It seems that a couple of fantasy novels are well on their way to both the small and big screens.
First, this blog's been keeping an eye on an earlier report that Sam Raimi optioned fantasy author Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, an epic fantasy series currently comprised of 11 novels. According to the Hollywood Reporter (hat tip to AICN), it turns out the adaption will actually be a "new first-run, live-action weekly series targeted for a fall launch." This series interests me for a variety of reasons. While I've not read any of the novels in this series, I have read some of Goodkind's work and enjoyed it. Also, while Raimi is better known as the director of the Spiderman blockbusters, I came across him first as director of the campy Army of Darkness and the force behind the equally-campy Xena/Hercules series. (I must admit that Xena was one of my more guilty small screen pleasures.)
And second, there's the older news (yes, yesterday is considered older news, heh) that Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct The Hobbit. I first became aware of del Toro when I saw Pan's Labyrinth, which has become one of my all time favorite films. I was fascinated to discover he also was behind Hellboy, a film of a definately different vein. (Hellboy II, another film this blog is following, is now in production.) This range of approach within the fantasy genre really piques my interest in what he might do with The Hobbit. Though I must admit, I would feel much more secure if Peter Jackson was back at the helm.
First, this blog's been keeping an eye on an earlier report that Sam Raimi optioned fantasy author Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth, an epic fantasy series currently comprised of 11 novels. According to the Hollywood Reporter (hat tip to AICN), it turns out the adaption will actually be a "new first-run, live-action weekly series targeted for a fall launch." This series interests me for a variety of reasons. While I've not read any of the novels in this series, I have read some of Goodkind's work and enjoyed it. Also, while Raimi is better known as the director of the Spiderman blockbusters, I came across him first as director of the campy Army of Darkness and the force behind the equally-campy Xena/Hercules series. (I must admit that Xena was one of my more guilty small screen pleasures.)
And second, there's the older news (yes, yesterday is considered older news, heh) that Guillermo del Toro is in talks to direct The Hobbit. I first became aware of del Toro when I saw Pan's Labyrinth, which has become one of my all time favorite films. I was fascinated to discover he also was behind Hellboy, a film of a definately different vein. (Hellboy II, another film this blog is following, is now in production.) This range of approach within the fantasy genre really piques my interest in what he might do with The Hobbit. Though I must admit, I would feel much more secure if Peter Jackson was back at the helm.So, why the interest in fantasy on a God-talk blog? As I've mentioned before, fantasy often embraces biblical themes: good versus evil, a quest for truth, a fight for right-ness, hope, sacrifice, nature of love, redemption, faith, community, etc. All of these are dominant themes in Scripture, and many of them appear in fantasy novels and films. I know they appear in The Hobbit and, from what I've read, it appears they're also woven into The Sword of Truth novels. And that makes both of these efforts of interest to this God-talk blog.