading somewhere that some studio executives didn't like having the Grim Reaper in a comedy, but that could just have been idle talk).

    That was Mort. A Merkin film company wanted to make a movies of the book. (As I am sure you all know the book was about Death and his apprentice). The film company wanted to "loose the Death angle". Needless to say they did not get pemission.

    Several people have tried to get permission to do films in the past and Terry has turned them all down (until now). He too is worried about "Americanification". The only films have be cartoon versions of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters by Cosgrove Hall.

  • About Death and Hollywood (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The incident mentioned was early on in Pratchetts career, i.e. before Bill and Ted Bogus Journey. They were writting MORT for the big screen, they sent the script off. The producer/director then wrote back with the comment

    'Great movie, can you just get rid of the Death angle'

    If you ever read the book you would understand. For this reason Pratchett has promised never to let any hollywood director screw up his work so if the movie does go ahead it should be very good.

    (check out www.lspace.org for Pratchett info)
  • Gilliam and Tony Grisoni(Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) will write the screenplay. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett tried to write a screenplay for the movie once but they got burnt when the production started changing it. As Neil Gaiman put it:
    "Terry Pratchett and I have elected not to get involved--we both got our fingers burned some years ago trying to write a Good Omens movie for Sovereign Pictures, for producers who bought Good Omens and then immediately began trying to turn it into something else. We decided that this time around we would give the book to people who seemed to understand it and let them make the film."
  • But Good Omens will be even harder to put into a movie than other favorites like _Ender's Game_. Why? Well, one of the best things about _Good Omens_ is the language. Full of nuance and wit, the narration tells more than the dialog or actions.

    However it is the easiest of Terry's books to turn into a film as it is set on Earth, in surroundings that all of the audience can understand.

    Can you imagine the problems of trying to do a 'live' Discworld film. Trying to get people who have never read one of the books to understand the concept of a planet on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant turtle...

    Good omens also has the advantage that it is a stand-alone book and does not require the reader to have read any other books in the series. Most of the Discworld books have characters who were introduced several books earlier and if you do not know about them it can be a little disorientating.

    Personally I think that Good Omens is the best book to do as a live action and I hope that it goes well...

  • this is one of the few prathett books i havent
    read ... Must Read before movie ... i cant belief i am saying this.

    If the movie is going to be half as good as the diskworld cartoons (they are great)i am going to love it.

    And when is the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
    Motion picture comming. And where can i get a "42 Towel"

    "THERE ARE BETTER THINGS IN THE WORLD THAN ALCOHOL, ALBERT"-Death

  • I know that this is a little off topic but it is Pratchett related.

    July this year sees the start of "MillenniCon Hand & Shrimp" - the 3rd Discworld Convention. This year it is being held at the Raddison Edwardian Hotel near Heathrow England. From 29th - 31st July there will be much merriment and drinking ;O)

    Confirmed Guests included

    • Terry Pratchett
    • Josh Kirby
    • Paul Kidby
    • Stephen Briggs
    • Bernard Pearson
    • Graham Higgins
    • Colin Smythe
    • Tina Hannan

    If you are interested have a look at the web site www.lspace.org/fandom/cons/dwcon2k [lspace.org] or email memberships@dwcon.lspace.org

    We now return you to your abnormal service...

    Frugal - Memberships/Chair of Vice DWCon2k

  • Talking of the Samuelsons; Mark Samuelson also has the rights to Christopher Fowlers "Roofworld". It is currntly undergoing script rewrites but looks as though it may go into production within the next year....
  • What is Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas about?

    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on the (autobiographical) book by gonzo journalist Hunter S Tompson. It tells the story of "Dr Duke" and his attorny who go to Vegas to cover a desert race, and then a police convention, with tonnes of drugs. The film a very good, my only critisism is off the portral of the traffic cop who stops Duke.

    Incedentally, in the book (and the film) one of the drugs that they take is "adrenochrome", which is supposedly extracted from the addrenalin gland of a live human patent. Does any one know if such a drug, or anything like it, exists?

    Thad
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "merkin" means "woman's pubic wig" in olde English...
    Quite apt, really... :)

    Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.

  • The book ... speaks about the apocalypse in a pretty funny way.

    So just before the year 2000 we get portentious movies about the end of the world like "Deep Impact", "Armageddon" and "End of Days". After year 2000 we get funny movies about the apocalypse. Strange.
  • No, it's purely fictional (according to Gilliam himself on 'The Big Breakfast'). Brilliant film, can't wait for Good Omens (brilliant book too, much darker than Pratchet's usual stuff).
    --
  • After year 2000 we get funny movies about the apocalypse. Strange. It's probably post-modern ;)

    Speaking of Armageddon, I really want to see some of Robert Rankin's stuff filmed, always thought he was funnier than Pratchett (insert flamewar here:) - although I love reading them both.
    --
  • This is my favourite work of anything I've read from the pens of either Pratchett or Gaiman (though perhaps 5 years on I might think differently if I were to dip into it again). The film would also have much more potential than Dogma, which was a bit of a disappointment.

    Still, I find it hard to see how the film could match the gloriously irreverant 'Life of Brian' which I predict will rule the roost in comedies on religion for decades to come.

  • fast-track to success? (Score:3)

    by BlaisePascal ( 50039 ) on Wednesday January 12, 2000 @01:19AM (#1381076)
    Terry Pratchett is a perennial best-seller in the United Kingdom and spends much of his time travelling the world doing book signings and other engagements. He has had at least two of his books adapted for the small screen (in animated form), and several of his books adapted for the stage. He has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) because of his writing. He already is a success.

    Neil Gaiman isn't as successful as Pratchett, but he is well-known and well-regarded in his field. He is best known for the graphic literature he has written (Sandman, etc), but has also written many novels and shortstories which have met with critical acclaim. Unlike Pratchett, Neil has had experience with Hollywood, having been involved with 4 movies or TV series since 1996, including an adaptation of his novel NeverWhere to the small screen. Most recently, he wrote the English screenplay for the Japanese animated film Princess Mononoke. I would also say he is a success.

    Both Gaiman and Pratchett have refused to bring their work to the big screen in the past when they thought that it wasn't going to be done right (and they have been asked) -- including a previous attempt to do Good Omens.

    Terry Gilliam is probably one of the few directors around these days that has as keen a grasp on both British and American humor. As the only American member of Monty Python, he immersed himself in British comedy and comedic writing for several years. His movie "The Fisher King" was nominated for 5 academy awards (winning Best Supporting Actress) and 5 golden globes (winning two). He is a perfectionist, well-known for fighting with the studios to maintain artistic control over his work.

    I think Gilliam was one of the better choises for "Good Omens". He can understand the book, and he can get what he wants onto film. His vision seems to me to more closely match that of Gaiman and Pratchett than most other directors. I think it will work.

    As far as trying to cram Good Omens onto the big screen -- remember that it is (loosely) based on a movie already (The Omen).
  • I gotta say I read Good Omens awhile ago and loved it. Great book. The book by Neil Gaimen that I would truly enjoy seeing a movie of though (Good Omens would be a good one though) is his book Neverwhere

    If you think you know what the hell is going on you're probably full of shit. -- Robert Anton Wilson
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "merkin" means "woman's pubic wig" in olde English...
    Quite apt, really... :)

    This dates back to alt.fan.pratchett from a while ago (counts on fingers...) oh dear about 8 years ago, well before the Eternal September. Americans were often refered to as Merkins. Someone kindly pointed out what it really means, we all said "yes, we know" and carried on using it ;O) I put in in instinctivly as I was discussing Americans and Prathcett at the same time...

    Frugal

  • This is slightly off topic, but I've been meaning to try one of Pratchett's Discworld books (I haven't actually read anything by Pratchet yet), but i've been put off 'till now because I wasn't sure which one to buy, since as I understand it a lot of characters come back in several books. What would be the best first Discworld book to read so that I can get acquainted with the series?


    Geert-Jan

  • (subject line says it)
  • Manchester's where Morrissey came from, right? So yeah--I think most of us dim, ungrammatical, spellin'-everything-wrong aMerkins can understand the vileness spouting from that 'burb. Even though almost none of us know the right English word for "'burb."

    Disclaimer: I own a pile of Morrissey/Smiths albums, of which I like about five, and I apologize. And apologise.


  • The first of the series is The Colour of Magic, starring Rincewind, Twoflower et al. It really is worth a read and a good place to start your collection, which I am sure you will after you read it :)
  • Even if they have agreed to do the project, come up with funding, etc it still takes a year or more to come out.

    Even after they have done the filming, it still takes many months before it comes out.

    In short, don't expect to see it this millennium. :-)

    Cheers,
    Ben
  • Actually, I don't mean to bash Kevin Smith, but his Dogma was much inferior to Good Omens, and I think it would have done him good to read Good Omens beforehand.

    I get the impression someone decided to give Good Omens the go because they saw Dogma doing well, and knew Good Omens was far superior. Dogma relied a lot on puerile jokes (the eternal 'when in doubt, fart' approach to humour), and had a very sketchy idea of mythical references and character development. On the other hand, Good Omens feels like a mature, very British and very funny approach to something Dogma only suspects exists. If this project is put in the hands of Terry Gilliam, hell... Let him at it! This is gonna be a beauty.

    On a side-note: there is a very good reason why Good Omens doesn't feel much like Sandman at all. It's very much Terry Pratchett's book. Terry said he wrote a bit more than two thirds of the book, and edited the master document. They wrote bits of it, and Terry edited them for style and content. As such, if you ever read a Discworld novel, you'll notice how much of Good Omens is recogniseable as Pratchett, up to and including DEATH, WHO SPEAKS LIKE THIS.

    If you never read a Discworld novel, then in the name of comedy, run and buy one. I heartily recommend Guards! Guards! or Witches Abroad as a primer. I actually felt Good Omens was inferior to most Discworld novels. There is something more consistent and insidious about the Discworld humour that's kinda messed up (but still hilarious) in Good Omens.

  • I remember listening to National Public Radio (NPR) and they had the 2 authors on. The quote that got me to buy and read it was "Yea, we hope that the Pope issues a fauwta against us."

    After some nervous laughter from the host, she then explained how the book MIGHT be considered blasphemous and how some people might get upset.

    Now, with a movie being proposed, I ll wait to see the Jerry Farwell etc la of the world pick on this movie as evidence of global disaster. (Given Y2K fizzled on them )

  • Pratchett's Discworld Saga can be divided into several central elements running through it, around one of which most of his books are centred. The main four can be loosely described as Rincewind, Death, The Witches and The Guards. I would suggest starting with the first book from one of these, which would be The Colour Of Magic, Mort, Equal Rites, or Guards, Guards! Alternatively a stand alone work such as Pyramids or Small Gods would also be a fair introduction to the ethos. Choose whichever subject matter suits you best, I reckon.
  • .....I've always felt that GO has a lot of internationally recognisable humour (without going into too much detail, i'm pretty sure we'd all laugh at the smiting of the telesales reps, the sigil shaped ring road, the company paintball trip with REAL GUNS.... I could go on forever.)

    It will probably lose something in the translation, because it is a densely written book (for densely written, file under: a hidden joke on pretty much every other paragraph), however the trick, surely, will be to lose as little as possible, while getting it to clock in at around 2 hrs

    It CAN'T be transplanted to the US for the simple reason that the location is central to the plot of the book (The Antichrist is supposed to be supplanted for the son of the US Ambassador to the UK, IIRC, but it goes pear-shaped).

    The one thing that terrifies me is the thought that they'll go overboard on the CGI (necessary in Fear & Loathing, not so with GO). If they do a "Mummy" with Death and CG him, then I will be really pissed off, as a good actor could bring so much to that part.

    Anyway, I'm going to bore you to tears and list my ideal cast now (or at least some, I cant think of all just yet):

    Aziraphale/Crowley - Rupert Everett, Gary Oldman (as both are fine character actors, they could play either)
    Aziraphale - Alan Cumming
    Anathema - Kate Beckinsale... maybe Julia Sawalha... Honeysuckle Weeks?
    Newt Pulsifier - ..this is a hard one... any suggestions?
    The Metatron - Alan Rickman (well, you gotta have consistency)

    That's a few ideas. It's be cool to hear more.....
  • I'd recommend Mort, personally. It's where I started, and it's one of the easiest books to get into.

    The first couple were slightly different in style from all the later books, so i'd suggest staying clear of these at first.
  • Thank you for mentioning Robert Rankin. Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors and from reading the reviews of his books, I think I will like Rankin too. As with Pratchett, Rankin's books are available at http://www.amazon.co.uk [amazon.co.uk].
  • Would that make Nicholas Lyndhurst Newton Pulsifier?

    I can see it now..... "Newton, you PLONKER!"
  • >If the movie is going to be half as good as the diskworld cartoons (they are great)

    Wyrd Sisters was a bit of a bad choice in my opinion, because the book is so reliant on dialogue. A lot of DW purists hated it though, because it tried to replace the dialogue with action. Soul Music fared a lot better though, simply because there were more set pieces. The animation got better around episode 4, too (about when the money for Wyrd Sisters came in, prolly :) )

    I'd just like to see Cosgrove-Hall attempt Guards! Guards! sometime soon......
  • As a complete movie freak I have to say that I think Gilliam is just about the only director these days who can do Pratchet correctly.

    Yes, yes, yes -- I can't picture anyone else doing this right. Nobody else has his twisted grasp of surrealism.

    On a side note: Does anyone really think "Good Omens" would've gotten to this stage if "Dogma" hadn't been successful? I don't. This is classic Hollywood follow-the-leader. (Not that I mind, in this case.)

  • Good Omens comment on software licenses, UCITA (Score:4)

    by dpilot ( 134227 ) on Wednesday January 12, 2000 @03:54AM (#1381100) Homepage Journal
    Since this is /. and we're all supposed to be concerned about software licenses, UCITA, and all of that, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned what Good Omens had to say about them:

    In essence... (this is from years-old memory)

    took the software license, and sent it down to the demons in Hell who were responsible for writing the contracts on lost souls. He scrawled one word across it, "LEARN!"

    Great book, I hope it can make it onto the screen even half as good, and with the wit intact.
  • It will be very hard to get even half of the jokes in the book into the movie. Unless, or course, they use a narrative thingy, a la the HHGTTG "movie" the BBC made. How do you say "There was a loud popping sound just like that of a vaccum closing around a dog's ear which had been suddenly turned inside out" without actually saying that? (Quote is very paraphrased, i haven't read the book in a while) Anyway, if they can pull is off, it'll be great. If it gets past pre-production :P
    "You should never have your best trousers on when you turn
  • IIRC, Neverwhere was a novelization of a series Gaiman wrote for the BBC. Does anyone know if there's any way to get the series on NTSC video?
  • Several months ago, I found a URL for a page that had a sort of map of the Discworld novels. The relationship between the various novels is complex, because there are several different "threads" dealing with different groups of characters, with crossovers between groups to make things really confusing. It showed which books happened before others, which ones stood alone, which ones followed different characters. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark the page, and con't for the life of me find it using search engines. Can anyone give me the URL?
  • FYI, Comming Attractions [corona.bc.ca] is a great sight for following facts and rumors about films in the works. [corona.bc.ca]
    Here's their page on Good Omens.

    TG *does* rule. Gotta check that book out.

    Nineteen tequilas later we had a deal...
    Havana goes back to the mob
    And Fidel and I open up a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken joints
    Ain't life sweet...

  • Actually, I think Gilliam tends for overstatement on the surface, with very subtle sub-points underneath, using Brazil as the example. I'm sure for lots of the geek crowd the various warnings about the nature of information and consciousness are obviously tied in with the over-the-top nature of the movie, but I think the greater proportion of the population never sees this.

    Brazil is such a deeply frightening movie for anyone who has worked with information technology. I think it should be required viewing/discussion for anyone studying computer science or information systems in school, or for anyone entering the corporate culture for the first time.

    So I think he has a chance to pull it off.

  • Pratchett is one of the funniest authors alive and "Good Omens" is one of my favorites. The only problem is that hes so freaked out that I believe its hard to bring it on the screen! But Terry Gilliam is a brilliant director, and in "Brasil" he showed was he can do, so he might get it right! Good news...this century seems to get exciting, finally!
  • The biggest problem will be that none of us North Americans will understand any of the Milton Keynes jokes. And that's just a shame.
  • This is sort of related but for Pratchett fans like myself, who don't already know Terry Pratchett will be at The Gateway SciFi Con [stlf.org] July 14-16

  • Brazil's a tough one to explain in a short space. At the core, it reminded me of 1984 (you might have heard of it before on Slashdot) -- but it's more about modern life and trying to be an individual in an increasingly bureaucratic, cold, and cruel world. It has lots of pipes and explosions and a flying woman and the standard cool Gilliam visual effects.

    Hmm, maybe you should start with Time Bandits. As I recall, the Terry Gilliam Symposium last summer had a hard time agreeing on a synopsis of Brazil.

    --

  • Small Gods is probably the best starting point that U.S. readers are likely to find, anyway. SG was the first novel published after the series's current U.S. publisher took over from Roc. Anything older seems to be out of print here, or only available as an import. Maybe the Good Omens movie will stir up enough interest in Pratchett to get the entire series back in print.

  • For those of you who don't know about these great resources, I thought I'd drop a few links for fanboys. Mostof these links have tons of info about X-men, Spidey, and a whole bunch of really hot stuff.

    www.aint-it-cool-news.com - good ol harry knowles and legions of geeks, rumormongers extraordinaire

    www.corona.bc.ca/films

    www.cinescape.com

    www.darkhorizons .com

    www.comingsoon.net - for all your movie trailer needs

  • Personally, I'd consider Equal Rites to be a better starting point than The Colour of Magic. (Subject to availability, of course; Small Gods may be the best starting point still in print in the U.S.) Colour reads like too many other authors who just wanted to parody the conventions of fantasy novels. IMHO, Rites is the first book where Pratchett decided to build his own, distinct, richly developed world.

  • Good summary, but one correction:

    Neverwhere was adapted from the small screen to the novel. When it came out in hardcover, a local bookstore had an "authorless book signing" and showed the three-hour miniseries before giving away bookplates with Gaiman's autograph.

    Just one more added to my collection. (Now to get "the Dream Hunters" from CowboyNeal).

    --

  • As a longtime fan of Terry Pratchett, I have to cheer this on. I don't know Neil Gaimon's solo work, but I have read, and THOROUGHLY enjoyed "Good Omens".

    Sadly, Pratchett isn't that well known in the US, and his Discworld series [lspace.org] doesn't receive half the acclaim it deserves. With any luck, 'Good Omens' will be a success and prompt other Pratchett novels to be put onto the bigscreen.

    There has been a LONG-running debate on alt.fan.pratchett about who would play what roles in his books, so it'll be interesting to see what the producers can come up with for a cast...

  • The first of the series is The Colour of Magic, starring Rincewind, Twoflower et al. It really is worth a read and a good place to start your collection, which I am sure you will after you read it :)

    CoM is quite different from the other Discworld books, though: he's not really settled into his style there. It's still funny, though. I think everything from Mort onwards is more typical.

    Recently he's got a bit darker: his recent books are more satirical and less laugh-out-loud funny than the books from the middle of his career. I also think he's starting to repeat himself a bit (compare Lords and Ladies and Carpe Jugulum, for example). Still well worth reading though.

  • Pratchett's style of humo(u)r (Score:3)

    by Industrial Disease ( 16177 ) on Wednesday January 12, 2000 @06:13AM (#1381118) Homepage
    Any? I thought there was only one, with associated footnote. I'll admit I didn't really get that one. Still, this points out why I like Pratchett's style of humor so much better than American comic-fantasy authors like Anthony or Asprin. Pratchett seems to be satisfied with throw-away jokes: If you get it, good; if not, maybe you'll get the next one. Sometimes I won't even notice some particularly British reference; sometimes I'll notice that there's something going on that I just don't get, but move on. Pratchett doesn't rub my nose in the jokes I don't get, and provides more than enough jokes than I do. Too many other authors (Piers Anthony is the worst) seem to feel a need to make sure you know exactly how clever they are. The last time (years ago) I read Piers, I wanted to sit him down and explain to him (possibly using a LART) that, "If you need to explain the joke, it wasn't funny." In the immortal words of Foghorn Leghorn, "The boy's about as subtle as a hand grenade in a barrel of oatmeal."
  • Personally, I'm not a big fan of Terry Pratchett either - I think his stuff is funny, but doesn't hang together to make a very good novel. It always ends up sounding a bit more like stand up comedy...

    However, in Good Omens, the combination of Pratchett's wanton silliness, and Gaiman's unbelievable style and storytelling combine to create an incredible book. Even if you don't much like Pratchett, I recommend you read this - I personally found it had more in common stylistically with Sandman than Discworld.
  • It's what George Orwell would have written if he'd been smoking dope at the time he wrote 1984.

    Even better yet...

    It's about oppressive totalian governments, chasing one's dreams, getting lost in the paperwork, and tubing. Lots and lots of tubing.
  • Just out of curiosity, why does everyone say this is Pratchett's book? Gaiman wrote it too! In fact, I even found Gaiman's style to be the dominant one here. Though perhaps that's simply because he's the author that i prefer, of the two.

    In any case, few will disagree that the two VERY different styles of writing - the silly Pratchett and the dark Gaiman - mesh incredibly well. It actually managed to be a scary comedy.

    Just wanted to clarify that this ISN'T just another Discworld novel, but much more.
  • >Small Gods is probably the best starting point that U.S. readers are likely to find, anyway. SG was
    >the first novel published after the series's current U.S. publisher took over from Roc. Anything older
    >seems to be out of print here, or only available as an import. Maybe the Good Omens movie will stir up
    >enough interest in Pratchett to get the entire series back in print.

    Actually, it looks like Colour of Magic is already being reprinted here; on Amazon, there is a version due out in March 2000. Maybe more will follow...

  • Gaiman on Hollywood (Score:3)

    by kallisti ( 20737 ) <rmidthun@yahoo.com> on Wednesday January 12, 2000 @07:54AM (#1381126) Homepage
    Several years ago I went to see Neil speak at a comic convention in Chicago. Someone asked if/when Sandman was going to be filmed.

    Neil then gave a really entertaining discussion of exactly why everyone in Hollywood was a "madman". He and Terry spent a long time working on a script for Good Omens, condensing it to movie length, and sent it to them. After a few weeks with no response, he called up and asked what was going on. They said "Well, it's a lot like the book."

    Of course it was, Neil didn't understand how that could be a problem. The authors then thought of other variations on the basic theme and came up with a derivative work, built around the same characters and situations, but giving a new slant on things. They were quite proud of the second script and sent it in. After another quiet period, they pushed for a response. And it was:
    "Well, it doesn't have much to do with the book."

    At this point, Neil gave up on Hollywood.

    Of course, he also said the next Miracleman was going to be soon as well...

  • This one [netcomuk.co.uk] perhaps? Linked to from lspace.org [lspace.org].
  • Those of us who live in the USA who grew up watching British shows on PBS will most certainly get the humour.

    Those who don't, will laugh anyway out of a fear of others thinking that they aren't cultured enough to get the joke.

    While there are a lot of colloquialisms in much of Pratchett's work, I've enjoyed every single Discworld novel I've read.

    I only fear that what was done to Red Dwarf and Doctor Who by Hollywood will happen to Good Omens. That would be more of a shame that some people not getting a few jokes.
  • Can you imagine the problems of trying to do a 'live' Discworld film. Trying to get people who have never read one of the books to understand the concept of a planet on the back of four elephants on the back of a giant turtle...

    It sounds like it would make an excellent title sequence -- problem solved. Begin in the eye of the turtle pan out to the head and then up to the shell and the foot of one of the elephants. Pan across the four elephants and up to the disk with the water running off the edge and some stars passing in the background. Zoom down into the disk. There's a lot of CGI there, but it's a concept that can be explained visually and that is where movies excel.

    Movies are a different medium than books, so you can't expect a movie to be much like a book unless the book relies on some of the things that movies do well. There are several good visual aspects to Good Omens that would translate well into film -- the "four horsemen", the action. The characters are fairly straightforward to develop. It has a lot of potential. Gillian did 12 Monkeys, so he's capable of doing some very subtle work. I'd say the chances for the movie not being an embarassment are pretty good.

  • Here's the quote in question:

    Along with the standard computer warranty agreement which said that if the machine 1) didn't work, 2) didn't do what the expensive advertisement said, 3) electrocuted the immediate neighbourhood, 4) and in fact failed entirely to be inside the expensive box when you opened it, this was expressly, absolutely, implicitly and in no event the fault or responsibility of the manufacturer, that the purchaser should consider himself lucky to be allowed to give his money to the manufacturer, and that any attempt to treat what had just been paid for as the purchaser's own property would result in the attentions of serious men with menacing briefcases and very thin watches.

    -- (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens)

    Crowley had been extremely impressed with the warranties offered by the computer industry, and had in fact sent a bundle Below to the department that drew up the Immortal Soul agreements, with a yellow memo form attached just saying: "Learn, guys."

    -- Crowley is a demon, in case you don't know (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens)

  • I completly agree. Gilliam's works can have increadbly good and subtle underpinnings. Brazil is an excellent movie, and I did not mean to imply otherwise. Nevertheless, on the surface it is very overstated. Good Omens on the otherhand is understated on the surface, and still has subtleties below. Like the small town the Anti-christ growns up in. See a picture, it looks normal, hear Pratchett and Gaiman describe it, its hilarious. Understatement to the extreme.

    --Nick

  • Damnit, I just realized I lent out my copy of Good Omens and never got it back. Now I want to read it again (for about the 5th time).


    You only have one copy? For shame.

    _Good Omens_ is quite good enough to make sure you have multiple copies. At least one or two should be paperbacks -- for loaning.

    Hm. Pratchett and Gaimen are both the kind of authors that make me feel like a pusher. I loan friends and acquaintences a copy, and sometimes I get them hooked.

    "Here, the first one's free."

  • I thought of Nicholas Lyndhurst for Newton without thinking of David Jason for the other one.

    On the other hand Nicholas Lyndhurst is getting on a bit these days, as he was in Butterflies maybe. Maybe they can digitally process him to make him younger.
  • Terry Gilliam and Neil Gaiman are undoubtedly two of the most talented creative forces in the world today. Both have come through with works that beg the viewer/reader to probe deeper, and ask questions beyond the immediate material presented. What scares the crap out of me is that by adapting a phenomenal book like "Good Omens" to the big screen, Hollywood is not pandering to the lowest common denomenator. Now that is unique! Even if the movie retains only a small fraction of the book's subtle wit, it will tower over most other movies in terms of its appeal to geeks everywhere.

    --frood
  • Did anyone notice that Terry Pratchett's name is not listed on us.imdb.com under writing credits?

    I read this book about a week before I saw End of Days.. while watching the movie I was waiting for two angels to appear. =)

    If anybody is looking for it, a very informative site about Terry Pratchett's work is:
    http://www.us.lspace.org
  • I like Pratchett and my beard isn't small or silly. Furthermore, I have never smoked a fruit roll up and I resent the implication that I have. They are far too difficult to ignite.

    Seriously though, opinions vary. I liked the Hitchhikers books. I thought the Dirk Gently books were fantastic, and I thought the radio series was ok.
  • Not sure where I read this, but PTerry did an interview in which he said he'd never, Never, NEVER again work with Neil Gaiman.

    Not that he dislikes Neil, or disrespects him - just that their working styles and personalities were so utterly irreconsilable.



  • The only Gillam film that is not really up to par is his first ("Jabberwocky"). All the rest of them are truly visionary.

    (Although the Fisher King was a bit wobbly, there are some still some amazing sequences in it..)
  • The Science Fiction Book Club is reprinting them in sets. You can find them at http://www.sfbc.com
  • oh. my. god. someone else who has seen Baron Munchausen. i was convinced i was the only person who had ever heard of the film. it has to be one of my all-time favorites. i think i've memorized most of the script.

    anyway. sorry about the slightly OT rant there, i was just so shocked to read that.

    as so many other people have said, Good Omens was a hilarious book. also one of the best books i've ever read. i was actually surprised i liked it so much since i much prefer Gaiman to Pratchett. maybe because of Gaiman's influence; i don't know. and i love every single Gilliam film i've ever seen. i can't wait to see how the movie turns out. i'm just afraid there will be a huge amount of pressure to dumb down the book or make it a Dogma ripoff.

    interesting postscript: my religiously conservative parents loved Good Omens and went to see Dogma because they thought it was based on the book. they were not impressed. which is odd, because my mother had seen Clerks, and so knew what a Kevin Smith film was like (i.e. quite a different brand of humor from Good Omens).

  • boo (Score:1)

    by serialk ( 22614 )

    almost everything starts as a rumor !??!?
  • The Colour of magic and The Light Fantastic are both genre parodies and require a fair knowledge of SF&F to be truely appreciated. Small Gods or Guards, Guards are a better bet...
  • That's not what I heard...

  • Wench wrote:

    Not sure where I read this, but PTerry did an interview in which he said he'd never, Never, NEVER again work with Neil Gaiman.

    Not that he dislikes Neil, or disrespects him - just that their working styles and personalities were so utterly irreconsilable.

    I remember turning up to a Discworld book signing, several years ago, and asking Terry Pratchett if there'd ever be another collaboration with Neil Gaiman and/or a Goods Omens sequel of some sort.

    His reply was "When hell freezes over"

    At the time, I wasn't sure if this was a statement or a story synopsis... :)

  • It sounds like it would make an excellent title sequence -- problem solved. Begin in the eye of the turtle...

    In fact this has been done. Some of the DW books (Wyrd Systers & Soul Music, IIRC) have been done as animations and shown on UK TV. The opening titles are much as you suggest, although I think that they may have followed the intro to one of the early books (Equal Rites?) which contained just such a script. And yes, they used CGI.

    Paul.

  • Actually, Pratchett wrote the vast majority of the book. Even Gaiman admits it - he was contracted to write more Sandman and couldn't spare the time to write. It's a good book, but IMHO, I don't think it's as funny as most of Pratchett's stuff or as interesting as most of Gaiman's.
  • Yes, but aren't most of us boycotting [noamazon.com] Amazon?

  • I'm very qualified to answer this question as I have not only gotten numerous people addicted to Discworld, but they have gone on to addict further people. ;)

    There's two books I tend to recommend to people first. One is "Eric" and the other is "Soul Music" - depends on if you prefer slapstick type of comedy (Eric is more like that than the rest of the books) or puns (Soul Music is the punniest of them all).

    It doesn't matter which one you start with - you will have to get them all very rapidly once you start. I read one and ordered all the rest of the series the next day. I lent a friend 2 and he came back 3 days later and said lending him only 2 was cruel, Pratchett is like chips, and 2 is just not enough.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Nope. Terry is so conscious about executives meddling with his books that the offer to film 'Mort' was resolutely dropped when the brightest mind said 'Hey, that Death character is a bit gloomy, shall we drop it?' OTOH, 'Wyrd Sisters' and 'Soul Music' have been animated and shown on the BBC. They're very nice.

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