daveeggers Blog and Journals

The unfortunate rumor spreading around the web is that Warner Bros is incredibly unhappy with Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. So unhappy, in fact,  that they want the entire film reshot. Do you think it's a good idea to trash the script and rewrite a whole new movie at this point?

So let's go over what we do know about this film:


Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers wrote the script and the film itself has been kept secret, in terms of plot, costuming, effects, and....well, everything. The image above is one of two that was released by Jonze to promote the film. (Even though it doesn't come out until next year.)

If you recall, last Friday, one of our users uploaded a test clip from the film. As the clip spread around the net, Warner Bros pulled it off of nearly every site. I personally loved the clip: the somber tone, the choice to go with live action (as opposed to animation), and the preliminary ideas for the Wild Things. Listening to the audio, it was clear this wasn't an actual finished product. The sound had clearly not been mastered. Spike Jonze quickly responded and said it was just an FX test shot.

But I adored it. The original book was a bit creepy and dealt with loneliness. That's why it was so awesome and why I clung to it so tightly. Everything I've read about the script Dave Eggers wrote expanded up on the idea that Max created the world of the Wild Things in rebellion against his mother.

Ok, so maybe I'm reading way too far into this. But get this:

• Yet I'm hearing that just such a massive reshoot is what is on the table right now. And it's not because of technical issues, unless you want to consider the lead kid actor and the script technical issues. Sources tell me that the suits at Legendary and Warner Bros are not happy with Max Records, the actor playing Max, the mischievous boy who is crowned King of the Wild Things. Worse than that, they don't like the film's tone and want to go back to the script drawing board, possibly losing the Spike Jonze/Dave Eggers script when they do it. Apparently the film is too weird and 'too scary,' and the character of Max is being seen as not likable (check out some of the test screening responses that Slashfilm is running).
  
  Where The Wild Things Are screened for a test audience in Pasadena late last year; my friend BC, who watches a horror movie a day, caught the screening and liked what he saw, but I've also been told that the movie is 'subversive,' which is just the sort of thing that drives studio suits up the wall. The film, I keep hearing, is pretty great at this early stage of post-production, but it could very possibly not be a commercial movie. You can imagine the panic at Warner Bros when they realized they'd made a reportedly 75 million dollar kiddie art house film.

NO NO NO NO. TERRIBLE IDEA. Do you realize this means we may lose all the individuality, the creativity, and intelligent turns this movie probably has? This kind of reaction comes from people whose main concern is box office receipts, not creative integrity. UGHHHHH.

I don't know what more Warner Bros wants. You hired Spike Jonze. And Dave Eggers. And Maurice Sendak was a consultant! What did you expect? A literal adaptation? When I hear that the movie is "subversive," I want to throw money at the studio just to prove I want to see it.

Sigh. Cinematical is running this story and asking the question, "Is Spike Jonze's adaptation doomed?" At first, I wrote it off as melodramatics, but it looks like they're spot on. A good, credible, and intelligent adaptation of this movie seems doomed.