h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Try to keep to the original scripts, 'book, radio or tv series' is all I (and many others) ask.

I am so worried that Hollywood will americanise (not sure if real word or spelled correctly) what is quintessentially an English masterpiece.

In all good faith, Vonnie.

PS - I shall not see the film, when it is out, straight away. I intend reading all the write-ups and listening to all the critics before taking the plunge.

"Try to keep to the original scripts, 'book, radio or tv series' is all I (and many others) ask."

So you're not interesting in seeing anything new Douglas might have written? Don't forget that the books contradicted the radio series, as did the TV series. So it's only to be expected that when making a movie, you'll have another version.

There are going to be new things in the movie. Douglas completed many drafts of the script before he died, and the one which has formed the basis of this movie is one that he was very happy with. But it does contain new elements, new characters (one of which has been revealed recently - a character called Humma Kavula who will be played by John Malkovich) and new scenes. It's likely that the structure of the story will be different - after all, the radio series ran three hours long, and the movie will have to be less than two hours long, so obviously, the story will have to be changed to accomodate that.

And as for 'Americanising' it - The director and producer are British, the whole production is being shot in England and Wales with a largely British crew. Some of the actors cast are American, but in that, you should remember what Douglas himself said about casting the movie:

'When it comes down to it, my principle is this - Arthur should be British. The rest of the cast should be decided purely on merit and not on nationality.'

You're right to be nervous about it - I certainly was. All I can say is that, from what I've seen and heard about the movie so far, they're doing everything right.

I will try to be a little more, whats the phrase, er, open-minded on this.

I do understand that there will have to be a bit of editing and slight deviation from the original, but I would not like to see Douglas's hard work and ideas spoiled.

I will try to have faith in the production team and hope that a good film comes out at the end.

Von.

All you have to do is remember that Douglas had many more ideas that we've never seen before. The fact that the movie is a chance for all of us to see them is terribly exciting, I think. The worst thing in the world would be an abridged version of the radio show. That's certainly not what Douglas wanted.

I agree with you, Jim. Although admittedly when I first heard things were actually moving, I was very worried it would be ripped to shreds and Americanised, but I think that the Hammer & Tongs guys will do Douglas justice and I for one cannot wait to see the end product

did you mention when it was coming out? I've been waiting for this movie forever and a day.. or three. I loved the hitchhiker books! Thats how i found this site. A pamphlet on Douglas Adams mentioned that the hitchhiker's guide was online.

I think it's essential that the movie is as consistent as the radio series, books and TV show were...

... in other words, the movie needs to be as inconsistent as possible.

All that needs to be the same is that Arthur leaves Earth because his friend Ford Prefect tells him it's necessary. I'm guessing there will be Vogons, we know there's a Zaphod and Trillian but how they meet and what happens next isn't really all that precious, as the various adaptations conflict so wildly (the Dish of the Day didn't even figure until the stage play). I'm sure before his terrible demise Douglas came up with a host of new ways to tell the same basis story.

Considering more people have read the books or saw the TV show that heard the original radio series, who gives a pair of dingo's kidneys what it's about so long as they remember that, y'know, space is really big, and that towels are kind of neat.

do you know when its coming out?

Summer 2005 is the only information I have about the release. Whether that means early or late summer I don't know.

yay! That means its coming in a year or so... if its as good as the book i can wait that long.

Can we start organising the Flat Cap 'Haricot bean x 2, Green pea x 2 Official Go-to-the-Premiere' Meet up? & will there be frilly edges?

Might be a very good idea to start organising it now, you know what hootooers are like when it comes to planning!

to the bar for some inspiration

Wait for me!

i'll probably have to wait to see it until it comes to the US... *sighs*

However, what a great excuse to come to the UK!

you have a point, you have an excellent point indeed. *ponders*

Ho yus!

What about the new characters? I mean Humma Kavula and Questular Rontok. 'Cause I read a script written by Mr. Josh Friedman, and they were both amazingly stupid and meaningless, but I heard that they had other charactheristics than the ones Douglas wrote in. E. g.: Humma Kavula was a sort of a... bartender? Or bar owner? No! Nite Club owner! But Humma Kavula's going to be a missionary in the film, isn't he?
My last question: will there be a Vogon captian called Prostatnic Vogon Kwaltz?
Gyurkovich Máté
(Sorry for the mistakes, I'm a Hungarian!)

Hey, Granny! That's a genius idea!
A "massed ranks of h2g2 researchers" going and sitting in rows and ing their heads off meet...

(not sure what all the caps, beans and peas are for, but never mind... )


Personally, the more I read about this film, the more I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out - yeah, sure, we've all got worries, but hey - it's not like they're going to make us throw away all copies of the previous versions or something, is it?

Bah, though! A whole year!? Maybe I should give in and get that double-DVD of the TV version: I've only ever seen the first few episodes...

[IMSoP]