I saw an interview with J.k. Rowling the other day and came away more impressed with her than I already was. She stated that during initial talks to make movies from her books she insisted on keeping keeping most/all creative control. She said she would rather that they not be made into movies at all if they weren't going to stay true to her books and be patient enough for her to finish the Harry Potter series on her terms.
As a movie fan and someone that absolutely loved the Harry Potter books, I can barely grasp the enormity of that statement. She would rather they never become movies if her vision of the Harry Potter series isn't the one on screen. Are you listening Stephen King?
Hello, Stephen King, did you hear that? Did you hear what an author with great vision, great passion and conviction says when a movie studio tries to translate her work to the screen? Do it right or don't do it.
Imagine the risks taken on both sides here. What if the movie studio agreed to surrender to Rowling's demand for creative and content control and the woman then went totally off the rails? What if you're 4 movies into a 7 part cash cow and Rowling's decides to give Harry and Hermione a sex scene. Or she has Harry wake up and it's all been a normal boy dreaming. I know, a horrible thought, but what if? What's a studio do then?
What if Rowling got hit by a bus and there was no book 6 or 7.
And for Rowlings part, think of how hard it must be to author 7 wonderful books and then oversee a movie studio trying to create what's in your head? And to risk millions upon millions by saying "If it takes me 3 years to finish book 7, then that's what it takes. You don't get to find some writer to hurry up a movie for you because the market demands it. You make them on my terms or don't make them."
Awesome. Amazing. And the result is equally awesome. The movies, no matter who you talk to, look and feel exactly like what you were seeing in your minds eye as you read the books. They're equal measures wonderment, happiness, youthful nostalgia and dread.
What an incredible author, what incredible movies and what a fine example to every other author to learn from. Cherish your work, love it, control it. If you're going to make a movie, make it live and breath in your world. Don't let some Hollywood hack tear apart your creation.
Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling are shining examples of what's right in the literary and cinema worlds. Proof that a synergy can be formed with great fiction and great film. I am confident the final 2 movies will be extraordinary and am equally confident that HArry Potter will live as a beloved fairy tale for 100 years.
Congratulations to Rowling and everyone involved in those films. To all those authors who will sell out and allow their creations to be destroyed in the coming years, shame on you. You've seen it done right, seen it work, and now there's no excuse.
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