Matt Reeves And Jacob Estes Take On Summit's Frankenstein Film
By MIKE FLEMING
Tuesday May 24, 2011 @ 4:43pm EDT
reprinted fromHollywood Deadline
Let Me In director Matt Reeves has been signed to direct This Dark Endeavor, with Mean Creek writer/helmer Jacob Aaron Estes writing the script for Summit Entertainment. Deadline told you yesterday about a batch of films based on the Mary Shelley Frankenstein novel. Summit just took a step forward in this contest. The film is based on the Kenneth Oppel novel This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. It will be published this summer by Simon & Schuster, the first of a series.
In the Oppel novel, Frankenstein's twin Konrad is gravely ill. His brother seeks out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a serum that will bestow the gift of perpetual health. You can't order this drink at a pub, and Frankenstein sets out on a dangerous adventure to find the elusive contents. He's accompanied by his best friend Elizabeth, who is sweet on Konrad. Things get complicated among the three of them.
Reeves, who also directed Cloverfield, adds This Dark Endeavor to two other projects he's working on. He signed recently to direct the Justin Cronin vampire novel The Passage for Fox 2000, and he's got a deal at Universal to write and direct a film based on the Ray Nelson short story 8 O'Clock in the Morning, about a man who awakens with the realization that aliens are all over the place and control society. Estes just completed The Details, the Tobey Maguire/Elizabeth Banks-starrer that sold to The Weinstein Company in a big deal at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Both are repped by CAA.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Half Brother optioned for film
Reprinted from Variety
Producers Christian Taylor ("Hick") and Eva Orner ("Taxi to the Dark Side") have optioned Kenneth Oppel's young adult novel "Half Brother."
Set in the 1970s, the coming-of-age story explores the bond between a teenage boy and a chimpanzee, as well as the ethical implications of animal research. Raised by the boy's family as part of a study, the chimp quickly becomes a media sensation, but when the project loses its funding the teen must risk everything to save the animal.
Producers are in the process of finding a writer and distribution partner for the project, which is said to feature a magical quality reminiscent of "E.T."
Scholastic/HarperCollins published "Half Brother." named a 2011 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Assn.
Summit Entertainment recently acquired rights to Oppel's upcoming novel "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein," which Karen Rosenfelt ("Twilight") is on board to produce.
Taylor is producing "Hick," an indie pic that will star Chloe Moretz, Blake Lively and Eddie Redmayne.
Oppel's publishing rep is Writer's House, while Rosen Feig Golland and Lunn repped Taylor and Orner in the deal. Richard Shepherd represented film rights on the project.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Spring Appearances
MARCH 2011
KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
March 1, 5pm
KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
March 28, 7pm
APRIL 2011
TORONTO, ON
School Book Tour
April 11-15, 2011
KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
April 16, 10am
MONCTON, NB
Frye Festival,
Moncton, New Brunswick,
April 27-30, 2011
MAY 2011
SASKATOON, SK
Literacy for Life Conference
May 2-4, 2011
VICTORIA, BC
School Book Tour
May 10-13, 2011
KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
May 31st, 1pm
KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
May 31st, 6:30pm
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Summit acquires 'Victor Frankenstein' rights - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety
Summit acquires 'Victor Frankenstein' rights - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety
Studio nabs feature claim to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel
By Dave McNary
Summit is looking to make a big-screen version of the Frankenstein origin story and has acquired rights to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein."
Projects' been set with Karen Rosenfelt, a producer on Summit's "Twilight" franchise and Fox's "Alvin" films.
The tome's the first book of a series to be published by Simon & Schuster. Story follows Victor Frankenstein's twin brother falling ill, leading Victor to seek out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a fabled serum that will bestow the drinker with perpetual health. Aided by his best friend Elizabeth, Victor sets out on a quest for the three ingredients needed to save Konrad's life.
Oppel's previously written the "Silverwing" trilogy and "Airborn."
Erik Feig, Gillian Bohrer and Ashley Schlaifer are overseeing the project for the studio.
ICM represented film rights on the project. Oppel's publishing rep is Writer's House.
Studio nabs feature claim to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel
By Dave McNary
Summit is looking to make a big-screen version of the Frankenstein origin story and has acquired rights to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein."
Projects' been set with Karen Rosenfelt, a producer on Summit's "Twilight" franchise and Fox's "Alvin" films.
The tome's the first book of a series to be published by Simon & Schuster. Story follows Victor Frankenstein's twin brother falling ill, leading Victor to seek out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a fabled serum that will bestow the drinker with perpetual health. Aided by his best friend Elizabeth, Victor sets out on a quest for the three ingredients needed to save Konrad's life.
Oppel's previously written the "Silverwing" trilogy and "Airborn."
Erik Feig, Gillian Bohrer and Ashley Schlaifer are overseeing the project for the studio.
ICM represented film rights on the project. Oppel's publishing rep is Writer's House.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Uncomfortable Bits
There’s a scene in my new book, Half Brother, that some people have found very uncomfortable. I won’t tell you what it is; you’ll have to read the book to find out – and maybe you won’t find it uncomfortable at all. But it’s made me think about how differently people can respond to the same material – and most importantly, how much I’ve come to appreciate those moments – in a movie, or a book, or simply watching Ricky Gervais host an awards show – that have pushed me beyond my comfort zone, or violated my expectations in some way.
Because it’s inevitably these moments that stay with me the longest. It might be something as simple as the scenes in the movie Castaway where Tom Hanks names and starts talking to the volleyball – annoyingly absurd I thought at the outset, but then realized how brilliant and moving it was – a man so lonely and desperate to cling to sanity, he finds companionship however he can. Or the scene in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Frankenstein where, having birthed the creature, he’s unable to lift its giant frame from the floor, and staggers and slips about for a prolonged period in a slick of “amniotic” fluid – at first it seemed farcical and gratuitously slimy, but then in my mind it became brilliantly primal, and a metaphorical wrestling with the boundaries of science and morality. Or it might be the literal ringing of bells in heaven when the heroine is “martyred” at the end of Breaking the Waves – a moment which several of my friends said utterly ruined the entire movie for them, but which I think is brilliant.
At their best, uncomfortable moments aren’t just shocking and interesting; they can challenge our convictions. As readers, viewers, citizens, we tend to prefer the same menu. There’s a comfort in it, a sense of security, but sometimes also an almost self-righteous complacency: See, everyone thinks exactly the same thing as me! But what I think is so valuable about a work of art is how it can confront you with a new opinion, a new moral or political idea, that you’d never considered. Novels as disparate as Never Let Me Go, Cider House Rules, Feed, Frankenstein, and Wolf Hall have introduced me to new and uncomfortable ideas, and forced me to think about life in different ways – and while my personal reactions and reflections might not have been those intended by the author –perhaps quite the opposite in some cases – the important thing is the process: an opening to ideas rather than a closing.
So, long live uncomfortable scenes!
By the way, here's some of what Patrick Ness said about Half Brother in his recent review in The Guardian:
"Oppel is pleasingly unafraid to ask awkward questions, often right at the point where readers might have made up their minds. What a particular joy for a teenage reader, to be challenged rather than instructed. Parents might be surprised at the passionate discussions Half Brother ends up inspiring, along with a healthy new respect for our closest genetic cousins." – Patrick Ness in The Guardian, 22.1.11
Because it’s inevitably these moments that stay with me the longest. It might be something as simple as the scenes in the movie Castaway where Tom Hanks names and starts talking to the volleyball – annoyingly absurd I thought at the outset, but then realized how brilliant and moving it was – a man so lonely and desperate to cling to sanity, he finds companionship however he can. Or the scene in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Frankenstein where, having birthed the creature, he’s unable to lift its giant frame from the floor, and staggers and slips about for a prolonged period in a slick of “amniotic” fluid – at first it seemed farcical and gratuitously slimy, but then in my mind it became brilliantly primal, and a metaphorical wrestling with the boundaries of science and morality. Or it might be the literal ringing of bells in heaven when the heroine is “martyred” at the end of Breaking the Waves – a moment which several of my friends said utterly ruined the entire movie for them, but which I think is brilliant.
At their best, uncomfortable moments aren’t just shocking and interesting; they can challenge our convictions. As readers, viewers, citizens, we tend to prefer the same menu. There’s a comfort in it, a sense of security, but sometimes also an almost self-righteous complacency: See, everyone thinks exactly the same thing as me! But what I think is so valuable about a work of art is how it can confront you with a new opinion, a new moral or political idea, that you’d never considered. Novels as disparate as Never Let Me Go, Cider House Rules, Feed, Frankenstein, and Wolf Hall have introduced me to new and uncomfortable ideas, and forced me to think about life in different ways – and while my personal reactions and reflections might not have been those intended by the author –perhaps quite the opposite in some cases – the important thing is the process: an opening to ideas rather than a closing.
So, long live uncomfortable scenes!
By the way, here's some of what Patrick Ness said about Half Brother in his recent review in The Guardian:
"Oppel is pleasingly unafraid to ask awkward questions, often right at the point where readers might have made up their minds. What a particular joy for a teenage reader, to be challenged rather than instructed. Parents might be surprised at the passionate discussions Half Brother ends up inspiring, along with a healthy new respect for our closest genetic cousins." – Patrick Ness in The Guardian, 22.1.11
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
HALF BROTHER Q&A with Kenneth Oppel
Reprinted from
A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
I have been a fan of Kenneth Oppel since I read his Silverwing series about four years ago. In his newest endeavor, he enters the young adult literature arena with the book Half Brother:
FB: Having read your Silverwing series, I know that writing about animals is not new territory for you, but Silverwing was a fantasy and Half Brother is a realistic fiction. What inspired you to write about this topic?
Kenneth Oppel: Half Brother was inspired by a couple of famous experiments that took place in the early 1970’s, in which scientists tried to teach chimpanzees sign language: Project Nim and Project Washoe. The experiments were very controversial –their results are still disputed to this day – and when Project Nim ended after two years, Nim was abruptly stripped of his human identity, his clothes and toys and favourite foods, separated from the people he’d come to think of as mothers and fathers and siblings, and shipped off to another primate research institute where no one understood the signs he’d learned. I thought it was an incredibly sad story.
FB: What type of research process was involved in writing a novel about chimpanzees and language acquisition?
KO: I read as much as I could about the two real chimp experiments in the 1970’s: Project Nim and Project Washoe. Often, the people who were involved in these experiments went on to write books about their experiences – and their stories are fascinating. In some ways, the events are much stranger than anything I could invent from my imagination!
I wanted to know as much as possible about baby chimps, and how they were raised both in the wild, and by humans. I learned a little sign language. I watched films about chimpanzees and how they’ve been used and abused by humans for the purposes of human advancement, like the NASA space program, or for drug testing. I visited a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Montreal called the Fauna Foundation, which is a wonderful home for chimps who were once used in biomedical experiments, or in the entertainment industry, and became too old or ill to be of any further “use” to their human hosts.
FB: One of the things that struck me about Half Brother was how the reader gets so emotionally involved in the story from the very first chapter. The relationship between Zan and Ben was so touching. Was this something you had to consciously figure out, or did it flow naturally from the beginning?
KO: I found it a very emotional story to write, in part because I chose to set the story in the place and (rough) time period of my own childhood. So though Ben is not really much like me, I certainly drew from some aspects of myself when creating him. That, in combination with just how innately emotional the subject matter is, made for a very intimate, intense story.
FB: I loved that you wrote a book on such a volatile topic but didn’t forcefully spew a specific ideology down the reader’s throat. You appeared to address many different points-of-view in a neutral, "I want the reader to think for himself" sort of tone. Having said that, what were you hoping to get across to the reader in this book and what are you hoping readers will take away from reading it?
KO: Certainly I was interested in the controversial animal rights issues inherent in the story –but equally fascinating to me were the human dynamics of the story. Imagine, as a teenager, being told to treat a chimp like a baby brother, while never forgetting that it was also a lab specimen. Imagine watching your mother and father indulge in a bizarre form of parenting – one in which the baby was nurtured, but also emotionally manipulated, and ultimately coerced into performing. To the father, the baby is only of value as long as it gives him what he needs. But is human parenting -- or human relationships in general -- so very different? The more I worked on Half Brother, the more it seemed to me the story was really about love in all its possible forms – how and why we decide to bestow it, or withdraw it; how we decide what is more worthy of being loved, and what is less. We are masters of conditional love.
FB: I read on your website that you majored in English and cinema studies. Is that academic background what has helped make your novels feel so cinematic? I feel like the books of yours that I’ve read would translate so well on the big screen (Silverwing I think would make a fantastic animated feature).
KO: My story-telling style was probably formed long before I went to university, by a mixture of my favourite authors (Roald Dahl first and foremost) and my favorite movies (Star Wars, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner). When I write, I really do approach the story visually in that I imagine distinct scenes, and my job is to be lighting designer, set designer, choreographer, sound designer, writer and director all rolled into one! It’s quite exhausting.
FB: Do you have any interesting or quirky writing habits?
KO: Not really. I have a shamefully short attention span, so am easily distracted by the current weather conditions in Cairo, or how much money Iron Man II made domestically, or other unimportant bits of Internet destritus. I listen to music when I write and since I’ve never really listened to lyrics, it doesn’t get in my way.
FB: Who is your favorite character in all the books you’ve written? Which of your characters is most like you?
KO: Kate de Vries is a personal favourite. Most like me? Well, there’s a bit of me in each and every one, but I’ll let you wonder about which parts.
I would like to thank Kenneth Oppel for stopping by A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust. Half Brother was by far one of the best books of 2010 so go out and get it if you haven't read it!
http://bethsfbtb.blogspot.com/
A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
FB: Having read your Silverwing series, I know that writing about animals is not new territory for you, but Silverwing was a fantasy and Half Brother is a realistic fiction. What inspired you to write about this topic?
Kenneth Oppel: Half Brother was inspired by a couple of famous experiments that took place in the early 1970’s, in which scientists tried to teach chimpanzees sign language: Project Nim and Project Washoe. The experiments were very controversial –their results are still disputed to this day – and when Project Nim ended after two years, Nim was abruptly stripped of his human identity, his clothes and toys and favourite foods, separated from the people he’d come to think of as mothers and fathers and siblings, and shipped off to another primate research institute where no one understood the signs he’d learned. I thought it was an incredibly sad story.
FB: What type of research process was involved in writing a novel about chimpanzees and language acquisition?
KO: I read as much as I could about the two real chimp experiments in the 1970’s: Project Nim and Project Washoe. Often, the people who were involved in these experiments went on to write books about their experiences – and their stories are fascinating. In some ways, the events are much stranger than anything I could invent from my imagination!
I wanted to know as much as possible about baby chimps, and how they were raised both in the wild, and by humans. I learned a little sign language. I watched films about chimpanzees and how they’ve been used and abused by humans for the purposes of human advancement, like the NASA space program, or for drug testing. I visited a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Montreal called the Fauna Foundation, which is a wonderful home for chimps who were once used in biomedical experiments, or in the entertainment industry, and became too old or ill to be of any further “use” to their human hosts.
FB: One of the things that struck me about Half Brother was how the reader gets so emotionally involved in the story from the very first chapter. The relationship between Zan and Ben was so touching. Was this something you had to consciously figure out, or did it flow naturally from the beginning?
KO: I found it a very emotional story to write, in part because I chose to set the story in the place and (rough) time period of my own childhood. So though Ben is not really much like me, I certainly drew from some aspects of myself when creating him. That, in combination with just how innately emotional the subject matter is, made for a very intimate, intense story.
FB: I loved that you wrote a book on such a volatile topic but didn’t forcefully spew a specific ideology down the reader’s throat. You appeared to address many different points-of-view in a neutral, "I want the reader to think for himself" sort of tone. Having said that, what were you hoping to get across to the reader in this book and what are you hoping readers will take away from reading it?
KO: Certainly I was interested in the controversial animal rights issues inherent in the story –but equally fascinating to me were the human dynamics of the story. Imagine, as a teenager, being told to treat a chimp like a baby brother, while never forgetting that it was also a lab specimen. Imagine watching your mother and father indulge in a bizarre form of parenting – one in which the baby was nurtured, but also emotionally manipulated, and ultimately coerced into performing. To the father, the baby is only of value as long as it gives him what he needs. But is human parenting -- or human relationships in general -- so very different? The more I worked on Half Brother, the more it seemed to me the story was really about love in all its possible forms – how and why we decide to bestow it, or withdraw it; how we decide what is more worthy of being loved, and what is less. We are masters of conditional love.
FB: I read on your website that you majored in English and cinema studies. Is that academic background what has helped make your novels feel so cinematic? I feel like the books of yours that I’ve read would translate so well on the big screen (Silverwing I think would make a fantastic animated feature).
KO: My story-telling style was probably formed long before I went to university, by a mixture of my favourite authors (Roald Dahl first and foremost) and my favorite movies (Star Wars, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner). When I write, I really do approach the story visually in that I imagine distinct scenes, and my job is to be lighting designer, set designer, choreographer, sound designer, writer and director all rolled into one! It’s quite exhausting.
FB: Do you have any interesting or quirky writing habits?
KO: Not really. I have a shamefully short attention span, so am easily distracted by the current weather conditions in Cairo, or how much money Iron Man II made domestically, or other unimportant bits of Internet destritus. I listen to music when I write and since I’ve never really listened to lyrics, it doesn’t get in my way.
FB: Who is your favorite character in all the books you’ve written? Which of your characters is most like you?
KO: Kate de Vries is a personal favourite. Most like me? Well, there’s a bit of me in each and every one, but I’ll let you wonder about which parts.
I would like to thank Kenneth Oppel for stopping by A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust. Half Brother was by far one of the best books of 2010 so go out and get it if you haven't read it!
http://bethsfbtb.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Airborn: 125 Million Kilometres Around the World
Two weeks ago in Ottawa, I got to meet Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, who took my book Airborn with him on his six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009. He also took another Governor-General Award-winning book up with him, Deux pas vers les étoiles by Jean-Rock Gaudreault. Both books travelled for six months at a speed of 8km a second, at an altitude of 300 km, for a total distance of 125 million kilometres.
At a ceremony at the Science and Technology Museum, Dr Thirsk officially returned both books to earth where they will be put on display in the Space and Aviation Museum.In his speech, he talked about why both these books were particularly appropriate choices for him to take into outer space -- as they dealt with young determined protaganists with dreams that take them beyond the earth. Here he is talking about how Matt Cruse has the right stuff to be an astronaut!
He went on to make a fabulous presentation about his six months aboard the ISS. I was filled with awe and admiration for the demanding and varied work the astronauts do aboard station.
An astronaut is a pretty hard act to follow, but I was asked to do a short reading from Airborn. I kept it very short indeed.
Mostly I just tried to be amusing. I seem to have gesticulated a lot.
Note my dynamic hand movements below!
But the real star of the show was, of course, Bob Thirsk. How often do you get to meet a real astronaut?
I wish I'd gotten a picture of myself with the moon in the background. Next time....
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