The amazing adventures of kavalier & clay

[Gabriel]

From AICN Dec 01, 2008:
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY May Yet Unfold In Live Action! And Animation?

Beaks here...



Two years ago, it appeared that Stephen Daldry was locked in to direct the long-awaited adaptation of Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY. His stars: Tobey Maguire as Sam Clay, Jamie Bell as Josef Kavalier and Natalie Portman as Rosa Saks.

Well, that didn't happen. In an April 2007 interview with DETAILS, Chabon, who also wrote the screenplay, lamented that "...it just completely went south for studio-politics kinds of reasons that I’m not privy to." Bummer.

But no project is ever completely dead in Hollywood. There's always the possibility of resurrection - especially when you've got the backing of a tenacious producer like Scott Rudin. With that in mind, I decided to ask Mr. Daldry at today's L.A. press junket for THE READER about the state of KAVALIER & CLAY. Here's what he had to say:



Mr. Beaks: I wanted to briefly touch on one project that's been of great interest to our readers: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY. You were attached to direct the film a few years ago.


Stephen Daldry: Indeed!


Beaks: It was one of those films that seemed to be constantly "in development". Then, in 2006, it was suddenly on the brink of production. And then... nothing. Michael Chabon has said the stall-out was a result of studio politics. What do you think? Is it something you could see yourself directing at some point?


Daldry: Oh, absolutely. It would be great. I sincerely hope Paramount picks it up at some point.


Beaks: So you're still technically "attached"?


Daldry: As far as I'm concerned, I am. (Laughs)


Beaks: Structurally, that's another story [like THE READER] that poses challenges in terms of whether you adopt a linear or non-linear approach.


Daldry: Also, how much you use the comic books and how much you don't. How much is animated? Do you use animation? How do you use animation in comic books? What's the difference between the two? That was one of our big discussions. I spent a lot of time with different animators exploring ways to animate comic books.


Beaks: You know, it could be that the book is finally ready to be filmed. We're just getting to the first major deconstructive "superhero" work with WATCHMEN. Perhaps KAVALIER & CLAY has benefited from the delay. Now that the comic book film is further along, people are more familiar with the history of the medium and its conventions.


Daldry: Maybe you're right. Maybe it's a good time to remind people who wrote them and who created them and why they were created. And how central they were to a generation of immigrants coming to the United States from Europe and what the superhero was originally speaking to and speaking about.




Had I been on my toes, I would've pressed Daldry on the style of animation and the degree to which that might get away from the more static, panel-based medium of comic books. Blending the pulpier elements of Chabon's story with the straightforward dramatic stuff will be quite a challenge (and I must say that I never considered animation). Then again, Daldry has just pulled off a half-erotic/half-tragic film about a love affair between a fifteen-year-old boy and a thirty-six-year-old former guard at Auschwitz. I'm very confident in his ability to manage tone.

Don't get your hopes up, but it is encouraging to know that Daldry is still quite enthusiastic about the material. Let's hope Rudin is, too.

I'll have my full interview with Daldry next week (in advance of THE READER's 12/10 limited release).

[Gabriel]

From Collider:
Stephen Daldry Wants to Adapt Michael Chabon’s THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY as 8-Part HBO Miniseries

A feature film adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay has been in the works for nearly a decade now. The book was published in 2000 and centers on two Jewish cousins who collaborate during World War II to work on a new American novelty: the comic book. The novel spans multiple continents and and culminates in the dawn of the Golden Age of comic books. Soon after its publication, producer Scott Rudin began work on a feature film adaptation. After years of troubles adapting the expansive book into a succinct feature script, director Stephen Daldry (The Reader) signed on to take the helm. Numerous actors were rumored to be involved (Natalie Portman, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire), but the project found itself lodged in development hell.

Steve recently got the chance to speak with Daldry about his upcoming drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (also produced by Rudin), and the director revealed that he’d now like to adapt the novel into an 8-part miniseries for HBO. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

In his interview with Daldry, Steve asked the director if he would ever consider working in TV given the fantastic storytelling currently taking place on the small screen, and Daldry answered affirmatively:

“I would love to do something for TV…I wanna do Kavalier & Clay on HBO as an eight-parter. It’ll be so much better as a series, honestly.”

First off, it’s assuring that Daldry hasn’t given up on Kavalier & Clay given the difficult development period the project has gone through. More interesting, though, is the fact that Daldry has an exact number in mind for how many installments a miniseries adaptation of the novel would take. It sure sounds like he’s been thinking about a miniseries iteration for a while, and it appears he’s figured out just how to split it up.

When asked whether or not he has the rights to the book, Daldry had this to say:

“What a good question. Well I spent a year working on it with Michael Chabon, so we’re pretty close. And the rights, good question. Will Paramount give them to me? I don’t know.”

While I’m not super familiar with Kavalier & Clay, after looking into the book and seeing how enthusiastic about the adaptation Daldry is, it’s quickly become a must-read for me. HBO is home to some of the best storytelling of any medium, and this seems to fit perfectly into their wheelhouse. I sincerely hope Daldry gets his wish. You listening Paramount and HBO? Make this happen.

Here’s the full transcript, followed by a synopsis for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay:

Steve: TV has become huge with such excellent storytelling on channels like AMC, FX, and HBO, is there any desire for you to do anything in the TV world?

Stephen Daldry: I would love to do something for TV.

Is there something that’s been bubbling up?

Daldry: Yeah I wanna do Kavalier & Clay on HBO as an eight-parter.

That is where it deserves to be, I love that book.

Daldry: It’ll be so much better as a series, honestly. If you could put that in the article and ring up HBO and tell them that’s what I wanna do, I’d really appreciate it.

Oh I have no problem doing that. Do you have the rights or is this just like the dream?

Daldry: What a good question. Well I spent a year working on it with Michael Chabon, so we’re pretty close. And the rights, good question. Will Paramount give them to me? I don’t know.

You guys need to do that. HBO is where it deserves to be.

Daldry: It’ll be a really good one. It’d go great with Boardwalk Empire.

[nilskidoo]

Oh god yea! The book really was was PHENOMENAL. I'd cast James Franco as Joe Kavalier though.

[Rootfireember]

The book was too more interesting.
Heck, my MOM read the book.
....and I suspect she thinks that's what writing and drawing comics is like. O,o

[Mad_Man_Moon]

This book is not more interesting.

The book was too more interesting.
Heck, my MOM read the book.
....and I suspect she thinks that's what writing and drawing comics is like. O,o

I liked the BKV stuff, but that's a gimme, really, I suppose.

This is a promising adaptation, if it happens, because it'll mean a lot of attention for the art form.

[Gabriel]

From Collider:
Director Stephen Daldry Talks EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE and THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY Miniseries

TV has become huge on HBO, FX, AMC. Is there any desire for you to do something in the TV world or are you sticking, for sure, in the feature film world?

Daldry: No, I’d love to do something for TV.

Is there something that’s been bubbling up?

Daldry: Yeah, I want to do Kavalier and Clay on HBO as an eight-parter.

That is where it deserves to be. I love that book.

Daldry: It would be so much better as a series, honestly. If you could put that in the article and ring up HBO and tell them that’s what I want to do, I’d really appreciate it.

I have no problem doing that. Do you, by any chance, have the rights or is this just the dream?

Daldry: What a good question! I spent a year working on it with Michael Chabon, so we’re pretty close. And the rights…good question. Will Paramount give them to me? I don’t know.

For the love of God, you guys need to do that. That is where it deserves to be, on HBO. It really is.

Daldry: It’ll be a really good one. We want to take over from Boardwalk Empire. It’ll be fantastic.

Stephen Daldry Wants to Adapt Michael Chabon’s THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY as 8-Part HBO Miniseries