H2G2 Cast Finalized, Starts Shooting in April

akahige writes "According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin Freeman (The Office, Love Actually), Mos Def (Showtime, The Italian Job), and Zooey Deschanel (Big Trouble, Elf) have signed on to play Arthur, Ford, and Trillian, respectively. Stephen Moore is once again doing the voice of Marvin. No word on who's playing Zaphod (but wouldn't Eddie Izzard be great?). It worries me when they say things like, "Adams adapted his own novel for the screen. After his death, Karey Kirkpatrick came aboard for a rewrite." But it's Disney, so what do you expect? Shooting begins in April."

What to expect..

But it's Disney, so what do you expect?

Probably not what you expect..

Multiple Hitchiker toys at (McDonalds|Burger King) so people have to make several visits to buy them all.

Perhaps a Hitchiker Ride at Disney World if the movie proves very successful.

A DVD release followed soon after by a "collectors edition" release.

A re-release of the books all spiffied up for the new consumers.

A movie where quality will be second to the marketting of junk collectibles.

bah.. /. needs a "+1, Cynical Bastard" mod.

Re:What to expect..

Yeah, I love Douglas Adams and I like that he's popular, without becoming too non-geeky. You can tell a lot about a person if they know anything about Douglas Adams' books. Now every four year old is going to have seen a movie about it, robbing them even of the chance to experience the wonderful world of Douglas Adams *first hand*. I can not imagine what it would be like if I hadn't read the books first and based everything off a movie...

This would be one of the worst things that could happen to a kid, literarily. Douglas Adams was a memorable portion of my adolescence escape.

Re:What to expect..

Now every four year old is going to have seen a movie about it, robbing them even of the chance to experience the wonderful world of Douglas Adams *first hand*.

So true. I'd love to know the stats of the people which paid to see the LotR trilogy multiple times, bought the various DVD editions, plastic cups from some fast-food dive but haven't read the books and have no intention of doing so.
I'm not knocking Jackson or the movies, I think he did as good a job as could have been done, but no amount of CGI can beat the infinite movie screen of the imagination when fueled by a good book.

Re:What to expect..

People who have not read the books tend to see them each once at the theater, and come out saying "a pretty good action flick, but kinda slow at times."

The movie Starship Troopers actually spurred sales of the original novel Starship Troopers. Despite the movie being a horrible rendition of the book (emphasis on the "rend"). I may be mistaken but I think the movie actually launched the book back into the bestseller lists (the first time would be when it was first published and won a Hugo award).

Re:What to expect..

Ok, I'm straying totally off topic now. Mod me down, whatever.

You might be surprised. The book was written and first published in "younger" and more "innocent" times, and it caused quite a controversy. Not quite so much as Stranger in a Strange Land, but Starship Troopers wasn't an easily ignored thing. It portrayed women in combat roles as pilots of spaceships. It portrayed non-white and/or non-American characters in most (if not all) of the key roles. It portrayed a society in which the right to vote or hold office was gained only through military service. It contained public flogging and public hanging. It described "police action" that closely parallelled U.S. activities in Korea and later Vietnam -- some of these were acts we would consider terrorism today!

Aside from being controversial, the novel was also hugely inventive. The MI piloted what amounts to Robotech battle mechs.

Now go look up the first publish date and realize that all that was written probably before you were born.

Sometimes, the movie is better

Yes, everyone says that your own imagination is better than anything you'll see at the movies.

Bah.

Look at the credits for LotR. We're talking about 100s of professional dreamers, all channeling their combined skills into one magnificent creative act.

They beat me. Their world was more brilliantly imagined, more consistently detailed than my lone brain could come up with reading those books as a kid.

I think this is lazy-speak for another phenomemon. When you read a book, you are triggering fundamentally different feelings than you get watching a movie. There is a pleasure in reading that you don't get from film (and, I think, the converse is true).

But, yes, I admit it. the combined talents of all the creative folk on LotR bested my imagination.

Kudos to them. And good luck to the H2G2 crew, they have a big job ahead of them.

Re:What to expect..

Don't forget the computer game [douglasadams.com], which followed the plot of the book to a certian point, then took a hard right.

Re:What to expect..

My first exposure to Adams was as a child, seeing it on television in England. I didn't read the books until the past 5 years, and I think they were more enjoyable, because I had seen some of the TV stuff already. Anyone who wants to read the books still can. Anyone who wouldn't have read them anyways won't be missing out if they see the movie instead. Take a deep breath and relax.

Re:What to expect..

Perhaps a Hitchiker Ride at Disney World if the movie proves very successful.

Yeah, and then 20 years from now they will make a movie based on the ride.

Re:What to expect..

bah.. /. needs a "+1, Cynical Bastard" mod.

I believe its called "insightful" :)

Re:What to expect..

Yes, I can see the advertising blitz now...

"Towels in the kids meals - Yes, Kids! You can hide from your parents simply by placing this over your head!"

"This weeks special, the so long and thanks for all the McFish"

Re:What to expect..

* Counter staff with Genuine People Personalities (tm)

* A cup of something which tastes almost (but not entirely) unlike tea.

* Shoes that not only do not fit, but which are actually joined at the heels.

DNA was always a bit close to the bone.

Re:What to expect..

cross-posting this from IMDB boards (yay, a quote of a quote of a quote):

by The Duke of Dunstable [imdb.com]:

For those of you who are worried about the Disney involvement of the movie, here's what Douglas said about it in December, 1998.

"First of all, I have not tried to 'downplay' Disney's role in this. Disney is the studio which is making this movie, which is financing it, which will be distributing it. It couldn't really be much more central to the project.

What I have tried to explain is that people's ideas of who or what Disney is is a little out of date. Yes, it made Bambi and Snow White and Flubber, but it also made Pulp Fiction, The Rock, etc., etc. It is a huge entertainment corporation, one part of which still makes what it originally made, i.e. family entertainment. So to talk about 'Disney-fying' Hitchhiker makes as much sense as saying 'Columbia-fying' it or 'Universal-fying' it. Yes, each studio has its strengths and weaknesses at any moment, depending on who's running what, but generalisations based on Bambi no longer apply. The important issues as far as I'm concerned is - who are the individual people I'm working with? The director, the producer, the studio executive etc. As things stand at the moment, I'm feeling very happy, confident and well looked after. But we have a huge task and huge challenges. Let's see how it goes."

Re:What to expect..

Multiple Hitchiker toys at (McDonalds|Burger King) so people have to make several visits to buy them all.

I will gleefully whore out my favourite childhood novel if I can get a plastic Vogon figure with my Bugblatter Burger of Traal.

YLFI

Re:What to expect..

Don't forget the lawyers putting the kibosh on the Babelfish and Learning to Fly, due to potential liability lawsuits ("My son Bobby put a Trout in his ear, and now he's deaf. I want 25 million dollars!" or "My daughter Suzie jumped off the roof trying to miss the ground, and broke her neck, and I want 50 million dollars!")

So, the Babelfish will need to be wrapped in a towel and placed on the head,
and Flying? well, with Disney, we're talking about at faerie dust, right?

Mickey Mice made Earth?

Surely the mice won't all look like Mickey will they? So long and thanks for all the Nemo?

Disney

But it's Disney, so what do you expect?

Umm... a happy ending?

Zombies on the board

After his death, Karey Kirkpatrick came aboard for a rewrite.

Written in hell. No doubt...

Eddie Izzard - Both Male and Female?

Would he have one head with makeup, and the other without? - Cake or Death, Little Red Cookbook!

H2G2

For those who don't know ...

HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/

... except it only applies to the web site

Heavy sigh...

h2g2 (note the lower-casing) is the name of the online guide inspired by The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy. It's considered "official" because it was created by The Digital Village Ltd., the new media company that had Douglas Adams amongst its directors, and he assisted in its creation. It is not the name of the book, the radio series, the game, or anything else. Just the online, fact-based guide.

If you want to reference the fictional story or Guide with an abbreviation, I'd recommend HHGTTG. Or HHGG. Or HHG.

-- Yoz, who was one of the four original developers of h2g2.com, and is also horrifically pedantic

On the studios...

But it's Disney, so what do you expect?

Adams on this subject in The Salmon of Doubt:

"The Hollywood process is like trying to grill a steak by having a succession of people coming into the room and breathing on it."

Obligatory Disney Joke

Mickey Mouse is in court and the Judge says, "I'm sorry, Mickey, but I can't grant you a divorce simply because you think your wife is a bit odd."

Mickey says, "I didn't say she was odd, I said she was FUCKING GOOFY."

Someone explain to the non-Hitchhiker educated...

... what the appeal behind Hitchhiker's Guide is, and where one should start if it sounds good to them (books? radio? Infocom games?)

What was it that drew everyone to Hitchhiker's? Or did some people gain interest just from all of the different forms?

Re:Someone explain to the non-Hitchhiker educated.

Read the first three books first, in order (*Hitchiker's Guide*, *Restaurant at the End of the Universe*, and *Life the Universe, and Everything*). Then listen to the radio shows (it is vitally important that you listen to the radio shows and read the books BEFORE you watch the BBC television series). I'd suggest the books first because they are the highest quality, even if the radio series is the fons et origo. Note that there are important differences in the organization of the books and the radio series: but you'll be able to see how DNA reworked the material for the books, and will hear the actors rather than seeing them.

After that, watch the BBC series. The BBC cast used mostly the folks from the radio cast. Thing is, they're radio actors, and they act like radio actors - their movement, blocking, etc. are all a little stiff, even if their voices are superb. Also, the budget was very tight, and the production quality (special effects, sets, wardrobe, and especially the prosthetic head) leaves much to be desired.

Next, read two stories that appear in *The Salmon of Doubt*. The first is "Young Zaphod Plays it Safe* - the version in *Salmon of Doubt* is uncensored in the US, while the on in the *Ultimate Hitchiker's Guide* and the other omnibus editions are censored in the US so that the ending leaves you a little confused (the last line is dropped). The second (though probably the oldest story of all, though I never checked on it) is "The Private Life of Ghenghis Khan".

After you've read those, it's time to read *So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish*. Enjoy. This one is a little more surreal than anything else, but it's still pretty damned funny (the biscuit story, which is absolutely realistic, is funny as hell).

Now, wait until some time when you're in such a good mood that nothing, not enough universal apocalypse, will make you sad. Get your favorite blanky out of the attic, and call up your significant other and ask him/her/shim/sher to remain on standby for a call. You are now prepared to read the last book, *Mostly Harmless*. The whole book is very, very dark, even though it is still quite funny. A lot of people hated it because the ending is rather depressing, and there's some retroactive continuity that's stretched a bit thin, but if you're over 30 you'll get it right away (if not, I've got terrible news for you: this is what life is like).

Then go out and get yourself a nice glass of orange juice and a breakfast sandwich. It will cheer you up.

Disney? Might be good ....

Disney did The Pirates of the Caribbean" [imdb.com]. If they do HHG with the same degree of style (and don't screw with it too much) it might be quite good.

Re:Disney? Might be good ....

The only reason that film was good was Johnny Depp.

H2G2 a common abbreviation?

I admit that I'm not a fanatic like some, but I have never heard that particular string used as a short way to refer to the Hitchiker's Guide series. I've seen HHGttG once or twice, but usually I just see the whole thing written out.

It took me a moment to figure out the meaning of the headline. I had to actually read some of the additional commentary. If I had to actually read some of the commentary before posting on all articles, how could I shoot off an ill-informed comment that so blatantly exposes my ignorance?

they forgot the most important part!!

....what company will be supplying the towel???

I once asked Douglas Adams...

... where his towel was. It was in a large auditorium at the University of California (San Diego). He was talking about his new book, "So Long, and Thanks for All The Fish". It turned out that he didn't know where it was. But about half of the audience happened to have brought theirs, and started waving them about... :-)

The towel story, he said, came from being on an extended vacation in Greece and never having a towel with him when his buddies wanted to go to the beach. The cooler folks always seemed to have theirs along.

I've got low hopes

Somehow, things that were anti-establishment, outlandish, and unique seem to lose that anti-establishment fun when they're reproduced by a major motion picture studio.

It always seems like they spend less time poking fun at things like how major motion picture studios do product placement and regurgitate the same old shit and spend more time doing product placement and regurgitating the same old shit.

But I don't know. Maybe I'm just being cynical. After all, it's Disney! The people who brought us Brother Bear and, uh...yeah, Brother Bear!

Keaton as Zaphod?

Once upon a time I read that Micahel Keaton was their choice for Zaphod. I think he'd be great. :) This was years and years ago though.

This must be Thursday.

I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

Obvious response

It worries me when they say things like,...

Don't Panic.

E.

Head going to explode!

I think my head shall explode. Have loved the books for longer than I can remember. I even adapted part of one book for a play in college - went over well. Have also been boycotting Disney for longer than I can remember. Refuse to give them any money since long before their whole DRM, MPAA etc behavior. Head going to explode! Have I been sent to hell, with this as my punishment?

A black, American Ford?

That's gonna be a tough one to pull off..

Re:A black, American Ford?

They'll probably change him from Ford Prefect to Ford Taurus, or even Ford F-150.

Strange castng decisions?

Does the casting for Ford Prefect seem odd to anyone else? At least when I read the books, I NEVER pictured Ford Prefect to look like this [imdb.com].

Re:Not that strange...

Let's face it, the way Douglas Adams wrote that character, I pictured a white english guy.

I didn't. I pictured Arthur as a white English guy, and Ford as a really irritating Southern California hipster, race unimportant. Like some obnoxious American tourist who barges into an English pub thinking he's the shit and talking too loud. (I'm an American, by the way.) I think body language and style are far more important here than race.

zaphod actor

really, really ought to be Tim Curry.

At Least there's no Will Smith.

The last thing Hollywood needs is another crappy adaptation of cool Sci-Fi media by Will Smith. Wild, Wild, Wild West and MIB were enough.

Dolemite
_________________________

H2G2: It changes every time!!!

Throughout the history of H2G2, Douglas Adams adapted and re-adapted his works to multiple media. Starting with a radio show, moving to books and TV, even a computer game -- with every adaptation, he fearlessly changed it around as he saw fit, to embrace the strengths of the medium. The computer game is not the same material as the book, which is totally different from the radio series, etc. etc.

In other words, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series is all about change. If the movie is 100% faithful to the books, I'll be very disappointed. I want them to switch it around a little bit, give us some of the stuff we love, but also some new stuff too.

I want to see the wonderful spirit of H2G2 and the sense of humor of Douglas Adams accurately reflected in these movies. If that's done, I don't care if Ford is black, if Arthur Dent is Latino, if Trillian is played by Queen Latifah or if Fenchurch is played by Harvey Fierstein.

That's just the problem, HE did.

Throughout the history of H2G2, Douglas Adams adapted and re-adapted his works to multiple media.

And you can beat your ass that no matter what anyone else does, it'll be shot down in flames. Just look at all the things they had to change in LotR - if JRR Tolkien had been there and said "We need to do this to make it work on the screen" noone would have complained. But even the things that were absolutely necessary got flamed from here to the moon.

Besides, I'd love to see a good movie version of it as it is, I have the TV series. I just hope they can keep it just as British as the original, not hollywoodify it (as seems to happen to so many movies, whether they were made there or not). And at the same time give me some dazzling CG graphics, a proper 2nd head and third arm on Zaphod (real ones, just CGI attached).

I really hope they can do it. Like that scene where they approach Magrathea, and the book steps in to tell the audience that noone will get hurt in the impending rocket attack. It's as un-hollywoodish as can be. And I love them for it.

Kjella

"Hollywood" Re-Write of H2G2 Scares Me...

So after the Lord of the Rings, comes another well-regarded piece of literature in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Hollywood did well by LOTR, let's hope "they" learned their lesson and will let a piece of classic writing stand on it's own and not try to stuff the story into a 2-hour formula.

My great fear of this is that the wit, sarcasm and anti-religious rage will be written out and instead, we'll get...Spy Kids in Space. The anti-religious part will be the first to go, otherwise Pat Robertson will be ranting and railing on Fox News about a horrible, blasephemous film coming from that esteemed home of children's entertainment, Disney. But it's a part of 'The Guide' and should stay in. Otherwise, it becomes...something else.

On the other hand, I suppose Disney should be given a little benefit of the doubt, after all, Pirates of the Caribbean was a highly entertaining film.

It will interesting to see what happens with this. I was hoping secretly Peter Jackson would handle the director's chair, given the respect he gave LOTR as literature. To me, Hitchhiker's Guide is a classic and should not be "messed with."

Adams' thoughts on TV and Hollywood...

I heard Adams speak, in 1984, about the television series and, in particular, the HHG sequences within the series. Those sequences were all hand-animated (since computer graphics were actually expensive then!). He talked about how he saw the initial draft animations, and figured that that they were too complex for an American audience (in keeping with conventional Hollywood wisdom). Then he happened to be in the U.S. (maybe to cut a deal for the series, I forget why) and spotted some teenagers playing video games. That was the time when Xevious, Defender, and Sinistar were all the rage. Adams went back to the studio, he told us, and insisted that they redo the animations to make them more complicated.

Here's hoping the creative/adaptive tam here has the same spirit of humorous overload!

Re:Can someone explain please?

H2G2 is just a different way of saying HHGG, which in turn is an abbreviation of HHGttG. The 2s are used to state the amounts of the different letters, not in place of 'to'.

You know you're lazy when an acronym is too much effort to type.

So I guess

we're not going to boycott disney anytime soon, eh?

A Black Arthur Dent?!

...why not, it worked in blazing saddles...

Re:A Black Arthur Dent?!

There was a Black Arthur Dent in Blazing Saddles?

ekoJ OCS diputS

"No word on who's playing Zaphod (but wouldn't Eddie Izzard be great?"

I nominate Darl McBride, he's already two-faced!

On the subject of a Hollywood rewrite..

Well, by-passes are out.. the American 13-18 male demographic don't know what they are.

You can't have drinking to excess (even if it is with peanuts to help offset matter transfer and hyperspace) in a teenager film, so that's out.. It'll have to be Coca-Cola/Pepsi and Doritos instead.

The mid-western 13-18 male demographic wont understand probability, so the infinite improbability drive is out. It must be the particle of the month, just like Star Trek.

Satire isn't funny enough. Eddie the ship board computer will have to be smutty and/or throw custard pies. Marvin will be the cheery, slapstic C3PO look-alike.

I'll just go and drink a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster (tm) (c)Zaphod Beeblebrox, (available at a seedy space ranger's bar near you) and drown my sorrows. (Oh, and that'll be canned as well!)

I don't see what all the fuss is about...

I thought everyone knew that Fords could be any colour you like, as long as they're black...

Spy Glass Entertainment not Disney

Just remember that this is actually being developed by Spy Glass Entertainment which is a subsidiary of Disney. Saying that the movie will suck because of Disney's involvement is like saying that ABC and ESPN are horrible because Disney is involved. Spyglass is the arm of disney responsible for The Insider, Seabiscut, The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable among others. Now you may or may not like those movies, but I don't think they were especially Disneyfied. Saying that this is a Disney picture is like saying Kill Bill is a Disney picture simply because disney owns Miramax.

Listen to the ORIGINAL incarnation of HHGTTG

For those of you that are interested, KCRW has the original BBC Hitchhiker's Guide radio series up, accessible via RealWhatever.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams [kcrw.org]

Now, please refrain from slashdotting it until I've gone home for the day. I'm trying to listen to Fit the Third.

My .02

I wish that Terry Gilliam would have been chosen as director.
This movie treatment deserves to be something special/spectacular.

also

DNA narrated all of his books for Dove audio, and added (again) something special.
It would be lovely if they would his voiceover for narration or for the guide itself.

Re:H2G2?

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Re:H2G2?

I prefer:

H1i1t1c1h1h1i1k1e1r1s1space1G1u1i1d1e1space1t1o1 sp ace1t1h1e1space1G1a1l1a1x1y1

Re:Mos Def

Yes, he's tremendous

Re:Huh?

Whoa. The book doesn't say what colour he is, but he's from another goddamn galaxy. Be glad the actor isn't teal or something, or with a second head sewn onto his shoulder like the LAST H2G2...

I for one am PUMPED to see what the mighty Mos Def can do for this film. He's an incredibly talented rhymer with a very distinct vocal style. His flow will match well with Davis' dialog. I'm already imagining him dropping great lines like "Muscle relaxant. You'll need it for hyperspace, it's unpleasantly like being drunk." "What's wrong with being drunk" "Ask a glass of water."

Re:Can't we have ONE fucking movie without a rappe

Mos Def actually came from the theater community before he was a rapper.