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Beowulf
- Thread starter Sinclair
- Start date
hypatia
Regular
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
There was a 1999 version with Christopher (Highlander, Greystoke) Lambert. Yeah, I know, I never heard of it either.
I'm sure the new film won't be a remake of the earlier one, but rather a new adaptation of the same source material. Hollywood and even more the entertainment press often lose the distinction between remakes of earlier films and new adaptations of literary works. The non-profesisonal fan and less-professional internet press tends to be even sloppier.
In part this is because of the legal technicalities tha encumber adaptations of contemporary works, and which peopole forget do not apply to works in the public domain. When Fox bought the theatrical film rights to Peter Boulle's novel The Planet of the Apes they also bought the rights to any remakes, sequels, etc. for theatrical exhibition. (TV rights, comic book rights, etc. would have to be individually negotiated for, and it is sometimes the case that one company will get the theatrical rights and another the TV rights. Also depending on the contract the author may have all rights to any literary sequels, and thus be free to sell the movie rights to a book sequel to another studio entirely.
)
Anyway, Fox would continue to hold those rights for some period before they reverted to Boulle or his estate. So if I wanted to do a faithful adaptation of the original novel, with 20th centruy apes driving cars and working in office buildings, I would still have to buy the rights from Fox and I would have to credit the new film as "based on the novel by Peter Boulle and on the 20th Century Fox motion picture screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling" or some similar formula - even though I was totally rejecting the Wilson/Serling changes to the story and going back to Boulle. And the film would technically be considered a "remake" of the Fox film.
Now Beowulf, like Pride and Prejudice or Great Expectations, is in the public domain. So you might have 50 versions of each of them without any of them either legally or in any other way being a "remake" of any of the earlier films. Even something like The Lord of the Rings isn't considered a remake, strictly speaking, even though there have been earlier adapations in of some material from The Fellowship of the Ring and the first half of The Two Towers (in the Ralph Bakshi film) and of The Return of the King (in an animated TV special.) That's because the rights New Line needed were still controlled by the Tolkein estate. Either Bakshi had only obtained the animated film rights to the trilogy during Tolkein's lifetime, or his rights were contingent on his eventually finishing his proposed two-part film and reverted when he failed to do so. (Bakshi ran out of money and released what was really an incomplete version of roughly the first half of the story, hoping to use the money it earned to finance the second half. But the film bombed and the sequel was never made.) Similarly the producers of The Return of the King may only have had the animated rights, the TV rights, or a combination of the film. So in the live action version you won't see any credits for Ralph Bakshi or the folks involved in the TV version.
Regards,
Joe
I'm sure the new film won't be a remake of the earlier one, but rather a new adaptation of the same source material. Hollywood and even more the entertainment press often lose the distinction between remakes of earlier films and new adaptations of literary works. The non-profesisonal fan and less-professional internet press tends to be even sloppier.
In part this is because of the legal technicalities tha encumber adaptations of contemporary works, and which peopole forget do not apply to works in the public domain. When Fox bought the theatrical film rights to Peter Boulle's novel The Planet of the Apes they also bought the rights to any remakes, sequels, etc. for theatrical exhibition. (TV rights, comic book rights, etc. would have to be individually negotiated for, and it is sometimes the case that one company will get the theatrical rights and another the TV rights. Also depending on the contract the author may have all rights to any literary sequels, and thus be free to sell the movie rights to a book sequel to another studio entirely.
) Anyway, Fox would continue to hold those rights for some period before they reverted to Boulle or his estate. So if I wanted to do a faithful adaptation of the original novel, with 20th centruy apes driving cars and working in office buildings, I would still have to buy the rights from Fox and I would have to credit the new film as "based on the novel by Peter Boulle and on the 20th Century Fox motion picture screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling" or some similar formula - even though I was totally rejecting the Wilson/Serling changes to the story and going back to Boulle. And the film would technically be considered a "remake" of the Fox film.
Now Beowulf, like Pride and Prejudice or Great Expectations, is in the public domain. So you might have 50 versions of each of them without any of them either legally or in any other way being a "remake" of any of the earlier films. Even something like The Lord of the Rings isn't considered a remake, strictly speaking, even though there have been earlier adapations in of some material from The Fellowship of the Ring and the first half of The Two Towers (in the Ralph Bakshi film) and of The Return of the King (in an animated TV special.) That's because the rights New Line needed were still controlled by the Tolkein estate. Either Bakshi had only obtained the animated film rights to the trilogy during Tolkein's lifetime, or his rights were contingent on his eventually finishing his proposed two-part film and reverted when he failed to do so. (Bakshi ran out of money and released what was really an incomplete version of roughly the first half of the story, hoping to use the money it earned to finance the second half. But the film bombed and the sequel was never made.) Similarly the producers of The Return of the King may only have had the animated rights, the TV rights, or a combination of the film. So in the live action version you won't see any credits for Ralph Bakshi or the folks involved in the TV version.
Regards,
Joe
A_M_Swallow
Regular
Beowulf was written in Anglo-Saxon rather than English. So the story will not be under copyright but the translation probably is.I'm sure the new film won't be a remake of the earlier one, but rather a new adaptation of the same source material. Hollywood and even more the entertainment press often lose the distinction between remakes of earlier films and new adaptations of literary works. The non-profesisonal fan and less-professional internet press tends to be even sloppier.
In part this is because of the legal technicalities tha encumber adaptations of contemporary works, and which peopole forget do not apply to works in the public domain. When Fox bought the theatrical film rights to Peter Boulle's novel The Planet of the Apes they also bought the rights to any remakes, sequels, etc. for theatrical exhibition. (TV rights, comic book rights, etc. would have to be individually negotiated for, and it is sometimes the case that one company will get the theatrical rights and another the TV rights. Also depending on the contract the author may have all rights to any literary sequels, and thus be free to sell the movie rights to a book sequel to another studio entirely.
KoshFan
Regular
Well, it's not technically a direct adaptation, but the Antonio Banderas/Michael Chrichton film The 13th Warrior was based off of Chrichton's "Eaters of the Dead," which was in turn based off of Beowulf.
Thing is, I read Beowulf for the glorious language, which is really gonna suffer on the big screen....
Thing is, I read Beowulf for the glorious language, which is really gonna suffer on the big screen....
Joseph DeMartino
Moderator
Beowulf in the original would not be under copyright because it is old, not because of the language it was written in.
And since the film will be based on the story, not the exact diction of any particular translation, there is no way anyone could make a claim against them for copyright violation. They would have to quote word-for-word from something like Seamus Heaney's (superb) verse translation in order to fall afoul of copyright. Just to cover their butts, however, they will probably credit the screenplay as being based on one of the many, many Beowulf translations that is old enough to have already fallen into the public domain. (More than 60 English translations have been published since the early 19th century, in addition to the thousands of translations done as exercises by graduate students in Old English)
Regards,
Joe
iamsheridan
Member
I have actually seen the thing, and I can't recommend it if you want to see something that has anything to do with myth. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the old Beowulf, except for the name.
And I can't recommend it for any other reason either. Unless you are a big fan of Christopher Lambert or Rhona Mitra, of course...
/IamS
GKarsEye
Regular
Is anyone really a big fan of Christopher Lambert? I mean, Fortress is fun to watch, but...
Here's my obligatory Christopher Lambert comment: in Highlander, he's a French actor playing Scot. Sean Connery is a Scot playing a Spaniard (or something like that). Best casting ever!
Back when I first heard about Mel Gibson making a Jesus movie in Aramaic, I was hoping it would start a trend in making movies in the language of the story, especially ancient languages. Then everyone would be bored except the linguist graduate students. This would amuse me.
Myths come off stupid on the silver screen. The Clash of the Titans should have made Hollywood say, "Ok, we're not going to try that anymore." Especially since the best movie about a mythic ever is Hercules in New York.
Here's my obligatory Christopher Lambert comment: in Highlander, he's a French actor playing Scot. Sean Connery is a Scot playing a Spaniard (or something like that). Best casting ever!
Back when I first heard about Mel Gibson making a Jesus movie in Aramaic, I was hoping it would start a trend in making movies in the language of the story, especially ancient languages. Then everyone would be bored except the linguist graduate students. This would amuse me.
Myths come off stupid on the silver screen. The Clash of the Titans should have made Hollywood say, "Ok, we're not going to try that anymore." Especially since the best movie about a mythic ever is Hercules in New York.
Jade Jaguar
Regular
Well, I'll admit to being a Christopher Lambert fan. I'll also admit that he has been in lots of awful films. Despite your well-taken point about Highlander, I think the original is a good film. He was also very good in Greystoke, and Subway. Besides that, he has done a mediocre acting job in lots of less than mediocre films.
GKE, you've got to be kidding us about Hercules in New York!
GKE, you've got to be kidding us about Hercules in New York!
2aMageing
Regular
Whoh....ripping on BOTH Highlander AND Clash of the Titans together in one post......ah, you're in trouble now GKE.......
But seriously, the first Highlander WAS quite good, as was mentioned and I would totally agree that, while not an "acting force", Lambert does quite nicly in a variety of roles and he just seems to have a tendancy to end up in the worst scripts imaginable........when Highlander and Mortal Kombat are your high points.......ah well, anyway he's pretty good at playing the subtle style of a role. Too much over acting these days.......
And NO ONE rips Clash of the Titans (unless it's me) as it was an inspired piece of art based on classic history filled with deep concepts such as cutting off heads to use in destroying massive monsters and cute blondes that always end up with the soon to be LA Law actors........it's just a classic...........um, yeah, ....classic.
....oh and the mechanical Owl, let us not forget the first Jar Jar Binks ever created...........well it was a little more endering than Jar Jar I would have to say, but it got there first.
I now must see about getting a hold of a copy of that first movie of Beowulf, although I doubt there will ever be movie made that is true to the story and manages to carry over the unique poetry of the original.
But seriously, the first Highlander WAS quite good, as was mentioned and I would totally agree that, while not an "acting force", Lambert does quite nicly in a variety of roles and he just seems to have a tendancy to end up in the worst scripts imaginable........when Highlander and Mortal Kombat are your high points.......ah well, anyway he's pretty good at playing the subtle style of a role. Too much over acting these days.......
And NO ONE rips Clash of the Titans (unless it's me) as it was an inspired piece of art based on classic history filled with deep concepts such as cutting off heads to use in destroying massive monsters and cute blondes that always end up with the soon to be LA Law actors........it's just a classic...........um, yeah, ....classic.
....oh and the mechanical Owl, let us not forget the first Jar Jar Binks ever created...........well it was a little more endering than Jar Jar I would have to say, but it got there first.
I now must see about getting a hold of a copy of that first movie of Beowulf, although I doubt there will ever be movie made that is true to the story and manages to carry over the unique poetry of the original.
KoshFan
Regular
My first thought on seeing that thing was, "They were really reaching for the R2D2 character, weren't they?"
But my finest moment in regards to that movie came when the heroine was stepping out of the bath (full rear nudity) and the other kids in my class -- yes, we were watching this in freshman English class -- started snickering. Our teacher said something to the effect of, "Now, now, class, there's nothing wrong with the human body!"
To which my immediate response was, "Not that one, anyway...."
The class just roared.
2aMageing
Regular
Well considering some of the acting done in it.......I guess one might need reminding that it really was a movie......
but I defend Linden Ashby's portrayal of Johnny Cage to the bitter end..........well, cept for the line he delivers "I can't let it happen to you.........not to you....", .........ohhhhhhh, the William Shatner school of melodrama.........we disavow all knowledge of that part of the script and it's humorously bad delivery............
Now how cool is it when you can watch a great film like Clash in school.......I am jealous.....of the movie in a class or the clever line after seeing all there was to see......I'm not sure which......
Nothing like an adventerous teacher to keep a class lively......all we got in our high school english class was a partial viewing of Dances With Wolves......the whole Christ on the cross image as he rides across the battlefield.......cool for a class time, but not as cool as the naked female form.
Alluveal
Regular
Here are some pics on Gerard Butler's website: http://www.gerard-butler.net/4images/categories.php?cat_id=184
