At the moment I’m hard at work on the novelization for Spider-Man 2. The deadline on this one is insanely tight; I’m trying to get through ten script pages a day, which would give me a rough draft of the script/book itself in two weeks. Then, of course, comes all the fun of developing new scenes to flesh it out to manuscript length.
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Can you give any hints as to the quality of the script?
Yeah I’m with the other guy. Does the script suck? Does it rock?
Are you under contract not to open your mouth about the script? C’mon David…At least tell us if it’s a movie that adults can enjoy or is it just for the kiddies!
Mr. David,
So you read the script instead of watching a rough cut of the movie itself? I never knew that. Actually, for that matter, I didn’t know that the Spider-Man movie was that underway…
Good luck with the book!
Chris
Peter can’t comment on the script since he has signed a nondisclosure form that states that we will voice no opinion or comment about the movie until it is released. Even though I am no longer at Del Rey, I still can’t discuss certain aspects of Star Wars that I worked on until sometime in 2006.
Kath
Shouldn’t that be 2005? (At least, that’s when Dey Rey’s contract with LucasFilm expires.)
Just wondering Kathleen do you know how the New Jedi Order is suppost to end? I am just wondering not fishing for spoilers… honest….
Actually, I was wondering about something that Mr. D. might be able to talk about, regardless of nondisclosure – since it happens all the time. Movies get changed by film company fiat up to the last minute. In projects like this, isn’t he required to dedicate time to last-minute revisions of the novel up until the press deadline, to make sure the novel matches the film? That must play hob with other work he wants to do. And for someone with a track record like he has, it should mean more substantial payment, since he has to wait on the film company’s whims instead of writing.
Adding a question to Thomas’ list, I was wondering just how close to the movie one has to be? I know that for the Batman Returns book you changed (read: made better) the way that Batman and Robin dispensed with Two-Face.
Thomas raises a good question. Being a storyboard artist for film, I know that revisions can happen right up until, and sometimes AFTER a scene is shot (trust me, it does happen sometimes). How final is the draft of the script you are working from?
I admit–I read the Spider-Man novel before the movie came out and when it did I was absolutly mortified at how awful the film was compared to the book.
This time I think I’ll read the book and skip the movie.
Well, for weirdness in novelizations you can look at Superman: Last Son of Krypton and Superman II: Miracle Monday — two novels by Eliot Maggin packaged as novelizations. Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday were better than the movies they were tied into, but I’ve always wondered what sort of legal tangle resulted in that situation.
Cheers, Jon
In projects like this, isn’t he required to dedicate time to last-minute revisions of the novel up until the press deadline, to make sure the novel matches the film?
Probably not, since mismatches between movies and movie novelizations are fairly commonplace. Check out Chris Claremont’s novelization of X2 for a major disjoint between the ending of the book and the movie.
Spoilers!
In the novelization, Jean Grey is blinded when she overexerts her psi powers to repair the Blackbird and save the X-Men. In the movie, she dies under the flood from Alkali Lake.
End of spoilers.
In any event, prior experience tells me there’s no big effort made to prevent disjoints between a movie’s novelization and the final film.
–R.J.
My $.02 for what they are worth.
I would think that the deadline for the book would be way before the deadline for the movie. The book is a selling point for the movie and is released a few weeks before the movie comes out. So, if they screen the movie and decide to make changes last minute – E.G. X-Men 2 – there is no way to do any revisions of the book.
In my case –
I read Mr. David’s novelization of Spiderman after I saw the movie. I saw the movie – enjoyed it, then read the book, enjoyed it more, and it also served to enhance the movie.
With X-Men 2 – I bought the book about 3 weeks before the movie came out. Thoroughly enjoyed the book, to the point where I elevated the movie in my mind where there was nothing I could do but be let down with the movie. Of course the twist at the end was interesting. I still thought it was better than the first one (which was good).
So I think by reading the book first it is harder to appreciate the movie because your mind is such a better tool.
end my $.02
I used to work for a company that packaged book novelizations for various movies, so I might be able to shed some light onto the process. (Recognizing, of course, that every project is potentially unique and that books get built in all sorts of ways.)
When a novelizer is selected for a project, he/she will usually be given as much material to adapt as possible. This will certainly include the screenplay, but might include a rough cut of the film (or a visit to the set) if it’s available, but often it’s not.
When the novelizer delivers the manuscript, it will almost always be submitted to the proprietor (usually, movie studio) for review and approval. One usually hopes, then, that whichever of the movie’s representatives reviews the material, he/she/they will be familiar enough with any last-minute changes significany enough to warrant adjusting the text. Depending on the novelizer’s involvemnet, the manuscript may be re-submitted to the novelizer for adjusments, or, if the requested changes are minor, they’re just done.
(I once was involved in a project where the novelization manuscript was submitted to the studio for approval, and the studio was taking a long time in responding to it. We began to fear that this was a sign that they were going to request major alterations, and were afraid that our production schedules were imperiled. When finally the studio’s comments came back, all they said was that in the final version of the film, the protagonist’s drink of choice had changed from a gibson to a martini, and so all the novelizations references to an onion had to be changed to an olive. Not that big a hassle to change at all…)
With regard to Jon Stover’s observation about Eliot S! Maggin’s books //Superman: Last Son of Krypton// and //Superman: Miracle Monday// that tied into the Superman movies without really adapting either, I seem to recall hearing that the gist of the situation was that Mario Puzo, who wrote the screenplay’s, did not want novelizations adapted from his screenplays. Therefore, the powers that be instead opted to commission Superman novels with different stories and put art from the Superman movies on the covers to make the connection. This strikes me as somewhat plausible: I know that the Writer’s Guild of America affords screenwriters certain rights and control over adaptations of their works (although, since I don’t work for that company any longer, I can’t quite remember how exactly all that works…) and, regardless, Mario Puzo was certainly a big enough name in both Hollywood screenwriting and New York publishing circles that folks would be likely to respect his wishes–particularly when such a viable alternative was available to them…
Posted by Xyon:
I would think that the deadline for the book would be way before the deadline for the movie. The book is a selling point for the movie and is released a few weeks before the movie comes out. So, if they screen the movie and decide to make changes last minute – E.G. X-Men 2 – there is no way to do any revisions of the book.
Again, different projects have different schedules and different circumstances. But realize that changes can be made to a book right up until the time the book is printed. (It’s also sometimes possible to print different parts of a book at different times, if that helps the process.) Such changes often get more expensive to make the closer you get to print time, but they’re still theoretically do-able right up until the time the press starts running. And for a mainstream, mass-market, high-profile book from a clout-wielding publisher, that might be as late as only a few weeks before the book is supposed to appear on store shelves.
Another example comes to mind: the hardcover edition of William Shatner’s book Star Trek Movie Memories was to be published in 1994, concurrent with the release of Star Trek: Generations wherein James T. Kirk was finally to meet his end. However, the ending of the film went back for re-shoots (several times, I think) to give Kirk a more appropriate death. As a result, in order that the book contain Shatner’s most relevant remembrances, after every re-shoot, Shatner added a bit to the book. His final remembrances (on, presumably, the final reshoot) were added, I think, when the book was already at the printer. As I recall, his last comments were very hasty additions to the book, and wound up being printed on the very last page of the book–the one opposite the back free end paper–which book design conventions usually leave blank.
Thanks, Ali. The link below to an excerpt from an interview with Maggin shed a bit more light on the matter — and some sort of rights tangle would also explain why the over-sized “comic book” tie-ins with the first two movies were photo-and-text pieces about Superman’s history and the movie production rather than actual adaptations.
http://superman.ws/Maggin/lsok.php
Cheers, Jon
Robert Jung writes:
Check out Chris Claremont’s novelization of X2 for a major disjoint between the ending of the book and the movie…
For what it’s worth, there’s an interview with Chris Claremont at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread/t-18335.html about the ending of the X2 novelization, which basically seems to indicate that for this particular project, the book-production and film-making schedules were such that the book had to be finalized before the filmmakers decided on how to end the film. Other folks claim that the difference between the ending of the film and the book was a purposeful choice to help preserve the surprise of the film’s ending. The truth–such as it is–probably depends a bit on who you ask, and probably combines a bit of all sorts of different factors.
Well, one thing is for sure, Claremont’s X2 novel was freakin’ awesome! I hope Peter’s Spidey 2 is just as good.
Anyway, Peter could you sneak in some guest appearances like Claremont did in his novelization? If so, try to get the Beyonder in there for me. Okay? Thanks!
😉
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