Exclusive: Neil Gaiman talks about how director Neil Jordan will be making his award-winning The Graveyard Book into a feature film.
Neil Gaiman, the author of the upcoming stop-motion animated film Coraline, announced that director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) will adapt his John Newbery Award-winning children's novel The Graveyard Book into a live-action feature film.
"I suppose the most exciting news right now is that Neil Jordan is going to be writing and directing The Graveyard Book," Gaiman said during a roundtable interview between with Suite 101 and Constance Droganes from CTV.ca. It will be a live-action film.
"He's writing the script right now; I'm very much looking forward to reading it," he says.
Much like with Henry Selick – who adapted Coraline – Gaiman plans on giving Jordan plenty of room to bring his creativity to bear, but Gaiman says Jordan "has been writing me lovely emails saying, 'What about this?' 'What's the backstory on this?'
"With The Graveyard Book, there is this huge quantity of back-story, that never made it into the book. Neil gets to ask me all about that."
What's The Graveyard Book About?
Here's the synopsis, taken from the book's official site.
Nobody Leaves
"Hear this tragic tale: a sleeping family, a talented murderer, and an adventurous toddler — orphaned, but not assassinated. Small and alone, by accident and luck he escapes the scene of the crime and climbs a grassy hill to safety. At the top of the hill the boy finds a fence, and on the other side, a dark, quiet place.
"And what is to become of him?"
Nobody Stays
"The boy is welcomed on the hill where the dead do not sleep, and the graveyard residents rally to protect him. For outside the fence that separates a city from its ghosts, a dastardly killer is patient and persistent. The danger is real, and it is alive. It is hunting, and wise, and evil. A little child must not be left to the merciless knife of a professional fiend.
"But who will watch over him?"
Nobody’s Home
"The chattering dead make a pact. A decision is made, and shelter is granted to the tiny fellow, who has no inkling of his peril. He has no parents, no place, and no name. But the kind-hearted spirits will not let him freeze, or starve, or meet his end by a murderer’s blade. They wrap the breathing boy in a shroud. They call him Nobody, for he looks like nobody but himself."
Neil Jordan Makes The Graveyard Book Into a Movie
Gaiman doesn't know when The Graveyard Book movie will be coming out but "I suspect the Newbery has accelerated its progress." As of late January, the novel has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 15 weeks.
Coraline hits theatres on Friday, February 6th. Look for a full interview with Neil Gaiman, plus a review of the movie, coming soon to this space.
The copyright of the article Neil Jordan Films The Graveyard Book in Film/TV Industry is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Neil Jordan Films The Graveyard Book in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
be warned that if your kids follow Neil Gaiman, they will discover a
bizarre alternative life style this "children's author" indulges
in that is quite disturbing. ??After divorcing his wife, Neil Gaiman became
involved with a woman 20 years his junior, Amanda Palmer. Together they
published a book that is a series of snuff/mutilation photographs of the
young woman covered in blood staging her own death. The two launched a
public campaign about their "relationship" and participated in an
auction where the young woman performed fellacio on a phallic object which
was then auctioned off. Amanda Palmer has also posted a series of naked
photos of herself on Twitter and the web covered in grotesque writing and
slurs. Neil Gaiman even declared that his favorite photo was off her
bruised and bound body. What is the message for young women here???Neil
Gaiman is morally bankrupt and it shows in his story and in his life.
Jul 19, 2009 11:16 AM
Dominic von Riedemann :
Here's a classic example of the "straw man" argument: using
aspects of a creator's life to dismiss his entire body of work. It's a
scrutiny that no one can withstand. However, let's separate the facts from
the vitriol.
- Neil Gaiman is divorced and currently dating
Amanda Palmer, lead singer/pianist of Brechtian cabaret act The Dresden
Dolls. She's 33 and he's 48, hardly the "20 years his junior"
the previous poster claimed.
- Gaiman wrote the liner notes
for Palmer's book, "Who Killed Amanda Palmer?" an accompanying
work for her 2008 CD of the same name. Palmer intended it as a takeoff on
the "Who killed Laura Palmer?" promo for Twin Peaks, and features
the singer in various deathlike poses.
- The only information
I've unearthed so far about Gaiman and Palmer participating in an
"auction where the young woman performed fellacio (sic)" was
where Palmer auctioned off a copy of her book for charity. There's no
mention of her performing any kind of public sexual act at this event.
Until further evidence arises, "innocent until proven guilty"
prevails.
- Everyone knows Gaiman is not exclusively a
children's author. In addition to his Carnegie and Newbery awards for
children's fiction, he has also won the Hugo and Nebula awards for fantasy,
and the Bram Stoker award for horror writing. Has Stephen King been
condemned because he writes children's books as well as horror stories?
- Gaiman is well-known for his supportive collaborations with
empowered female artists such as Amanda Palmer and Tori Amos, in essence
treating them as creative equals. Combine that with the message in
Coraline – that ordinary young girls can be their own hero – those messages
for young women far outweigh any pharisaical vitriol about his private
life.
To quote a certain sage, "Let he who is without sin
cast the first stone."
Aug 10, 2009 10:56 AM
Guest :
Most of the information on the web seems to be controlled by Mister Gaiman
himself. Gaiman has a blog where he churns out propaganda about himself at
a phenomenal rate. Gaiman contributes large amounts of money to
Scientology, so it's hard to take seriously these orchestrated remarks
countering any criticism of Gaiman. As to the "Straw Man"
argument, Guests comment is not an argument, they are an opinion and the
slightest web search does yield a bunch of bloody and naked pictures of
Palmer. You can hardly call Palmer an "empowered" female artist.
Palmer's work is just bizarre and I don't see how death pictures of women
are empowering. Gaiman's work appeals to a cult group of followers and
movies such as Coraline received mixed reviews at best, since there is much
material inappropriate for children and many people have misgivings about
his work, not just Guest.
Aug 26, 2009 9:25 PM
Dominic von Riedemann :
(Yeah, the last comment was written on August 10th, but it just came
through my mailbox)
@Guest: A Google image search yielded no
bloody and naked pictures of Amanda Palmer, just publicity and concert
shots.
Yes, Neil Gaiman does blog a lot, but he also has an
extremely devoted fan base. That fanbase is because many people consider
him an excellent author, not anything to do with Scientology. Scientology
associations neither helped Tom Cruise against bad publicity nor saved
Battlefield Earth from bombing at the box office.
- As for the
"straw man" argument, the original poster was trying to turn
parents against Neil Gaiman by creating a carefully constructed libel:
taking various "facts" and presenting them in the worst possible
light, like claiming that Palmer was 20 years Gaiman's junior, and
continually calling the 33-year-old Palmer a "young woman."
- re "empowered:" Whether or not you agree with how
Amanda Palmer presents herself in public, she is clearly
"empowered," an artist and musician in charge of her career and
publicity. If she wasn't, she'd be Britney Spears.
- re:
Coraline receiving "mixed reviews at best." The film received an
88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
To sum up, if you
read my review of Coraline, in the last paragraph, I said, "The baby
has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination,"
writer G.K. Chesterton, one of Gaiman's biggest influences, observed in his
essay "The Red Angel". "What the fairy tale provides . . .
is a St. George to kill the dragon."
"Coraline
embodies this philosophy beautifully: it creates a sinister but fascinating
world where the monsters are real, but can still be defeated. Parents may
flinch from the bizarre and menacing creatures that populate this movie,
but children will thrill to see their nightmares put in their proper
place."
That teaches a far more valuable lesson to parents
and children than 90% of the sanitized pap currently masquerading as
children's entertainment. That's why Neil Gaiman is an important
children's author.
