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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 1, 2017 11:10:22 GMT
Digital Spy say an older family audience. Hopefully that means the darker bits stay. Those bits are iconic and what separate the series from stereotypical 'spy kids' stuff. I think they will. I could imagine it airing at 8pm perhaps.
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Post by omega on Jun 1, 2017 11:10:37 GMT
At least for me that's how the series stood out. It wasn't action, adventure and excitement, with a happy ending and everything being peachy for Alex, he had to deal with being away from school for conspicuous periods of time and the trauma from the various missions. It's worth noting that while Alex had been trained, albeit without knowing what it was for, he never had any ambitions to become a spy and had to be blackmailed (Blunt threatening to deport Alex's legal guardian) or circumstances forced it (a target of the Triads, being in Australia for reasons of context), and the only times he struck out on his own were for personal reasons (Sabina's father being attacked on the order of a world famous media personality, seeking the truth about his parents) Another thing that is memorable is that even though the books were published over a period of ten years or so, the internal timeframe was that it was a year at most from Stormbreaker to Scorpia Rising. Noticable with how Anthony Horowitz incorporated pop culture, like the GameBoy gadget in the first book (upgraded to a DS in the movie) or how one of the gadgets in the second book is stated to be a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with a tranq dart in the spine to the second to last book referencing the Assassin's Creed videogame. Contemporary pop culture and topical references age poorly, especially in an internal chronology like this. I can see them changing it so each book is a year in Alex Rider's life. I can't see it taking place over an entire year working when the lead actor will visibly age between series. There will almost certainly be more contemporary references. A Switch instead of a Gameboy. Nine books to adapt over nine seasons, it could be done if they can or choose to get that far and get the shooting schedules right. It'll be grueling on the actor who plays Alex though, considering all the stunts he does and the scrapes he gets himself into. The actor will also need to be trained in martial arts and stage fighting. It'll be interesting to see how some of the stories are adapted to fit better over ten years after they were originally written.
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Post by jasonward on Jun 1, 2017 11:13:14 GMT
I hope they maintain the darker aspects of the series, but I imagine that depends on what audience they're going for. Guess it's time to re-read them. The film adaptation of The Golden Compass failed because it strayed too far from the original material in terms of tone. The series isn't kind about the church, so avoiding religious complaints is neutering it. Then there's the second book where one of the protagonists spends at least a third of the book with two fingers cut off and it being a severe hindrance due to the bleeding until the end of the book. Can't see any way to make that family friendly without excising the continuous bleeding entirely (which is part of the cost of earning the Subtle Knife). If you're going to adapt something and change it tonally, you need the intended fanbase to be on board. Josh Trank turned Fantastic Four into a dark and gritty film, and it's held up as one of the world superhero films out there. I'm not sure that its that you need the fan base on board with a tonal change, it's 1) that tone is the water a story swims in, tone is what gives meaning to the words and actions 2) when books are adapted for film or TV, changing the tone to make it more mainstream/acceptable etc they remove much of the reason the original story is loved by its fans. That's not say it can't be done well and be a great success, but it has to stand on its own two feet, you can't sell it as the film of the book, it has to be a film inspired by the book.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 1, 2017 11:14:42 GMT
I can see them changing it so each book is a year in Alex Rider's life. I can't see it taking place over an entire year working when the lead actor will visibly age between series. There will almost certainly be more contemporary references. A Switch instead of a Gameboy. Nine books to adapt over nine seasons, it could be done if they can or choose to get that far and get the shooting schedules right. It'll be grueling on the actor who plays Alex though, considering all the stunts he does and the scrapes he gets himself into. The actor will also need to be trained in martial arts and stage fighting. It'll be interesting to see how some of the stories are adapted to fit better over ten years after they were originally written. You'd have to shoot each episode within the same year, or within two years at the most. With nine series that really isn't possible. If they keep it so each mission takes place within the same year it will be too unbelievable by the time you get to Never Say Die and the lead looks about 21.
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Post by omega on Jun 1, 2017 11:16:32 GMT
The film adaptation of The Golden Compass failed because it strayed too far from the original material in terms of tone. The series isn't kind about the church, so avoiding religious complaints is neutering it. Then there's the second book where one of the protagonists spends at least a third of the book with two fingers cut off and it being a severe hindrance due to the bleeding until the end of the book. Can't see any way to make that family friendly without excising the continuous bleeding entirely (which is part of the cost of earning the Subtle Knife). If you're going to adapt something and change it tonally, you need the intended fanbase to be on board. Josh Trank turned Fantastic Four into a dark and gritty film, and it's held up as one of the world superhero films out there. I'm not sure that its that you need the fan base on board with a tonal change, it's 1) that tone is the water a story swims in, tone is what gives meaning to the words and actions 2) when books are adapted for film or TV, changing the tone to make it more mainstream/acceptable etc they remove much of the reason the original story is loved by its fans. That's not say it can't be done well and be a great success, but it has to stand on its own two feet, you can't sell it as the film of the book, it has to be a film inspired by the book. The fanbase does need to be on board to some degree. People love The Dark Knight, but criticise Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman even though all through have that tone of gritty realism. Retaining the appeal of the original material even if you change the presentation is key though.
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Post by omega on Jun 1, 2017 11:20:24 GMT
Nine books to adapt over nine seasons, it could be done if they can or choose to get that far and get the shooting schedules right. It'll be grueling on the actor who plays Alex though, considering all the stunts he does and the scrapes he gets himself into. The actor will also need to be trained in martial arts and stage fighting. It'll be interesting to see how some of the stories are adapted to fit better over ten years after they were originally written. You'd have to shoot each episode within the same year, or within two years at the most. With nine series that really isn't possible. If they keep it so each mission takes place within the same year it will be too unbelievable by the time you get to Never Say Die and the lead looks about 21. The lead would probably be 21 by the second or third season. Lots of shows with teenage characters cast actors in the early 20's to play them. It's more practical than hiring a teen actor anyway. You can see the point where Yasmin Paige and Tommy Knight had to leave Sarah Jane Adventures because they wanted to focus on school work. Luke is absent in the SJA story The Eternity Trap because Knight was taking his GCSEs. If ITV cast someone who doesn't have coursework to worry about, that's more time for filming.
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Post by sherlock on Jun 1, 2017 11:22:37 GMT
Nine books to adapt over nine seasons, it could be done if they can or choose to get that far and get the shooting schedules right. It'll be grueling on the actor who plays Alex though, considering all the stunts he does and the scrapes he gets himself into. The actor will also need to be trained in martial arts and stage fighting. It'll be interesting to see how some of the stories are adapted to fit better over ten years after they were originally written. You'd have to shoot each episode within the same year, or within two years at the most. With nine series that really isn't possible. If they keep it so each mission takes place within the same year it will be too unbelievable by the time you get to Never Say Die and the lead looks about 21. They'd probably cast someone in their early 20s anyway rather than an actual teenager. Fronting a TV show would be a huge burden to put on a relatively inexperienced actor, plus the other educational commitments they'd inevitably have.
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Post by omega on Jun 1, 2017 11:28:47 GMT
You'd have to shoot each episode within the same year, or within two years at the most. With nine series that really isn't possible. If they keep it so each mission takes place within the same year it will be too unbelievable by the time you get to Never Say Die and the lead looks about 21. They'd probably cast someone in their early 20s anyway rather than an actual teenager. Fronting a TV show would be a huge burden to put on a relatively inexperienced actor, plus the other educational commitments they'd inevitably have. I explained above. It's called Dawson Casting. Other advantages include the actor already having gone through puberty, so not likely to change enough to potentially cause problems with internal continuity. Child labour laws don't apply, and thus don't limit what the actor can do. As you say, they're more experienced, and can handle the publicity better. A savvy young actor can use social media to their advantage, getting more people interested, invested and talking about the show. Think things like character blogs.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 1, 2017 11:44:45 GMT
You'd have to shoot each episode within the same year, or within two years at the most. With nine series that really isn't possible. If they keep it so each mission takes place within the same year it will be too unbelievable by the time you get to Never Say Die and the lead looks about 21. The lead would probably be 21 by the second or third season. Lots of shows with teenage characters cast actors in the early 20's to play them. It's more practical than hiring a teen actor anyway. You can see the point where Yasmin Paige and Tommy Knight had to leave Sarah Jane Adventures because they wanted to focus on school work. Luke is absent in the SJA story The Eternity Trap because Knight was taking his GCSEs. If ITV cast someone who doesn't have coursework to worry about, that's more time for filming. Even so, they wouldn't be able to have every mission take place over an entire year. It would look ridiculous if the main actor entered his 30s and he's still playing Alex Rider as a twelve year old!
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Post by omega on Jun 1, 2017 11:51:03 GMT
The lead would probably be 21 by the second or third season. Lots of shows with teenage characters cast actors in the early 20's to play them. It's more practical than hiring a teen actor anyway. You can see the point where Yasmin Paige and Tommy Knight had to leave Sarah Jane Adventures because they wanted to focus on school work. Luke is absent in the SJA story The Eternity Trap because Knight was taking his GCSEs. If ITV cast someone who doesn't have coursework to worry about, that's more time for filming. Even so, they wouldn't be able to have every mission take place over an entire year. It would look ridiculous if the main actor entered his 30s and he's still playing Alex Rider as a twelve year old! I'm not arguing that the timeframe between the missions should be the same as the books. It could even introduce some tension like Alex being absent enough (missing exams or important tests while away or recovering) to risk not finishing high school with his friends. The whole social angle is a lot more interesting with the increased use of social media. Maybe one of the Big Bads discovers Alex is a spy because people say he's mysteriously absent, and the Big Bad connects the timing to previous missions. It'd be a lot cleverer than recognising his face in a dossier of known MI5 operatives.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 1, 2017 11:57:19 GMT
Even so, they wouldn't be able to have every mission take place over an entire year. It would look ridiculous if the main actor entered his 30s and he's still playing Alex Rider as a twelve year old! I'm not arguing that the timeframe between the missions should be the same as the books. It could even introduce some tension like Alex being absent enough (missing exams or important tests while away or recovering) to risk not finishing high school with his friends. The whole social angle is a lot more interesting with the increased use of social media. Maybe one of the Big Bads discovers Alex is a spy because people say he's mysteriously absent, and the Big Bad connects the timing to previous missions. It'd be a lot cleverer than recognising his face in a dossier of known MI5 operatives. There was that journalist who discovered Alex Rider was working for MI5. He could find out by rumours going around on a forum site and decide to investigate himself.
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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jun 1, 2017 12:08:04 GMT
I hope they maintain the darker aspects of the series, but I imagine that depends on what audience they're going for. Guess it's time to re-read them. The film adaptation of The Golden Compass failed because it strayed too far from the original material in terms of tone. The series isn't kind about the church, so avoiding religious complaints is neutering it. Then there's the second book where one of the protagonists spends at least a third of the book with two fingers cut off and it being a severe hindrance due to the bleeding until the end of the book. Can't see any way to make that family friendly without excising the continuous bleeding entirely (which is part of the cost of earning the Subtle Knife). And even with that, Subtle Knife was still a really dull read. Worst of the three books: Every plot point feels like its padded out with 100 pages of tedious exposition and really odd descriptions of how much Myra and Will sweat. I'm surprised the third book wasn't called The Amber Sweatbucket.
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Post by fitzoliverj on Jun 1, 2017 16:07:39 GMT
They sunk Class big time, even if it was like Firefly in quality they stuffed up on the airing and distribution. By the time it got to America the home video releases were already out. The rumored new spin-off will need a concept and characters who are loved from the moment of announcement and not to get the same treatment Class did just to survive. Technically "Class" hasn't yet been cancelled (and how about series 2 of Australian K9, while we're about it) but that first episode was so disastrous that even if it had had a sensible slot, few would have survived to the halfway point where it suddenly started slowly to come together. On topic - the recent "Splendid Chaps" podcast on SJA talked about how "Harry Potter" is no longer really suitable reading for kids, because when the books were coming out the stories and the readers were growing up together, but a young child today would be discouraged from starting the series because after the first few volumes they would no longer be suitable reading for his or her age-group. I'm paraphrasing a bit here, but I imagine there's a similar risk with "Alex Rider"? (And does Anthony Horowitz know that 'Never Say Die' is the title of a book by one of James Bond's ancestors?! Or is this a pure coincidence, like the pure coincidence that his Sherlock Holmes novel made all the same mistakes as all the other pastiches he refused to read in case he copied them by accident?)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2017 3:58:58 GMT
Noticable with how Anthony Horowitz incorporated pop culture, like the GameBoy gadget in the first book (upgraded to a DS in the movie) or how one of the gadgets in the second book is stated to be a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets with a tranq dart in the spine to the second to last book referencing the Assassin's Creed videogame. Contemporary pop culture and topical references age poorly, especially in an internal chronology like this. Curiously enough, I think this is something that can be seen in a lot of Horowitz's writing. Trigger Mortis, for instance, is interesting to read because it makes a then-contemporary event front and centre (in this case the Space Race) and also dresses down a lot of the nastier aspects you see in those Fleming books. (And does Anthony Horowitz know that 'Never Say Die' is the title of a book by one of James Bond's ancestors?! Or is this a pure coincidence, like the pure coincidence that his Sherlock Holmes novel made all the same mistakes as all the other pastiches he refused to read in case he copied them by accident?) Oh, it's probably more than just coincidence given how entrenched in Bond his writing could be. It's a nice comeback title as well.
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Post by omega on Jun 2, 2017 6:05:02 GMT
They sunk Class big time, even if it was like Firefly in quality they stuffed up on the airing and distribution. By the time it got to America the home video releases were already out. The rumored new spin-off will need a concept and characters who are loved from the moment of announcement and not to get the same treatment Class did just to survive. Technically "Class" hasn't yet been cancelled (and how about series 2 of Australian K9, while we're about it) but that first episode was so disastrous that even if it had had a sensible slot, few would have survived to the halfway point where it suddenly started slowly to come together. Tron: Uprising hasn't been officially cancelled, but after years without any news, updates or any new material it's pretty obvious what we have is all we'll get.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 2, 2017 8:55:14 GMT
Technically "Class" hasn't yet been cancelled (and how about series 2 of Australian K9, while we're about it) but that first episode was so disastrous that even if it had had a sensible slot, few would have survived to the halfway point where it suddenly started slowly to come together. Tron: Uprising hasn't been officially cancelled, but after years without any news, updates or any new material it's pretty obvious what we have is all we'll get. Until they reboot Tron with politically correct cast, of course.
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Post by omega on Jun 2, 2017 9:20:34 GMT
Currently reading Never Say Die. Have to say, Alex's motivations are believable, even if the circumstances seem convenient to set up Alex's involvement in the plot (in order to justify another mission for him). At least Anthony Horowitz hasn't put too many things that will date or seem strange within the timeframe of the novels (a few months after the end of Scorpia Rising). Sometimes creators do know when the story has run its course and at what point to conclude it.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 2, 2017 10:58:48 GMT
Currently reading Never Say Die. Have to say, Alex's motivations are believable, even if the circumstances seem convenient to set up Alex's involvement in the plot (in order to justify another mission for him). At least Anthony Horowitz hasn't put too many things that will date or seem strange within the timeframe of the novels (a few months after the end of Scorpia Rising). Sometimes creators do know when the story has run its course and at what point to conclude it. The synopsis makes it sound like the Deathly Hallows of the Alex Rider series. I haven't read Never Say Die so don't know if that's an accurate comparison or not.
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Post by omega on Jun 2, 2017 11:29:18 GMT
Currently reading Never Say Die. Have to say, Alex's motivations are believable, even if the circumstances seem convenient to set up Alex's involvement in the plot (in order to justify another mission for him). At least Anthony Horowitz hasn't put too many things that will date or seem strange within the timeframe of the novels (a few months after the end of Scorpia Rising). Sometimes creators do know when the story has run its course and at what point to conclude it. The synopsis makes it sound like the Deathly Hallows of the Alex Rider series. I haven't read Never Say Die so don't know if that's an accurate comparison or not. I got a sort of Dan Brown Inferno feel from the synopsis, mentioning the various international locations. I'm a great believer in telling a story because it's meant to be told, not because a popular series is demanded to be perpetuated. Scorpia Rising provided a natural conclusion to Alex's journey, one that didn't demand a sequel. I was astonished to see on this very thread about the existence of Never Say Die. Deathly Hallows was always the intended conclusion to the Harry Potter series (important seeds were sowed as early as the second book), so it's not like Never Say Die. If anything, Never Say Die has more in common with The Cursed Child as an unexpected follow-up. There's a difference between the intended story arc and picking up on where the last entry left off, working with where characters were known to be last or whose fate was ambiguous.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Jun 2, 2017 11:30:35 GMT
The synopsis makes it sound like the Deathly Hallows of the Alex Rider series. I haven't read Never Say Die so don't know if that's an accurate comparison or not. I got a sort of Dan Brown Inferno feel from the synopsis, mentioning the various international locations. I'm a great believer in telling a story because it's meant to be told, not because a popular series is demanded to be perpetuated. Scorpia Rising provided a natural conclusion to Alex's journey, one that didn't demand a sequel. I was astonished to see on this very thread about the existence of Never Say Die. Deathly Hallows was always the intended conclusion to the Harry Potter series (important seeds were sowed as early as the second book), so it's not like Never Say Die. If anything, Never Say Die has more in common with The Cursed Child as an unexpected follow-up. There's a difference between the intended story arc and picking up on where the last entry left off, working with where characters were known to be last or whose fate was ambiguous. I wonder if Anthony Horowitz will ever do an Adult Alex Rider series?
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