Regarding 9/11, jaydee...

I hope they would leave it in... I know it takes up only a couple pages directly in the novel, but it's such an important aspect of Cayce's development and detachment. It seems so integral to Gibson's characterization of her, and he handled it so well and subtly I'd hate to see the opportunity passed up in the film.

What do you think?

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originally posted by jaydee:
Seems to me they are taking it in another direction. One that is more, dare I say, Character based?

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I think you're right. I'd expect a guy like Weir to be more interested in the story and characters than style.
Another thing worth noting about Weir is that he's an A-list director so if he'll make it, it will probably be a pretty big production, well known names in starring roles etc.

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Question? How will they handle the 9/11 connection. Dare they leave it in?

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I hope they'd treat it the way Spike Lee did in "The 25th Hour", it's in the background, affecting the characters, but not central to the story and without images of planes flying into buildings.

I can see Peter Weir doing a good adaptation of Pattern Recognition. I actually really liked The Truman Show. With a good script (preferably adapted by Gibson, himself), this could end up making a really great movie.

TrickofPerspective, I hope they leave it in too , handled well it could be quite moving, It could provide some healing.

One thing I expect to go is Cayce's brand alergy. Seriously. Dare Hollywood go anti corporate, anty commercialism, anti branding. It would be suicide.

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One thing I expect to go is Cayce's brand alergy. Seriously. Dare Hollywood go anti corporate, anty commercialism, anti branding. It would be suicide.

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Compromises have to made when adapting a novel to film, but in this instance jaydee I think if they removed the fundamental element of Cayce's personality which essentially drives her to pursue the footage (in order for it to be developed into a branded commodity by the firm she works for), would be to not only undermine the central protagonist, but the story as well.

If Hollywood interference dictates the course of Pattern Recognition i.e. to make it more palatable for a mainstream audience, then we'll be left with another Johnny Mnemonic on our hands.

If PR was on the NY Times bestseller list, it is already mainstream.

Besides... they have to leave in the brand allergy: think of all the product placement cash they would lose! =)

Remember rufust the first priority is how many tickets can be sold at the box office. If that means casting the right actor or making concessions to the original story, then you can rest assured integrity will take a back seat on almost every occasion.

Even on the back of successful films like Lost in Translation and 'Spotless Mind, I personally don't believe a film adaptation of Pattern Recognition will have much of an impact outside the arthouse circut.

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Dare Hollywood go anti corporate, anty commercialism, anti branding. It would be suicide.

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really?
two words. Fight Club.

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Originally posted by charmakarmacat:

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Dare Hollywood go anti corporate, anty commercialism, anti branding. It would be suicide.

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really?
two words. _Fight Club_.

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True, but no guarantees, and it wasn't a monster hit-- more like a cult following.

Personally, though, I'll hold out hope that Weir holds on to the project or passes it on to Wong Kar-Wai, whose video for DJ Shadow's "6 Days" is incredible (oh, and he's a good, proven filmmaker. I've said I want him to direct a PR movie before, in this thread.

Gomi boy, I agree that removing Cayce's alergies woud cut the heart from the story, it it's Hollywood man, onece they've bought your book the can do anything they like with it.

And charmakarmacat, Fight Club? Loved it but the film did not do especially well and I'd argue it put a major dent in Fincher's career (check out his output post FC).

I'm betting that Anonymous Content execs are walking around with "It's not Fight Club" tatooed on their foreheads.

By the way, see the end of Fight Club then reread teh end of teh book. See any difference. Lookes to me that Fincher Totally reversed the intention of the novel in that climax. Even the Dangerous Directors cannot avoid slipping a little tinsel into the lit.

jaydee

I wouldn't say its an absolute barrier to a movie being made, but you've got to admit, this is the worst book to movie suggestion for product placement in history. And don't underestimate how much of Hollywood gets paid for by those little corporate cameos.

Well, product placement for cool things still goes. If Apple is not paying, you an replace them all with Dells. Or HPs...

Bigend's cool car, plenty of cool mobile phones, Starbuck's... She is a coolhunter, so whatever she uses is cool. And depending on what Hilfiger's pays, we can have Cayce talking to herself about them and the pain...

Plenty of possibilities. Just remember you are looking more at Slashdot than Friends.

José

anyone actually seen FEARLESS?

If you haven't, you might enjoy it. Based on hiw work on that film [though some others in the list are great too], I think Weir is a decent choice. Not only is there a very spectacularly realised plane crash in that film, there is also a central character dislocated from the people around him and expressing that dislocation in some interesting ways.

He has excellent cinematography, can handle action, is good on subtleties of emotion; we could do a lot worse in the director stakes.

I'd love to see Wong Kar-Wai film it, but I'd watch him filming a laundry list.

I have seen Fearless, and I really liked it. A curious fact about that film is that most people I talked about that film took sides, either understanding Jeff Bridges' character internal turmoil, or siding with Rosellini's inability to relate to his change.

Could we get a female equivalent to Jeff Bridges? Yes, but I doubt she could be cast as a thirty-oh attractive (because in the film she will be attractive) coolhunter.

José

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Gomi boy, I agree that removing Cayce's alergies woud cut the heart from the story, it it's Hollywood man, onece they've bought your book the can do anything they like with it.

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That's the main concern isn't it jaydee. The story could be butchered beyond all recognition. It's not worth contemplating.

Besides if, by some small miracle the screenplay remains intact, I don't think PR has the right director behind to do it justice at all.

As the rest of you have mentioned, Wong Kar-Wai is the ideal choice. But this, unfortunately, is not an ideal world. Wong Kar-Wai is one of the few directors who exudes bags of style without sacrificing substance.

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Wong Kar-Wai, whose video for DJ Shadow's "6 Days" is incredible

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Apophenic tidbit: DJ Shadow's new DVD is called... "Product Placement".

About that, I'm sure most companies mentioned in the book would pay gladly for the plugs. It's just that her is too sensitive, nothing wrong with a little label on the outside, instead of the inside... that's what the companies' marketroids would say.
And who here wouldn't love to see a 'Bibendum' nightmare/hallucination scene?

Gomi boy

I have not seen any Wong Kar-Wai, but I have a freind very hot on Chungking Express.

Does it occure to anyone that of all the books by Mr. Gibson this one is the last to call for a movie adaptation?


Hey, how about this, say the filmmakers say "We got a William Gibson book here, where's all the sci fi?" and they force feed all of the cyberpunk tropes ino the book that Mr Gibson delibertelly walked away from. Now that would be brutally ironic.

jaydee

Chungking Express is a good place to start. You would be denying yourself if you continue to ignore Kar-Wai's work.

Yeah, Gomi boy, Might try that. But I got other fish to fry.

Anyway. Let's assume that Golin has not bought PR just to screww it it. There must have been some element in it that caught his eye, just what was it that made him feel it would make a movie.

Now, personally I think books don't make great movies, usually they have to be carefully diddled to make them screenworthy.

Somethimes the best thing you can do is extract the most iconic, most salient elements and work tehm into a movie structure that works.

Question is; What are the most cinematic elements of PR?

jaydee